Subsidies for Private Speech and Occupational Therapy Sessions for Autistic Children

The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) funds both Early Intervention Programme for Infants and Children (EIPIC), delivered by social service agencies, and EIPIC-P, delivered by appointed private providers. Means-tested fee caps are established to ensure that operators provide quality services at an affordable fee. A median income family pays up to $210 a month for EIPIC and $360 a month for EIPIC-P.

Both EIPIC and EIPIC-P programmes are delivered by a trans-disciplinary team of professionals including early intervention educators, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, psychologists and social workers. Under these programmes, each child, including those with a confirmed or suspected autism diagnosis, has an Individualised Education Plan tailored to their developmental needs and goals. This plan is developed and regularly reviewed by early intervention professionals in consultation with Allied Health Professionals and families. Enrolled children typically receive five to 12 hours of intervention conducted over two or three sessions every week, with the frequency and duration of the sessions tailored according to the level of support the child needs.

Families may consult their early intervention professionals on their child's Individualised Education Plan to address the needs of the child. Parents who wish to seek supplementary intervention beyond those provided under EIPIC or EIPIC-P may also tap on the Child Development Account (CDA) to pay for additional early intervention services by early intervention providers registered with ECDA.

Thank you, Speaker. I thank the Minister of State for his reply. Would the Ministry consider a tiered co-payment model for private providers similar to the EIPIC-P scheme where middle-income families can pay a regulated rate for a fixed number of additional private therapy hours to supplement their child's public intervention?

Two, given that EIPIC typically offers only two to four hours intervention weekly, many children may require additional private sessions. Would the Ministry consider allowing the use of the CDA funds for a wider range of accredited private therapies without depleting the basic EIPIC subsidy?

Mr Speaker, I thank the Member for his question. I think there are two parts to his question. First, in terms of private providers, from ECDA's perspective, we strongly recommend that parents go with the list of service providers registered with ECDA. This is also the Government's way of regulating services and controlling costs. So, that is the first point.

And if there are gaps within the list provided by ECDA, based on what the Member has gotten feedback from, we will be open to reviewing it but, based on what we know, the list of service providers under ECDA's list is comprehensive, and we stand guided by what the Member has given as feedback.

Based on the number of hours that each child receives in terms of early intervention, it is based on what, like I mentioned earlier, the early intervention professionals meeting together with the families, taking into account all the professionals' inputs to deliver an individualised plan. And based on that plan, there is a certain guideline in terms of how many hours and what is the frequency, the dosage of treatment. I think that is what the professionals deem as required.

Sometimes, parents may choose to do even more, but that is not what the professionals would say are cardinal. Therefore, if parents choose to use additional sessions, they can use the CDA account funds to pay for those.

But what the individualised plan recommends is the requirement dosage based on professionals' input and based on the list of the providers that ECDA has engaged, all specialised services that are required will be fulfilled through that list and will be catered under the individualised plan.