KUCHING, Oct 30: The One Stop Early Intervention Centre (OSEIC) caters to provide the appropriate rehabilitation, education and training for special needs children in Sarawak in order to develop their potential.
According to the Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development Minister Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah, OSEIC also provides a scheduled services comprising speech therapist, counselors, child psychologist and social workers, who will be sourced from the State Health Department, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), as well as volunteers.
“Here in OSEIC, we emphasise on high quality early intervention services which can change a child’s developmental trajectory and input outcomes not only for the child but also for families and communities.
“The main objectives of OSEIC is to provide a one-stop services for diagnosis, early intervention and rehabilitation for children with special needs, aged seven years and below, in addition to providing support services to parents or the guardians of these children,” said Fatimah in her speech when representing Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg, during the launching of OSEIC held at Metrocity, Matang here today.
Fatimah noted, for a start, OSEIC would focus on three types of special needs namely autism, down syndrome and learning difficulties.
“OSEIC can accommodate between 75 to 100 children, and as of today, a total of 31 children with special needs have registered with OSEIC. From the total 31 children, 12 are with autism, one with autism spectrum disorder, 15 with speech delay, two Global Development Delay (GDD) and one with sensorineural hearing loss,” she added.
Meanwhile, Fatimah also conveyed her appreciation to the Chief Minister for his concern on the needs of the parents and the special needs children, including the autistic.
“The Chief Minister has also approved the Special Need Children Trust account, as well as OSEIC, worth a total of RM11,180,000, for the first five years of OSEIC operation and management.
“The ministry would also like to thank Petronas for their initiative in helping to create the first OSEIC in Sarawak, under Petronas’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme, with an allocation of RM4 million,” she added.
Also present during the ceremony were Assistant Ministers of Welfare, Community Well-Being, Women, Family and Childhood Development Datuk Rosey Yunus and Datuk Francis Harden Hollis, Sarawak Islamic Council Education Service Bureau director Datu Adi Badiozaman Tuah, the ministry’s permanent secretary Dr Saadiah Abdul Samat, Petronas Sarawak general manager Zulaihi M Mantali and other distinguished guests. –DayakDaily.
