Multiple Intelligences Enhancement programme helps the disabled find employment
A pilot programme is teaching the disabled the skills they need to gain employment, writes Linda Yeung
Pouring some sand over a glass surface brightened by light shining beneath it, Lee Sai-ho shows off his skills as a sand painting artist at a charity event. His mother, Anita, looks on, pleased with the fact that he is able to help out with fundraising, even though he is mentally disabled.
One of the few sand painting masters in Hong Kong, Sai-ho, 22, demonstrates the range of abilities that a disabled person can possess. Having developed his artistic talent at the Po Leung Kuk Chan Lai-ling Special School, he is now honing his vocational skills.
Lee is among 10 students on a one-year pilot course at the Shine Skills Centre. This is run by the Vocational Training Council and offers training to mentally disabled people who are aged above 15.
The one-year Multiple Intelligences Enhancement (MIE) programme is an alternative study option for people like Lee, who have marginal ability for open employment. Its enrollees are exposed to music, arts, maths, and spatial concepts, while picking up basic skills such as gift packaging, cooking and growing plants.
"Unlike in special schools, they learn to make decisions and develop proper attitudes towards working. For example, they learn what to expect in certain jobs, how to listen to instructions carefully, and to be careful with fire, when they are cooking," says Anita.