Individuals with autism often have extensive and continuous developmental delays. Autism is becoming increasingly prevalent all over the world. Approximately 2,000 children are newly diagnosed every year in Hong Kong (Department of Health, Hong Kong, S.A.R.). Early identification of Autism is crucial for early intervention, which will have a huge impact on the cognitive and behavioural functioning and future well-being of children with ASD. The estimated lifetime cost of caring for people with autism is HK$10 million to HK$20 million. The resources provided by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government are limited, and the fees charged by private organizations to people with autism are very expensive. Furthermore, Hong Kong mothers of children with special needs were hindered from employment due to insufficient policy support.

This project is a pioneer that can yield positive impact to the children with autism as well as their caregivers who are under financial pressure.   Under TCM, Chinese paediatric massage, which is known to enhance the function of heart, liver, and kidney, improve the flow of Qi and restore the processing of sensory information and reducing mental health and behavioural problems among children with autism (Zhang et al., 2018). With this fund, the team aspires to provide home-based pediatric massage to 100 children with autism. Those from low-income families or families receiving government subsidies will be invited to receive our home-based RABI in the upcoming two years. For our home-based pediatric massage, the team will hire ten stay-home mothers as our paid part-time staff who will serve children with autism in their own districts. A teaching manual will be submitted for publication at the end of the project period. This manual allows more stay-home mothers to learn the techniques.

The stay-home mothers are expected to have 70% of enhancement of the knowledge and skills in pediatric massage and master 70% of the techniques by the end of the last session of on-site training. Certificates will be issued to the mothers who would have attended 80% of the training. Eligible mothers will have 20% increase in self-esteem and 20% increase in self-efficacy. 25 to 50% of these mothers may enter the job market (e.g., caring for children with autism with pediatric massage) in half a year after completion of this project. Children with autism receiving pediatric massage will have 20 to 25% improvement in physical, social and cognitive well-being

• Children with autism


• Stay-home mothers

2022

Healthcare, Well-being