Two years ago, a very desperate grandma and a very quiet third-grader Joey showed up at the HOPE worldwide Centre for Kids.

Diagnosed as autistic in kindergarten, Joey was falling behind academically and socially.

Thanks to our donors who support the work at the Centre for Kids in Shek Kip Mei, Joey was able to come in after school every day to get some help.  For the first year, Joey did not interact with anyone.  His favourite thing to do was reading a book about dinosaurs whenever he finished doing his homework.

After reading the same book for an entire year, Joey discovered chess.

Joey asked the other kids to play with him, which some of the kids did.  The only problem was that they often got into arguments.  Because of his autism, Joey was stubborn and couldn’t communicate well.

Our staff had to step in to intervene from time to time to help resolve conflicts.  The fact was through the playing, talking and even the arguing, Joey was learning to communicate in a socially acceptable manner.  He was figuring out that he needed to cooperate if he wanted other kids to play with him. 

After coming to the Centre for Kids for the past two years, Joey is a different kid today.  Whenever he is finished with his homework, Joey plays happily with other centre members.  He would teach some of the younger kids how to play his favourite game – chess.  They call him “big brother” which delights Joey. 

And grandma?  Whenever she comes to pick up Joey at the end of the day, she has a smile that goes from ear to ear.  She also has a hopeful glint in her eyes.

Joey is just one of the children with special educational needs we are seeing more and more of at the Centre for Kids.  There is a lot we want to do to help these kids, among them is developing a comprehensive after-school academic support, and equipping them with communication and cooperation skills they need to develop socially.  The need is great but we cannot do it without your generous donation.

Make a donation today to make magic happen for more kids like Joey!