Helping others help others

Photo: Hospital workers, welfare home staff, parents and teachers attend a community-based training programme aimed at helping disabled children

None of these children have ever visited Hong Kong. Nor have many of the hospital workers, welfare home staff, foster parents and parents who care for them. However, all have a link - albeit indirectly - to a training programme organised by the Hong Kong Society for Rehabilitation and funded by the Hongkong Bank Foundation.

The programme promotes the concept of conductive education and offers advanced training for professionals caring for children with cerebral palsy and developmental delays. On completion, graduates return to their home provinces to establish and run courses for other professionals and set up training programmes for parents of disabled children.

Far-reaching teaching

Like many chain reactions this one begins small. It starts with 40 special education teachers from mainland China in an eight-day training session in a Hong Kong classroom. It continues when the participants return to their home provinces, sharing course material and teaching kits with colleagues. And it concludes with children and adults in more than 100 special schools and homes benefiting from new approaches to teaching.

As part of a long-standing exchange programme funded by the Foundation, teachers and other professionals working in the special education field attend training courses organised by the Hong Chi Association in Hong Kong and mainland China.

In addition to observing special education teaching practise, they explore curriculum development. The programme also allows special education professionals from mainland China and the Hong Kong SAR to learn from each other.