More support urged for parents of SEN children

An advocacy group on Friday called for more government support for people raising children with special educational needs (SEN). The People Service Centre said a survey it carried out involving the caregivers of 175 children with special educational needs found almost 65 percent would like to be able to work, while 80 percent said existing employment support on offer was inadequate. Social worker Zoe Lam said mothers caring for such children can find their responsibilities overwhelming, while a lack of flexibility in the workplace prevents them from getting a job. “One of our SEN caregivers, she tried to find [childcare] services but she experienced being rejected a number of times because her son was diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia,” said Lam Close to 10 percent of the survey respondents said they had been denied childcare services because of their child's emotional or behavioural condition. The advocacy group called for more family-friendly employment policies, employment subsidies, employer incentives and the improvement of SEN childcare services. "We want these four recommendations to be put in the 2024 Policy Address, because now caregivers do not have the choice to choose between personal development and taking care of their families," Lam said.