Karen Moore is an English speech and language therapist. Before setting up her private practice in Kennedy Town two years ago, she worked for a child development charity, Watchdog, for about six years.
The 33-year-old mother of a 13-month-old boy moved to Hong Kong eight years ago and decided to stay in this 'exotic' place. She received her qualifications in England and mostly works with young children who have Down's syndrome, autism or hearing problems, and those who stutter or are inarticulate. Ms Moore is married to an accountant, Adrian Bradbury.
What's on your mind? One thing that's always on my mind is to encourage children to enjoy play. Because life in Hong Kong tends to be more structured than a lot of places and a lot more teaching goes on, children tend to have less free time. I've always encouraged people to let their children learn through play as opposed to sending children off to do lots of extra tutoring.
I think too much teaching doesn't help the children develop their social skills and natural competitiveness. And play heavily influences a child's language development. Children who are not stimulated or children who are taught too regularly can have poor language skills. Those who just sit in front of the television day-in and day-out and don't have to interact may show signs of language delay.
Do you think parents in Hong Kong generally dislike letting their children play? I think there are a lot of cultural differences between the East and West in terms of free play. In Hong Kong, the emphasis is much more towards teaching a child to do something rather than encouraging the child through play. When I talk about play to parents in Hong Kong, they say: 'But you have to teach me first because I didn't do this as a child.' With most children, it's good to just let them play. But with some, like children who have autism, they tend to do very repetitive play. Then the parents should try to help them to be more creative.
What kind of speech and language problems do Hong Kong children face? Many children were brought up to speak English by somebody whose first language is not English. I spend a long time working quite closely with whoever teaches the child to speak. If it's the Filipino maid who tends to teach the child to speak, then I work closely with the maid.