Thursday, December 06, 2007

One-Stop Centre for Children with Special Needs

Providing services such as speech therapy, physiotherapy, counselling and audiology, the centre aims to provide such children with proper and equal access to education, which is on par with normal children.

It is a result of a collaboration between the Education Ministry, the Health Ministry and the Higher Education Ministry, with volunteers from Japanese International Co-operation Agency and Sunway Medical Centre.

Eight specialists are employed, comprising pathologists, audiologists and psychologists.Tenaga National Foundation provided RM250,000, which was the cost of building the centre, while RM100,000 was provided by the Rotary Club for other equipment.

Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said the ministry would focus on special education this month to create awareness among the public.

“I consider children with special needs an important asset to our country. It is time our efforts towards special education are given priority.

They have the same rights as other students,” he said when opening the Putrajaya special education centre here yesterday.

The centre will also be a benchmark for six other existing centres nationwide, set up since 2002.

The centre will also be an information and rehabilitation spot for very young children.

Hishammuddin said it would focus on disabilities such as dyslexia, autism, attention-deficit hyperactive disorder, blindness and deafness. For more details, call the Putrajaya special education centre at 03-88849144 on weekdays, except Fridays.

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