We have noticed our son's speech delay problem ever since he started school at age 3. However, as rates of speech therapists are too expensive for my family to afford, we can only go through the government's speech therapist. Therapy sessions are once every 2 or so months. Now, my son is 7 yrs old and he's in primary 3. My son is still very much delayed in his speech and is very much having difficulties in school. I am very disturbed by this and feels very worried for my son as he is late when compared to his classmates and therefore feels inferior. I feel I must put him back to either primary 2 or primary 1 so that he will have more confidence. However, English schools in HK do not accept kids who are delayed in their developments. English schools only wants kids who are well developed. Also, his school do not have any assistance in these kinds of students and therefore I have nowhere else to go... Are there any parents out there who has kids with similar problems... How did you deal with this and which school does your child go? I would really wish to hear from you. Thank you.
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i think if you are really concerned it is worth giving a private speech therapist a shot. government ones are cheap but ineffective because your visits are too far between to have any impact whatsoever. private therapists may cost more but then you will see results faster. i have a friend whose daughter was also speech delayed and they also felt private therapists were too expensive so they were working with a governemnt one. she too got exasperated as she felt they were making no progress. so she switched to a private one. i also have friends who claim that hk academy in stubbs road is a school willing to work with kids who have some delays. they may be able to give you referrals for therapists. good luck.
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Have you spoken to his class teacher.What do they think.Most teacher's will give help after school hours could you not ask them to help.
Also what is his native language as some children can find it hard to try and be fluent in a second language if say English is not the first language. I think I know of a private therapist but will have to find details for you at the office.
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cd
20 yrs ago
Actually ESF schools in HK have many children with learning problems. They all have learning support staff although I think only Sarah Roe has a specific speech therapist. Maybe you could contact them to get some info, or maybe they could give you some names to contact. Also many children in ESF schools resit a year if they are struggling.
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Thanks eveyone for your comments... CD - I did apply my son to ESF twice! He was not accepted as he did not speak good English even though I did emphasise on his speach delay. ESF wants well spoken kids which is sad because my son works hard in doing school work but only can not speak like everyone else... Ruth - It's funny because your thought of getting materials myself to teach my son is what I thought of doing... I still believe that mothers are still the number one teachers to their kids... And yes, my son do work hard (it's really more to please me than anything else) and this is why I feel more terrible for him because his speech is pulling him back. And yes, it can get very frustrating to my son.
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kar
20 yrs ago
Is your son's receptive language (what he understands) much better than his expressive language (what he can produce)? Are you sure it is a speech delay and not apraxia? There is a very informative website about apraxia that you may wish to view. The address is http://www.apraxia-kids.org/
Another website that has general information about speech delays is http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/welcome/conditions/speechdelay.html
Hopefully these may give you more of an idea of possible issues regarding your son. (My son is also speech delayed and possibly apraxic---he's still too young too tell at the moment.) Good luck!
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Thanks for you comments darryltang. What is "high-functioning autism"? And where can I find Autism Recovery Network? I have been told today by the child psychologist who assessed my son last Friday that Sarah Roe is not suitable for my son as the problem is not so severe. She did mention the Bradbury ESF which has more appropriate resources to helping my son... I just don't know how I can go around applying to ESF the third time as we have been declined twice already... Do you know any person whom I should address my application to? The psychologist said that it is important that I enroll my son to ESF as other schools are not equipped to give help to these kinds of issues. Also, I'm not familiar with the abbreviations ARN? I'm happy for your son and feel how lucky you are that your son is able to be admitted to the ESF as this is my greatest hope and prayer. Kar - thanks for the info... I'll visit the website right now.
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