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14
Thursday, March 28, 1974
SPARE THE DEAF A THOUGHT, SAYS MISS ANNIE CHAN
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The Assistant Director of Social Welfare, Miss Annie Chan
Suet-man, today called for greater public understanding of the deaf
and their problems.
She said few people realise what deaf people are up against
and therefore pay very little attention to them.
Miss Chan was speaking at the meeting of the Hong Kong Society
for the Deaf on social work services being provided for deaf people,
Deafness, she noted, could be congenital, the result of illness
or loss of hearing as one grows old.
"But being deaf does not necessarily mean a person is dumb
because with effort and training a deaf person can also learn to speak.'
They need special education, medical services and employment opportunities,
she pointed out.
For its part, the Social Welfare Department has been providing
services for the deaf for the past 16 years.
The department now has six clubs for deaf people situated in
various parts of Hong Kong and these provide educational, recreational
and handicraft training. Vocational training courses are also run at its
two rehabilitation centres in Aberdeen and Kwun Tong. Besides these services,
she said, the department also subsidises the purchase of hearing aids for
deaf people.
/But the
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