Heep Hong Society - SNNHK Workshop: Introducing PACT to Families

1 June 2019, Kwun Tong

SNNHK was pleased to work with Heep Hong Society, a major non-governmental organization in Hong Kong serving children with disabilities and their families, to offer a workshop to introduce the Paediatric Autism Communication Therapy (PACT) to parents and caregivers. The two-part workshop aimed to provide parents and caregivers with strategies and tools to improve children’s communication and social skills. The workshop was delivered by Neo Ngan, an educational psychologist of Heep Hong. Neo has worked extensively with children who have various communication challenges. He has been passionate about bringing PACT to families as he has seen good results. Most children spend a large part of their awake time with parents and caregivers, hence parents and caregivers are the best agents to bring about changes in children. At the same time, it is of vital importance that the parents and caregivers are attuned to the child’s needs while spending time together. These are what we had in mind when we organize the event.

At the workshop, parents and caregivers were given the opportunity to learn about the key elements of this evidence-based therapy. There were also significant interaction and role playing to allow parents and caregivers to experience the therapy in action. While autism, autistic spectrum disorder and communication challenges are highly varied, the workshop covered strategies to work with both pre-verbal children and children with some language skills. We hope participants found the workshop helpful and will be able to apply the skills at home.