Children with Down syndrome, autism and other developmental disorders need special help in a timely manner to help them optimize their speech capabilities, conference organizers said yesterday.
Although the two-day conference, which concludes today, is organized by the Down Syndrome Foundation, experts from Taiwan and Japan also talked about other developmentally disabled children, especially those with Asperger's syndrome.
One in 800 children are born with Down syndrome in Taiwan, while two in 100 are diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, organizers said.
The conference was attended mostly by parents and educators working with developmentally disabled children.
"There are physical as well as psychological development issues that make it hard for kids with Down syndrome to communicate," said Lin Pei-hui (
"Their jaws and chins are often underdeveloped, making it hard for them to talk intelligibly," Lin said.
Lin said that she uses therapeutic exercises such as massage and asks children to blow outwards in order to strengthen the jaw muscles.
"Of course it can be very frustrating for them not to be able to express what they want," Lin said.
Liao Chieh-ru (廖婕洳), who has a five-year-old daughter with Down syndrome, said that her daughter's speech impediment contributes to behavioral problems.
"She has a temper, and it is hard for her to be obedient," Liao said. "Sometimes she gets angry when we cannot understand what she is trying to say."
"Some of the problems relate to her underdeveloped jaw, which makes it difficult to enunciate," Liao said. "But she will also mix up the word order and say things such as `drink, I want.'"
Liao said she wanted to learn as much as possible at the conference about helping her daughter develop her language abilities.
Su Li-chin (
"We try to have a conference like this at least every other year," Su said. "But we don't always succeed."
A Taichung session of the conference will take place on Nov. 2 and Nov. 3.
ENTERTAINERS IN CHINA: Taiwanese generally back the government being firm on infiltration and ‘united front’ work,’ the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association said Most people support the government probing Taiwanese entertainers for allegedly “amplifying” the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda, a survey conducted by the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association showed on Friday. Public support stood at 56.4 percent for action by the Mainland Affairs Council and the Ministry of Culture to enhance scrutiny on Taiwanese performers and artists who have developed careers in China while allegedly adhering to the narrative of Beijing’s propaganda that denigrates or harms Taiwanese sovereignty, the poll showed. Thirty-three percent did not support the action, it showed. The poll showed that 51.5 percent of respondents supported the government’s investigation into Taiwanese who have
South Korean K-pop girl group Blackpink are to make Kaohsiung the first stop on their Asia tour when they perform at Kaohsiung National Stadium on Oct. 18 and 19, the event organizer said yesterday. The upcoming performances will also make Blackpink the first girl group ever to perform twice at the stadium. It will be the group’s third visit to Taiwan to stage a concert. The last time Blackpink held a concert in the city was in March 2023. Their first concert in Taiwan was on March 3, 2019, at NTSU Arena (Linkou Arena). The group’s 2022-2023 “Born Pink” tour set a
A Philippine official has denied allegations of mistreatment of crew members during Philippine authorities’ boarding of a Taiwanese fishing vessel on Monday. Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) spokesman Nazario Briguera on Friday said that BFAR law enforcement officers “observed the proper boarding protocols” when they boarded the Taiwanese vessel Sheng Yu Feng (昇漁豐號) and towed it to Basco Port in the Philippines. Briguera’s comments came a day after the Taiwanese captain of the Sheng Yu Feng, Chen Tsung-tun (陳宗頓), held a news conference in Pingtung County and accused the Philippine authorities of mistreatment during the boarding of
88.2 PERCENT INCREASE: The variants driving the current outbreak are not causing more severe symptoms, but are ‘more contagious’ than previous variants, an expert said Number of COVID-19 cases in the nation is surging, with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) describing the ongoing wave of infections as “rapid and intense,” and projecting that the outbreak would continue through the end of July. A total of 19,097 outpatient and emergency visits related to COVID-19 were reported from May 11 to Saturday last week, an 88.2 percent increase from the previous week’s 10,149 visits, CDC data showed. The nearly 90 percent surge in case numbers also marks the sixth consecutive weekly increase, although the total remains below the 23,778 recorded during the same period last year,
RSS