To increase awareness amongst the public of swallowing difficulties in adults, The Institute of Human Communicative Research and the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, CUHK held the inaugural swallowing difficulties health talk in Hong Kong. The one-hour talk was presented by Louisa Ng, Speech Therapist of Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery to over 80 participants whom are nurses, nursing home staff and families of individuals with swallowing difficulties.  Not only did the talk provide information on the physiology, cause and symptoms of swallowing difficulties; it also provided the public with strategies to prevent adverse events associated with swallowing difficulties such as choking, malnutrition, dehydration and suffocation.

These workshop and lecture series provided speech therapists with techniques for use in facilitating motor-phoneme links in evaluation and treatment. 
In the two 3-day workshops, 48 participants were trained by Nola Marriner and Helen Bolton on a series of PROMPT techniques with practical hands-on sessions based on the Motor Speech Hierarchy.  Following the workshops, a 1-day lecture was held for over 80 speech therapists and students.  Lecturer Nola Marriner provided participants with much insight into the PROMPT philosophy, framework, parameters and component.

To arouse public awareness of voice disorders and voice care, The Institute of Human Communicative Research held a Voice Care Seminar at Prince of Wales Hospital on the 28th April. The seminar was presented by Professor Kathy Lee, Dr Fiona Ho and Mr Thomas Law. It targeted on physiology of voice production, cause and treatment for vocal cord pathology, voice care issues as well as live demonstration and practice on voice techniques. Approximately 200 people attended this seminar with the majority being people who rely on their voice at work, such as teachers, sales etc.

The workshop provided parents, teachers and caregivers with an understanding about the causes of oral sensory motor deficits, the strategies of training and the management of relevant problems in classroom and home environment.

Interactive Oral Sensory-Motor Tools and Techniques (IOSM-T’n'T) could be readily integrated into home therapy program as “play” and engagement activities throughout the day, contributing to development of social interaction and speech and language development of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This two-day workshop equipped participants with knowledge in assessment, planning, and implementation of IOSM therapy objectives within a clinical setting.

Cochlear Implantation has a significant impact on the learning and cognitive development of children with hearing disability.  The procedure is now well accepted throughout China.

The meeting explores the need of designing a Cochlear Implant System for Chinese users.  Various topics from 28 leading professionals in different fields and countries are discussed, including implant design, system building, speech processing strategies, rehabilitation, inhouse research, surgical techniques and marketing.

Phase 1 of the 2nd “Overcoming Communication Barriers for Children with Special Needs in China” 2007 held its graduation ceremony on the 26th April. This project is collaboratively organized by The Institute of Human Communicative Research, CUHK and the Hong Kong Society for Rehabilitation under the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Rehabilitation. This training course provided four-weeks of theoretical knowledge and practical opportunities to 15 staff from key centres in various provinces and autonomous regions in China. These staff members will act as the “Communication Resource Person” in their regions to serve the children in need. Positive feedback on the course was received from the trainees. Phase 2 of this project is expected to be held in August 2007.

Parents have always encountered great difficulties in understanding autistic children’s developmental needs and training techniques. In order to address this issue, Department of Surgery (CUHK) and the Institute of Human Communicative Research of the Chinese University of Hong Kong participated in the writing of a resource manual targeting the training techniques for autistic children. This resource manual was launched on the 24th March 2007, at a parent seminar held by the Caritas Parent Resource Center and Caritas Comprehensive Intervention Program for Autistic Children. Our speech therapists, Professor Kathy Lee, Miss Aster Lui, and Miss Rachel Wong were invited to share their expertise on language and social development, treatment approaches, and home training activities on facilitating language development for children with autism. About 1oo parents participated in the event on that day.

This charity mission for ear surgery is the largest of its kind in China. More than 30 ear, nose and throat specialists, nurses from Hong Kong and China joined hands to operate on approximately 100 poor patients with ear diseases in China. Free surgeries include minor to major ear operations, including tympanoplasty, ossicular chain reconstruction, stapedectomy, cochlear implantation, mastoidectomy.

This annual conference serves as a regional platform for ENT surgeons, otologists, speech therapists, audiologists, nursing and clinical professionals to keep abreast of the latest development of the field. With its theme on Implant & Rehabilitative Otology, the First CUHK ENT Conference shed light on contemporary practice and advances in middle ear implants, direct bone conduction, cochlear and auditory brainstem implants through a variety of plenary sessions, lectures, hands-on workshops, presentations and trade show.

To enhance the public awareness towards children speech problem, a seminar, sponsored by the Hongkong Bank Foundation District Community Programme, was jointly organized by the Institute of Human Communicative Research of the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Hear Talk Foundation. There were about 200 teachers, parents and children aged 3 to 12 participating in the event.

Co-organized by the Beijing Children's Welfare Institute and the Hong Kong Society for Rehabilitation, the 2nd National Seminar for Children's Welfare Institutes was held in Shenzhen from 19th to 22 September 2006.  Our speech therapist, Ms Aster Lui, was invited to speak on the topic “Stimulating Communication in Children with Autism: Basic Concepts and Techniques”. The seminar focused on the language and communication development in autistic children and the techniques for training their communication skills.  About 60 front line workers (therapists, doctors, nurses, and teachers) attended the workshops.

Following the success of last year’s workshop on social thinking, Ms Michelle Garcia Winner, MA, CCC-SLP, Speech Language Pathologist hosted this one-day workshop on 23rd July 2006. About 90 participants including speech therapists, psychologists, social workers and parents attended to explore how perspective taking skills impact the learning of individuals with social cognitive deficits.

The second phase of ‘Overcoming Communication Barrier for Children with Special Needs’ jointly organized by the institute and the Hong Kong Society for Rehabilitation under the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Rehabilitation, lasted for four weeks. The lectures and clinical practices were taken place in Foshan and the closing ceremony was scheduled on the 20th April. After receiving the certificates, these fifteen trainees who come from different provinces of China will start their work on language and communication training in their work place. This would greatly enhance the language and communication abilities of children with special needs. Besides, the trainee will transfer their knowledge and skills on language training to their colleagues and parents. The trainees expressed that the course content was substantial and they hope that they will put them into practice.

A seminar on ‘Bilateral Implantation and Bimodal Fitting’ was organized by the Division of Otorhinolaryngology and the Institute of Human Communicative Research of The Chinese University of Hong Kong on 13 May 2006 at Prince of Wales Hospital. There were about 55 participants, including cochlear implant recipients, candidates and their families. Miss Margaret Cheung, Mr Kevin Yuen and Dr Henry Lam, shared their knowledge of binaural & bimodal hearing, bilateral implantation and surgical issue with the participants.

After years of research, data analysis and psychology assessment test, the Cantonese Basic Speech Perception Test (CBSPT) is ready to release for professional use. The CBSPT is up to now the only validated and standardized assessment tool for measuring basic speech perception ability of the Cantonese-speaking population. The test can be used by related specialist including speech therapist, audiologist, colleagues of special education and other research professionals on speech perception.

A launching seminar was held on the 26 April 2006, author of CBSPT and Head of Communicative Disorders & Paediatric Speech Perception Centre Dr Kathy Y. S. Lee introduced the test administration and clinical application of CBSPT.

The Institute of Human Communicative Research, CUHK and the Hear Talk Foundation jointly organized an activity of childhood speech screening test in October 2005. Two hundred and fifty children were tested and 35% of them showed different degrees of articulation problems. Parents who joined the activity also expressed their wish to learn more about articulation problem and practical approaches to assist those children.

In this regard, an educational talk jointly hosted by the Institute of Human Communicative Research and the Division of Otorhinolaryngology, Department of Surgery, CUHK was conducted on 8 January 2006 (Sunday). Seventy-three participants joined the talk during which the articulation errors of /s/ sound and the techniques to correct them were explained with an easy-to-understand approach by Dr. Kathy Lee. Queries from parents were also answered by the speaker in the event.

In collaboration with Chongqing’s Southwest Hospital and Hear Talk Foundation, the Institute of Human Communicative Research, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, organized a team of medical professionals including ENT specialists, nurses, audiologists and speech therapists to teach local doctors as well as rehabilitation professionals. The team also provided free medical treatments and operations to 100 poor patients with different ear disorders.

The 4-day crusade did not only provide immediate medical treatment to the needy, it also foster exchange among the HK and China professionals which will bring long term and sustaining benefits to the clinical and rehabilitation services in Chongqing and Southwest China.

This a collaborating project between the Institute and the Hong Kong Society for Rehabilitation under the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Rehabilitation. The project aims to train 15 staffs from key centers in China as “communication resource persons”. The first module of lecture and clinical practice has taken place in Beijing from 4 to 30 December 2005. Trainees all expressed that they have learnt new knowledge and gained valuable clinical skills in the four-week course. The second module will take place around April 2006.

To promote public awareness on childhood speech disorder, the Institute of Human Communicative Research, CUHK and the Hear Talk Foundation jointly organized the Speech Screening Day on 2 October 2005 at the Prince of Wales Hospital. Co-organizers include the Hong Kong Association of Speech Therapists and the Union of Hong Kong Speech Therapists (Medical). More than 250 children aged between 3 and 12 received speech screening by volunteered speech therapists. Professional advices on further management were offered for children/parents in need. Health talks on early identification of children with articulation problem and practical approaches to assist those children were also conducted with over 340 audiences on the event day.

Ms Michelle Garcia Winner, MA, CCC-SLP, Speech Language Pathologist hosted a two-day workshop on 11th & 12th July 2005. Over 120 participants including speech therapists, psychologists, social workers, paediatricians and parents attended to explore insight into effective management and teaching of individuals with autism spectrum disorders.

Co-organized by the Division of Otorhinolaryngology, Department of Surgery and the Institute of Human Communicative Research, the debut course was held on 30th April 2005 in Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital.

This comprehensive course incorporated the philosophy of osseointegration, surgical techniques, potential complications and management. Participants also had the opportunity to meet and hear about BAHA experience from BAHA users.

Workshop participants also learnt how to perform BAHA surgery in a sophisticated way on freshly prepared pig's skulls. Prosthetic crafting of the pinna was also demonstrated to delegates in between their drilling pit stops.

In view of the enthusiastic response, plan of BAHA workshop is underway. For enquiries, please email to info@ihcr.cuhk.edu.hk.

Cochlear Implant and Hearing Rehabilitation Centre and Department of Surgery, CUHK, which introduced the world's first application of Bone Anchored Hearing Aid (BAHA) in Nasopharyngeal Cancer Patient, organized regular gatherings for BAHA patients and their family to share experience and have a better understanding of BAHA and cosmetic prosthetic processes. During the meetings, participants learned more information and knowledge about the surgery, support service and technology. BAHA Day turned out to be informative, enlightening and enjoyable afternoons for BAHA users and their family members.

Thanks to the BAHA users' commitment and contribution and a BAHA Users Support Group was formed in early 2005. The group acts as a forum for experience sharing amongst users and would-be BAHA clients as well as a representative voice on matters relating to their interest.

Since December 1994, more than 150 people with profound sensorineural hearing loss have found their lives dramatically transformed by this procedure, carried out by The Chinese University of Hong Kong's Faculty of Medicine and its Institute of Human Communicative Research. To mark the tenth anniversary of the first ever cochlear implant at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Prince of Wales Hospital (PWH), a carnival was held for cochlear implantees, as well as the medical and allied health team to get together and enjoyed a fun-filled and relaxing afternoon.

Local speech therapists, audiologists, and school teachers listened to addresses by US experts in communicative research and watched demonstrations of the latest clinical instruments at the seminar on the Development of Speech and Hearing Assessment Tools organized by the Cooperative Centre for Communicative Research of the University on 12 December 2003. Commonly used speech and hearing assessment tools were also introduced at the seminar.
The aim of the seminar was to acquaint the health care industry and the public with the latest advances in the development of speech and hearing assessment tools.