Each student in Seri Mengasih Centre is regarded as an individual with his/her own abilities and needs. Assessments are carried out to determine suitable training objectives for each one of the students who are placed in different age groupings.

Parental involvement in the training and overall development of their child within the home and community contributes much to the success of the programmes which work towards helping the student reach his/her highest potential.

Training Programmes   Other Services or Activities

Note: A Training Officer and teachers of Seri Mengasih Centre provides the support services needed for special needs children attending the mainstream pre-schools and primary school mentioned above.

TOY LIBRARY

This was set up by the Canadian Fund for parents with disabled children. Parents register as members of the Library and are able to borrow any of the variety of relevant educational toys and equipment for training their child in the home. The loan period is two weeks only after which the toys/equipment can be exchanged for other ones.

ASSESSMENT AND COUNSELLING

For children above 3 years old who are referred to Seri Mengasih, an Assessment Service is available to determine their level of abilities and training needs for the purpose of placement in its training programmes or referrals to other centres/schools.

PARENTS SUPPORT GROUP

There is an active Parents Support Group which contributes to the life of the Centre. This Group comprises of  Seri Mengasih’s parents and staff. Meetings are held on a regular basis and its two main functions are to raise funds for the Centre’s operation costs and to organize social / training events for the families of disabled children

RECREATION CLUB FOR THE INTELLECTUALLY DISABLED

Named “Kangaroo Club” by the intellectually disabled members themselves, the Club exists to help them

• learn self advocacy

• practice independence and self determination

• have a support group

• organize their own activities and pursue the Club’s interests

SPECIAL OLYMPICS / SPORTS  

Seri Mengasih was instrumental in introducing Special Olympics to Sabah in 1992 and has been very much involved in its activities both within and outside of Malaysia since then. Its students have participated in international events, proudly bringing home gold and silver medals. Ever since being involved with Special Olympics, the Centre have been more keenly aware of the importance of sports in the life and development of intellectually disabled persons and thus has launched its first Family Sports Day in 1993 which is held regularly with much success since then.

SUPPORT SERVICES TO MAINSTREAM PRE-SCHOOLS AND PRIMARY SCHOOLS

Currently, Seri Mengasih provides support services to two pre-schools and a primary school in Kota Kinabalu with special needs children in their enrolment. This support consists of monitoring the progress of the children as well as providing in-house training

for the staff. In line with the Centre’s objective of inclusion and integration of the intellectually disabled into the mainstream of community life, it hopes to see more mainstream schools around the city willing to accept these children in.

TRAINING PROGRAMME FOR CHILDREN WITH BEHAVIOUR PROBLEMS

There is a training programme specially for behaviour problem children such as those with autism, hyperactivity, attention deficit disorder and so on. It is based on the Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) programme and is held thrice weekly in the afternoons for two hours each time. At the present, this is only for students from a mainstream primary school which is receiving support services from Seri Mengasih.

COMMUNITY BASED REHABILITATION (CBR) KOTA KINABALU

CBR Kota Kinabalu is a programme affiliated with Seri Mengasih and located in the Centre’s premises. It provides center based and home based training programmes to children with various disabilities, involving the parents and other adults in the child’s life. CBR KK also acts as a referral center for children who are visually impaired (blind) or hearing impaired (deaf), referring them to appropriate agencies for specific training.

Overall goals are :

	Independence
	Employment Opportunities
	Contributing Member of Society

Specific goals for the students are :

	Functional Academics Skills Competence
	Functional Living Skills Competence
	Functional Work Skills Competence