Parents looking for places within the international school sector for children with learning disabilities can have a hard time with limited spaces and decisions on admission often made on an individual basis. The English Schools Foundation and handful of schools catering specifically for such children are usually swamped with applications and places difficult to find.
However, in the coming year, a small ray of light has appeared, with reports of expansion plans from several organisations offering English-based, special-needs education.
At Matilda Child Development Centre, plans are being made for a major extension of facilities, enabling almost 50 per cent more children to attend and a sizeable reduction of its waiting list of 30. The subvented centre now has places for more than 50 pre-school children with intellectual impairment, attention problems and speech difficulties, among others. It runs a reverse integration programme that enables special-needs children and their peers to play together and gain greater understanding. There will be a major fund-raising drive to raise money for the expansion.
The Rainbow Project, which now has space for seven children with autism-related difficulties, is expecting to be able to take another seven by January. The multidisciplinary programme, hosted by the Hong Kong Academy Primary School, aims to prepare students for entry to mainstream classes if possible. At present, the children range from 6 to 9 years.
The new class will be available to rising five year olds, with the extra places going to those on the waiting list. This stands at 30. The group will hold an autism awareness week next month to further understanding in the community.
The Children's Institute of Hong Kong is another organisation dedicated to helping children with autism. It was founded last year by Jill Samelson, a mother of two autistic children. The programme has seven places for students from 4 to 8 years and is hoping to expand by five over the next few months.