Chapter 1
PAST DEVELOPMENT AND PRESENT SERVICES
Early development of rehabilitation services
1.1
Development during the '50s
The '60s
The '70s
Development by the voluntary sector
Present servir per
Rehabilitation began over 100 years age in Hong Kong. In general, medical re- habilitation services were provided in hospitals and clinics as these were established. The first home for the blind was built in 1863 by the Canossian Sisters; the first school for the deaf was established by local missionaries in 1935. In 1938, a camp was set up at Ma Tau Chung, Kowloon, to provide temporary accommodation and relief for the disabled. The Medical Social Service was introduced in 1939.
1.2
In the years immediately following the Second World War, development con- tinued on a modest scale while the Hong Kong Government attended to the enormous problems of rebuilding the territory and dealing with a heavy influx of refugees.
1.3 The late 1940s and early 1950s witnessed an increase in the pace of development. Specialist services, such as occupational therapy and prosthetics, were introduced in 1949 to complement the physiotherapy service which had been started earlier. A number of recreational and training centres and social clubs were established for the physically disabled, the blind and for mentally retarded children. In 1954, the Social Welfare Office provided counselling services for the disabled. The first sheltered workshop for the blind was set up in the late 1950s.
1.4
During the 1960s, the main expansion was in special education. A new section was established in the Education Department in 1960; in-service training courses for teachers of handicapped children began in 1961. In 1964, a school for mentally handicapped children and a residential special school for physically disabled children were opened. In 1966, a Speech and Hearing Centre was established for the detection of speech and hearing defects. In 1967, screening programmes in primary schools were introduced on a limited scale; in the late '60s, a screening programme for vision defects and a group testing programme for slow learning children were instituted. Special classes for slow learning children in primary schools were opened during the late 1960s. Two medical rehabilitation centres were established in 1962 and 1963. Additional day care and residential centres for the mentally retarded, further sheltered workshops and social and recreation clubs for the disabled and a job placement unit were provided. Many of these facilities were developed in the new housing estates which were established in the various districts of Hong Kong.
1.5 New services and facilities introduced since 1970 have included a hospital for the severely mentally retarded, special and resource classes (in which children with learning difficulties are given diagnostic teaching or extra tutorial guidance) for slow learning children and the maladjusted and a Special Education Services Centre in Kowloon. A number of sports and recreation associations for the disabled were formed to co-ordinate and provide a variety of sporting and recreational activities, initially on a local basis but later expanding to include regional and international competitions.
1.6 Much of the burden of rehabilitation during this remarkable period of develop- ment has been carried by voluntary agencies. The small nucleus of organisations in existence before the War has grown into a network of about 90 agencies, providing a wide range of services for the disabled. The role played by the voluntary organisations in this field needs to be stressed, for it is their devotion and commitment which were largely responsible for the development and expansion of many of the services available to the disabled.
1.7 By the end of 1976, Hong Kong had acquired a sound foundation of rehabili tation services on which future developments can be built. These included:-
(2) identification and assessment services, provided by the Medical and Health Depart-
ment and by the Special Education Section of the Education Department;