Students with Reading Difficulties
Instruction for Children with Reading Difficulties
Macao residents who need to make use of the rehabilitation services of the Social Welfare Bureau or other subsidized institutions include those who are physically and/or mentally disabled, have visual or auditory impairment, possess a language barrier, or are mentally ill. The Integrated Centre for Child Assessment is jointly operated by the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau, the Social Welfare Bureau, and the Health Bureau. The center provides an integrated service for individuals that includes assessment, consultation, diagnosis, treatment, and patient profile management for children with special needs age 6 or younger. In addition to provision of support for children with literacy difficulties, the service includes child evaluation and education, language and speech therapy, occupational therapy, and speech and hearing testing.26,27
Under the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau (Direcção dos Serviços de Educação e Juventude, or DSEJ), the Centre of Psycho-Pedagogical Service and Special Education offers specific special education services that cater to the needs of students with learning difficulties. Professionals, including social workers, psychologists, physical trainers, and linguistic therapists, are available to visit and assist schools by providing training and evaluating the learning progress of students.
“Homogenous grouping” refers to the grouping of special education students with similar abilities in one class so that teachers can offer more communal education and therapy and a more effective training environment. Public and private schools may utilize homogenous grouping, and the DSEJ encourages schools to employ teaching assistants and organize inclusive education and training courses for resource teachers. With regard to the measures supporting students with Special Educational Needs (SEN), the DSEJ formulated the Inclusive Education Subsidy Scheme to encourage private schools to include SEN students in their normal classes through financial assistance and technical support. Parents are invited to participate in Individualized Education Programme (IEP) meetings to foster home-school collaboration with exchanges of opinions.28,29