KUCHING: The Ministry of Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development aims to extend support to teachers and parents of children with special needs at the One-Stop Early Intervention Centre (Oseic) at Metrocity Matang here.
Its minister Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah said with the establishment of Oseic, the ministry’s next step was to extend its help and guidance to teachers and parents who are handling autistic children.
“There are many autistic children who are not registered with Oseic and are going to a normal school. In this situation, many teachers are facing difficulties in handling them especially those with challenging behaviour.
“If the teachers are not trained in this field, they will not know how to calm the children down. That is why we aim to provide services for the teachers via phone or video conferencing so that we can assist them in handling cases of children with challenging behaviours,” she said.
She said this when delivering her speech during the visit by chief minister’s wife Datuk Amar Juma’ani Tun Tuanku Bujang to Oseic today.
The ministry is expecting to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the state Health Department soon in ensuring that Oseic can have more doctors to provide diagnostic services at the centre, she pointed out.
As of Dec 23, a total of 110 children have registered with Oseic, comprising children with autism (54), speech delay (17), Global Developmental Delay (10), down syndrome (five) and sensory neural hearing loss (one). Twenty-three children have yet to be diagnosed.
The Oseic centre was launched on Nov 30 and managed by the Society for Parents of Children with Special Needs (Pibakat).
The centre provides one-stop services for diagnosis, early intervention and rehabilitation for young disabled children, aged seven and below, under one roof in addition to provide support services to parents or guardians of the children.
Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) contributed a one-off amount of RM4 million for the establishment of the Oseic building.
Meanwhile, the state government under the leadership of Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg has approved an allocation of RM2 million yearly to cover for the management and operations of the centre.
