Parents whose children are developmentally delayed should seek professional advice and strictly follow a program of early detection and treatment, the Yu-Cheng Social Welfare Foundation said yesterday.
If such children can get proper guidance and assistance before the age of six — the “golden period” of early intervention — they would be less likely to develop severe disabilities later in life, foundation chief executive Helen Lai (賴光蘭) said at a graduation ceremony at Taipei City Hall for children with special needs.
Such early treatment could also save help reduce the substantial costs of special education, she said. In the US and other developed countries, early intervention usually starts before age three, Lai said, adding that the foundation has been encouraging parents to identify special needs as early as possible.
Huang Shu-jen (黃淑珍), director of the foundation’s Cheng-chong Development Center, also supported the call for early intervention.
“There’s a saying in Taiwan that ‘big roosters crow late,’ so in the past, parents would not consider the possibility of their child having developmental delays,” Huang said. “Nowadays, it’s different. Parents have gained a better concept of early intervention.”
With evaluations and reviews every six months, parents can see how their children are learning and progressing, Huang said.
Shen Chia-yi (沈家宜), who sent her daughter to a center for developmentally delayed children in 2007, told reporters that she had seen great improvement in her daughter, who is now seven.
“She used to be very shy and had difficulty communicating with people, but now she’s more -independent and more outspoken. She’s changed a lot,” said Shen, whose daughter represented the graduates and gave a short speech during the ceremony.
Asked if she was worried about her child’s education in the future, Shen said: “As long as she is healthy and happy, that’s enough.”
Twenty children received graduation certificates at the ceremony.
There are at least 100,000 developmentally delayed children in Taiwan, the foundation said, and most are in urgent need of proper assistance and treatment.
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