Education: Early childhood intervention vital for kids with disabilities

Parents with physically challenged children need to fully understand the importance of early childhood intervention and education to ensure their children are given the opportunity to gain skills and values that are vital for their future. Minister of Community Development and Consumer Affairs Datuk Hajah Azizah Mohd Dun said the Sabah Society For The Deaf has played a positive role in raising awareness among parents.

 Hope for kids with disabilities

The education centre or kindergarten that this society has set up serves as a platform for deaf children to communicate better with each other and with their parents using the formal sign language, she said.

“The various practical living skills and good moral values that teachers impart to these children are very important for their future,” said Azizah in a speech read by her political secretary Jornah Mozihim at the Sabah Society For The Deaf Open House and Family Food Carnival cum Funfair.

The fund-raising event at the Sabah Society For The Deaf premises yesterday was organised for the first time by Sabah Society of the Deaf Alumni Association which was formed last year.

Azizah said the main objectives of the Sabah Society For The Deaf is to promote education centres in the provision of preschool or kindergarten education, adult vocational training, youth and teen development programmes, interpreting services, deaf awareness programmes, general welfare of the deaf, job coaching and public sign language courses.

She said the family support group in the Society has been playing a very important role in the academic and social development of deaf children.

“This family support group has become a platform or mechanism for the parents to share their experiences and knowledge with each other and to learn from each other on how to give their best to their deaf children,” she added.

Source: Borneo Post