Play is the key to unlock children’s potential in the domains of intellectual, physical, language, social emotional development, as well as problem-solving, creativity and logical thinking. Written by the speech therapist team of Heep Hong Society, Child Talk consists of 75 activities for promoting children’s language and cognitive development from birth to six years. Parents will find a myriad of ideas of using simple games and everyday activities to motivate children to learn and communicate. The activities are designed to enhance parent-child interaction while developing children’s language potential in a natural and enjoyable way. Each chapter presents an overview of language ability and key learning points at a particular developmental stage, paired with 15 easy-to-follow activities. The activities are built on children’s interests and include a set of learning objectives, materials used, steps and targeted vocabulary/sentence structures. Parents can make use of daily objects at home to play with their children, which can, in fact, provide a lot of fun and learning opportunities. Child Talk also includes 18 frequently asked questions in the areas of promotor, articulation and language development. The answers to those questions will equip parents with the essential knowledge of children’s speech and language development. Published by Sing Tao Publishing Ltd., Child Talk is available in local bookstores. Members of the Society can enjoy a discounted price at the Society's centres. Buy Now

Heep Hong Society introduced the SCERTS (Social Communication, Emotional Regulation, Transactional Support) Model for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) from the US to Hong Kong in 2011 and has since then developed adjustments to maximise its benefits for local children. The model has three major features: (1) it helps children with ASD to improve their motivation for communication and socialising; (2) enhances their problem-solving and emotional regulation competences; and (3) emphasises the importance of transactional support provided by the multi-disciplinary team and parents. The SCERTS Team of the Society published the SCERTS Model Implementation Guide to facilitate professionals and parents in grasping the specific strategies to help children with ASD. Chapter 1 explains the principles and theory of the SCERTS Model; Chapter 2 provides step-by-step guidelines in applying the SCERTS Model in local settings through three case studies. A complimentary DVD of practical training materials (e.g. emotion cue cards, animation, waiting spinner, timetable and general regulation tips) is included. For better training, trainers can use the Guide with the free ‘Social Emotion’ iPad and Android app. This book was sponsored by the Partnership Fund for the Disadvantaged. Buy Now

The Speech Therapy Team of Heep Hong Society is happy to launch an application entitled ‘LetSTalk’, which is designed to help children with autism express their needs and integrate into the community.  It includes 350 pictures of common vocabularies, sentence-making function, customised storage of pictures and vocabularies, etc.   With the aid of the application, autistic children can communicate with others anytime they wish. The application has been tested in the Society's service centres during its development. Parents who had tried it were impressed by its user-friendly design. Its extensive stock of pictures and sentence-making function also serve to motivate children to express their emotions and needs, and to build their confidence in communicating with others. The ‘LetSTalk’ app won the 'Best Digital Inclusion (Product / Application) Certificate of Merit in the Hong Kong ICT Awards 2013 for its contribution towards helping children with autism communicate with others. 'LetSTalk’ is now available for parents to use, and for free! Download the application from Apple iTunes Store now! It can be searched by entering key words, such as ‘協康會' or ‘語你同行'.