The Hong Kong Institute of Education

Problems with processing auditory information, reading/writing and language have traditionally been regarded as separate, and been treated by different specialists. A conference at The Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd) will explore the ideas that these disorders are closely linked, and best intervened by cross-disciplinary approaches.

More than 300 academics, researchers and practitioners with diverse areas of expertise from around the world gathered today (4 January) at HKIEd for the first day of the Global Conference on Disorders in Auditory Processing, Literacy, Language and Related Sciences (APLL 2012), to explore cross-disciplinary approaches that can better support individuals challenged by these closely related disorders.

Speaking at the opening of the conference, Dr Kevin Yuen Chi-pun, Chairman of APLL 2012 and Associate Head of Department of Special Education and Counselling at HKIEd, said, “According to the recent prevalence estimations from different research studies, of the 1.37 million Hong Kong children of 19 year old or below, up to 96,500, 130,000, and 70,000 children are suffering from disorders in auditory processing, literacy and language, respectively. We believe that there are a significant number of children showing symptoms of different combinations of these disorders.”

"APLL 2012 is one of the world’s first conferences which offer a cross-disciplinary interaction platform to examine the relationships among the wide range of disorders in terms of clinical presentations, suspected underlying causes, diagnostic criteria, and rehabilitation strategies,” he added.　　“The conference aims to open new windows to understanding of these closely related disorders through cross-disciplinary discussions, research collaborations and service advancements.”

During the four-day conference, the local and overseas participants from Australia, India, Mainland China, Norway, Singapore, Taiwan, the Philippines, UK and USA, will share ideas and latest research findings on disorders in auditory processing, literacy and language, while bringing in insights and perspectives of psychology, education, speech-language pathology, audiology, paediatrics, otorhinolaryngology, occupational therapy and other related disciplines.

Besides a line-up of distinguished speakers, the conference also features a series of cross-disciplinary round table discussion sessions led by experts from different research and clinical backgrounds to untangle the complex relationships among the disorders, and formulate possible solutions and future directions. Details of the conference are available at www.ied.edu.hk/apll2012.