Heep Hong Society
Chief Executive Officer's Message

Welcome to Heep Hong Society's website.
Although we can now see the end of the dreadful coronavirus pandemic faintly visible on the horizon, learning disabilities still act as a gulf that ensnares our service users, and it is certain that the future will bring more challenges our way. Fortunately, the trials during this period have shown that as long as we work together, we can turn crises into opportunities. Thanks to the hard work of our colleagues, Heep Hong Society has made many breakthroughs over the past year and produced some highly encouraging results.
Embracing our heritage while shaping the future: Expanding our services in an innovative way
Building on our decades of experience, the Society further developed our professional services over the past year, including the launch of the "Pilot Project on Tier 1 Support Services in Kindergartens/ Kindergarten-cum-Child Care Centres" and the "Pilot Scheme on Social Work Services for Pre-Primary Institutions" - both of these projects support children suspected of having learning disabilities or potential risks. In April, the Society was entrusted by the government to administer the "Pilot Scheme on New Service Protocol for ADHD+". Over the next two years, the project will serve young people and their parents. The "SEN Family Academy" also went into service in the third quarter of 2020, providing diversified courses for children and youth with special needs, as well as their family members. In line with our ambition to be at the forefront of service, the Society, along with the University of Hong Kong and three other social welfare organisations, is working for young people with special needs through the "Jockey Club Collaborative Project for Inclusive Employment - Heep Hong Society Co-creation Programme". The project is creating non-conventional positions and diversified employment opportunities. Then there is the "Heep Hong Talent School", which this year invited top athletes to collaborate on new sports programmes, and continued to provide strength-based training for children with special needs.
Progress in education that is reverberating through the public sphere
This year, we continued to actively use a variety of robot-assisted teaching methods to train the motor coordination and social interaction responses of children with special needs. The results have been nothing short of remarkable, and as a result we will be developing related programmes in the future. We also forged ahead with professional training this year, continuing to provide real-time training courses for local and mainland rehabilitation service professionals through online courses. Over the next three years, the Society has been entrusted by the Education Bureau to launch and deliver courses for "Professional Development Programme on Catering for Students with Diverse Needs in Kindergartens", designed to help teachers master strategies to support children. In addition, among a series of public education and publicity activities, the "Colorful Autism" Awareness Week received an overwhelming response, with more than 32,000 people pledging to support autistic people and promote community integration. As we look forward to 2022, we expect that the many impacts of the pandemic will linger for at least the short term. However, even in the face of this turbulence, we will continue to lead the development of the rehabilitation sectors, and strive to provide quality services to more people with special needs and their families.
Rachel Leung
Chief Executive Officer
Heep Hong Society