Go to main content
 
DH launches Hong Kong Dyslexia Early Screening Scale (with photo)
*****************************************************************
     The Department of Health (DH) today (June 16) reported that the Hong Kong Dyslexia Early Screening Scale (HKDESS) has been launched as an assessment tool for doctors and psychologists in the field of child development and assessment. The tool is used for further evaluating pre-school children whose parents or teachers have noticed that they have reading difficulties.

     Since 2006, the DH's Child Assessment Service (CAS) and the Department of Psychology of the Chinese University of Hong Kong have been collaborating in research studies, endeavouring to identify which underlying skills for reading development in Chinese children would best distinguish children who are at risk of dyslexia. From 2010, both parties have been working with the Department of Psychology of the Education University of Hong Kong (formerly Department of Psychological Studies of Hong Kong Institute of Education) to jointly conduct research on a territory-wide sample of pre-school children. Through assessment and follow-up of children's reading abilities from pre-school to primary school, the HKDESS was developed to determine a child's probability of being diagnosed with dyslexia after entry into primary school, so that prompt support and training can be provided.

     The HKDESS is intended to be used by specialists in developmental-behavioural paediatrics or paediatric neurology, paediatricians and clinical or educational psychologists. Users must have relevant working experience in child assessment and be proficient in Cantonese. Eligible HKDESS users must first complete the training run by the CAS. The CAS has arranged four rounds of training workshops and will continue to organise such workshops for professionals on a regular basis in response to demand.

     The HKDESS will be sold to eligible users at $3,290 per set. Interested professionals may contact the CAS at 2246 6659 for enquiries.
 
Ends/Friday, June 16, 2017
Issued at HKT 12:00
NNNN
Archives   Yesterday's Press Releases   Back to Index Page Back to top
Today's Press Releases  

Photo

The Department of Health announced today (June 16) that it has launched the Hong Kong Dyslexia Early Screening Scale for doctors and psychologists to evaluate pre-school children identified with reading difficulties.