A functional approach to an early diagnosis and early intervention program for pre-school children with special educational needs in Hong Kong

Abstract

This paper briefly introduces the framework of an early diagnosis and early intervention program for Hong Kong pre-school children with special educational needs launched by the Counselling & Research Center at the Hong Kong Shue Yan University and Lok Sin Tong (a charitable organization established under Cap 151 of the Hong Kong Ordinances). The whole program involves 103 pre-school children with SEN and their parents. Prior to enrolling in this program, most of the children have been assessed to have autism, ADHD, or dyslexia. In this program, the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (Mullen, 1995) or Childhood Autism Rating Scale (Schopler, Reichler, DeVellis, & Daly, 1980) were administered to the children by counselling psychologists to measure their cognitive and motor abilities. In addition, their parents were also invited to participate in the survey interview of Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (Sparrow, Cicchetti, & Balla, 2008) and Child Behavior Checklist (Achenbach, 1991, 1992). Based on these measures and clinical observation, an Individualized Development Plan (IDP) has been designed for each child. A functional approach, rather than a diagnostic approach, has been applied in designing the IDPs, communicating them to the parents, and providing the children with relevant individual and group counselling and therapeutic services. Through illustration of this approach, we hope to stimulate further clinical and public discussion in the arenas of issues faced by children with SEN and their parents, as well as the perceived and projected advantages of early diagnosis and early intervention.