Therapy for SEN Children – The Zubin Foundation

Refer a Child

If you are a teacher, staff, or social worker at a school and want to refer a student to the SEN Centre, click here.

If you are not a teacher, staff, or social worker at a school and want to refer a child to the SEN Centre or school, please dial +852 9682-3100 and talk to our counsellors on Call Mira, who can assist.  

The Problem

57% of ethnic minorities with Special Educational Needs (SEN) drop out of school between primary and secondary levels. Non-Chinese Speaking (NCS) youth with SEN are a minority group within a minority group and have historically been ignored by the education system in Hong Kong.  

Ethnic minority families with SEN children lack support. They face several obstacles ranging from long waiting times for clinical assessments, language barriers, insufficient therapy support, and lack of affordable private practitioners. Parents do not know how best to support their children at home.

Our Work

Building on our experience working with over 1,000 ethnic minority families with children who need special care, in January 2023, we opened the first Special Educational Needs (SEN) Centre for ethnic minority children in Hong Kong. This serves public primary school children and is linguistically and culturally appropriate.  

We believe in a holistic and collaborative approach. We work directly with SEN children, their parent(s), and their school. The children we serve have access to specialists and therapists. In addition, their parents undertake extensive training to be able to manage their child’s ongoing development.

All the services are provided in English, Hindi, and Urdu. Currently, the SEN Center serves children showing signs of having ADHD and Autism. Specialist therapists (including but not limited to behavioural therapists, speech therapists, etc.) are engaged to provide relevant therapies to each child. The child and their parents benefit from:

10 free specialist therapy sessions for the SEN child
Customised parent workshops with The Zubin Foundation in Hindi and Urdu
Supportive community of experts

We operate from Monday to Saturday (except Sundays and Public Holidays) at Zubin’s Family Centre  (Austin MTR, Exit D2, a 5-minute walk). Please refer to our policy in case of bad weather here.

Eligibility

Be aged 6 to 13
Be a resident of Hong Kong
Identify as an ethnic minority in Hong Kong
Study in a Public Primary School in Hong Kong
Not be in a SEN School receiving therapy

If accepted to receive the therapy, the child and parent need to commit to undertaking all sessions provided. Parents need to be committed to paying a deposit of HK$300 , which will be repaid in full provided all sessions are attended or advance notice is received in case of cancellation. The Zubin Foundation reserves the right to use its discretion to make decisions on a case-by-case basis.  

Our Sponsor

Operation Santa Claus and Morgan Stanley

Our Partner

Division of Speech Therapy, Chinese University of Hong Kong

For names and bios of our advisory committee, please click here.

Contact

If you want to contribute to this programme, please contact:

Dr. Ravina Lalvani | Clinical Psychologist and Project Manager | ravina@zubinfoundation.org