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| 廣州兒童孤獨症康復研究中心 (2014) |
Early this year, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that a 30 percent increase was found in autism spectrum disorder in the country, with autism prevalence of one in 68 children, compared with one in 88 two years ago.
The drastic surge put the international spotlight on the issue, calling for the need to provide an equal education to children with ASD.
"The prevalence of ASD is rising in Hong Kong, while limited professional support is provided by the government for these children in special need," said Raymond Fung Yiu-man, a certified behavior analyst and consultant with the Hong Kong Autism Partnership.
Since 1994, the group has been one of the largest applied behavior analysis, or ABA, service providers for those with the disorder.
"Many misunderstand that autism is a disease that needs to be treated," said Fung, who started providing ABA therapy to individuals with autism in 2000.
He further explained that ASD marks a severe disruption of the normal development process through rare combinations of common genetic variants.
Though the degree of severity and level of functioning vary in different cases, some common symptoms include restricted and repetitive behavior, impairment in social interaction, and verbal or non-verbal communication.
Recognized as one of the most researched and scientifically proven treatments for children with ASD among other therapies, ABA focuses on applying learning theories to improve social significant behaviors, as well as bringing positive changes.
"When children with autism shout or scream, they have their reasons and we need to dig deeper into what makes them practice such behavior," Fung said.lly significant behavior, as well as bringing positive changes.
With thorough observation, the therapist can motivate children to undergo different training and practices to develop language and social skills.
"Something that you think is normal does not apply to children with ASD," said a mother who wanted to be known only as Mrs Ma.
She has a 12-year-old son who was diagnosed with severe ASD at age four. "He is not aware of how his behavior affects others, so he screams and lies on the ground whenever he gets upset."
Ma tried to put him into a mainstream school, but she soon found that the existing education system fails to manage situations like that of her son's.
"With a slower processing speed on instructions, he failed to catch up in class," the mother said.
Ma then accepted the therapy provided by Autism Partnership and put her son in Aoi Pui School, which is a private school specifically for children with autism under the Autism Partnership.
"It emphasizes parental involvement as the therapy is only effective if it continues at home," Ma said.
"I will then discuss with the therapist in order to motivate him to control his emotions and voice out what he wants."
To increase the awareness and understanding of ASD among parents like Ma, the Autism Partnership training academy was founded in July to provide professional training workshops worldwide.
With hands-on workshops run by experts, it is hoped that parental involvement can facilitate the ABA therapy for children.
Ma, who is one of the founders of SEN Rights, a non-governmental organization aimed at advocating equal rights to quality education of people with special educational needs, complained that the government gives them no choice when it comes to students in special need.
She said there are only limited therapy choices for children with ASD, while the long waiting lists for the government service forced her to seek assistance through the private sector.
Trista Yeung
