Directory for special needs children launched

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KOTA KINABALU: The ‘2017 Directory of Services in Kota Kinabalu for Children with Special Needs’ is now available to guide parents in seeking advice, counseling and intervention for their young children diagnosed with special challenges.

The directory, jointly compiled by the Sabah Mental Health Association and Sabah Caring and Helping Individuals Learn and Grow (C.H.I.L.D.) Association, and sponsored by the Rotary Club of Kota Kinabalu, was launched here on Monday evening.

The directory offers around 10 schools and early intervention centres available in Kota Kinabalu and its surrounding areas.

Sabah Mental Health Association president Patrick Chin emphasized that professional counselling and early intervention were imperative to enable children with special needs, such as autism, acquire simple skill sets to improve their chances of leading better lives with training.

He said the number of children with autism has increased over the years and many went undiagnosed because their parents were either unaware or in denial of the signs of autism.

Chin pointed out that a lot of parents whose children require special educational needs insisted on sending them to normal schools, while some left their children at home.

He said autistic children would show signs such as inability to communicate, speak or express themselves.

Nonetheless, Chin said there were varying degrees of autism and some autistic people were, in fact, brilliant individuals.

“Some autistic kids are very smart but they cannot communicate.”

He said children with autism were usually referred to Hospital Mesra Bukit Padang.

But with hundreds of patients registered at Hospital Mesra, the hospital simply cannot cope, especially when children with autism require professional therapy up to three times a week, he said.

Hence, Chin said the directory provided a list of private occupational therapists or trained professionals who could devise programmes for improvement and give these children the best chance in life.

He stressed that there were a lot of opportunities for children with special needs below the age of eight to improve and acquire learning skills.

He said the schools and early intervention centres enabled parents to follow up and monitor their children’s progress.

Chin said having a child with special needs was very stressful for parents.

He said these parents worried about the future of their children when they are no longer around.

By undergoing professional training, Chin said children with special needs could learn basic life skills, and hopefully education.

Eventually, he said these children might be able to live or work on their own.

“With professional tuition and training, they will have a better chance of having an improved lifestyle and able to interact with society.”

A total of 1,000 copies of the directory have been printed and will be distributed to kindergartens.

The directory can also be obtained at Sabah Mental Health Association located at No. 111, Lorong Ikan Papayu, Off Jalan Mat Salleh, Sembulan, Kota Kinabalu. The association can be contacted at 088-248 197.

Also present at the launching were Rotary Club of Kota Kinabalu president Dr Ravi Mandalam, The Association of Childcare Centre Services Sabah vice president Ivy Benjamin Botingon and Sabah C.H.I.L.D. Association co-founder Jacqueline Lingham.