Grasp the golden period of treatment: Early intervene to support children with special educational needs (SEN)

Apart from building a sound parent-children relationship, understanding children’s developmental needs is also of paramount importance to enable them to grow up healthily and happily. It’s natural for parents to feel anxious when they notice that their children may have developmental delay or show possible sign of having special educational needs and desperately seek prompt supports and solutions.

For children with special educational needs, receiving assessments only marks a starting point to help them, while a prolonged wait is laying ahead for comprehensive supports.

According to Government’s information, the number of new cases receiving the Child Assessment Service, offered by the Department of Health, hits 9,000 annually, while such cases in which the assessments could be completed within 6 months experienced a sharp fall from 90% in 2012 to 61% 2016, provided the actual waiting time depended on the complexity and the circumstances of the individual case.

In other words, each parent has to wait for at least half a year or more just to receive a simple assessment report, showing basic information of their children’s development on various aspects. During the waiting time, both parents and children could not receive any assistance, and golden treatment period of many children would then be missed regrettably.

Early Intervention: Crucial for Suspected Cases of Developmental Disabilities

Centre for Child Enlightenment (CCE) of Hong Kong Society for the Protection of Children has been actively pursuing the goal of “Early Identification” and “Early Intervention”, making great efforts to provide a one-stop assessment and training programme for SEN children and their parents. We are happy to share the story of Sum Sum with you, to see how Early Identification can make a big difference for young children.

Extensive Waiting Time, Growing Parental Pressure

When Sum Sum was about 1.5 – 2 years old, his mum brought him to the park for fun and group activities. Soon she found out the differences between Sum Sum and other children of the same age – Sum Sum was so inattentive, could not follow some simple instructions and was obviously having language delay. Not understanding the reasons behind, Sum Sum’s mum then decided to await the assessment service offered by the Government to understand what was happening to her son. Unfortunately, a nurse from the assessment centre told her that she had to wait for 9 months to 1 year for a professional assessment. Such an exceptionally long waiting time and Sum Sum’s growing behavioral and emotional problems at home started to worsen, particularly Sum Sum’s school life — even by the age of 21/2, he still could not catch up with the learning progress of N1 Class. All these added to the parenting pressure of Sum Sum’s mum, and she felt very helpless and anxious.

Timely Assessment, Clear Direction Ahead

Knowing CCE under HKSPC could provide prompt and affordable assessments and training service through the school, Sum Sum’s mum immediately contacted a teacher for referral. With our arrangements, Sum Sum and his mum came to CCE to meet our educational psychologist for a detailed assessment and professional consultation. Recalling the experience of seeking assistance, Sum Sum’s mum pointed out that comparing with the Government’s assessment service, CCE provides timely assessment for her son and gave her a clear direction in parenting. Most importantly, she could know about her son’s problems and needs soon, and apply for relevant training services right after receiving the assessment report. “Without the help of CCE and my social worker, I and my son may still be waiting for the Government’s assessment services and missed the golden period of treatment.” She added.

Progressive Improvement in Child, Boosted Confidence in Parents

After receiving the assessment report, Sum Sum’s mum applied for Integrated Programme (one type of Pre-school Rehabilitation Services) at an Integrated Family Service Centre for Sum Sum. At the same time, Sum Sum started to receive transitional on-site rehabilitation training at school within a month.

In addition to seeing her son improved progressively, the confidence of Sum Sum’s mum in caring and disciplining her child have also been boosted.

“Social workers and training instructors of CCE give me the emotional support I need and always listen to me. Whenever I do not know how to deal with my son’s behavioral problems, they teach me some useful tactics and encourage me to try. I feel very relieved now as there are people always giving me a helping hand ” She said.

Grasp the Golden Period of Treatment, Release Children’s Unlimited Potential

We firmly believe in the unlimited potential of children. With the appropriate and timely supports, every child can reach their full potential and grow up happily. Nowadays, there are many children like Sum Sum who are waiting for the Government assessment and rehabilitation services, suffering silently in their daily life and learning. CCE is now striving to help these children without any subsidy from the Government. In face of the continuous growth in the demand of such services, every support from you means a lot to us. Let’s stand together and grasp the golden period of children’s development, and put the approach of “Early Identification” and “Early Intervention” in practice, so as to provide timely and professional one-stop supports to the children with special educational needs and their parents as well.

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