Author: Tina So
Thanks to the support of parents and students participating in RABI® this year, the RABI® team has been given the "Hong Kong ICT Awards 2021: Smart People (Smart Education and Learning) – Gold Award"! Our team will endeavor to help more students on the autism spectrum learn social skills!
Interested in RABI® courses? Click here!
The Speech Therapy Department under The Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Faculty of Medicine and CUHK College of Education will hold an [Autism Intervention: Alternative Treatment with Social Robot] on August 28. Speakers include Professor So Wing Chee, Professor Lee Yuet Sheung, Professor John-John Cabibihan and the Rotary Club of HK Island West Hong Chi Morninghope School. They will explain the communication barriers of children with autism and share the application of social robots. The details of the activities are as follows:
Date: [Webinar (attend only 1 session)] Nov 22, Dec 14, Jan 20, Feb 19
Venue: (Workshop & Practical Training) The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Target participants: Registered speech therapists in Hong Kong
Language: Cantonese / English
Registration Fee: Free of charge (Deposit HKD 500; to be fully refunded to those who complete the whole course)
Register here:
https://forms.gle/oVZz4V4j7hDjbwsP7
Note: After completing the whole training, you are eligible for a completion certificate and 4.5 CPD-ST points accredited by the HKIST.
Event Information
Intervention for Autism: Alternative Therapy with Social Robots
Webinar (2nd Run)
The Speech Therapy Department under The Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Faculty of Medicine and CUHK College of Education will hold an [Autism Intervention: Alternative Treatment with Social Robot] on August 28. Speakers include Professor So Wing Chee, Professor Lee Yuet Sheung, Professor John-John Cabibihan and the Rotary Club of HK Island West Hong Chi Morninghope School. They will explain the communication barriers of children with autism and share the application of social robots. The details of the activities are as follows:
Organizer:
School of Education and School of Medicine (The Chinese University of Hong Kong)
Mode: ZOOM
Target participants:
- People whose work is related to autistic children (including but not limited to speech therapists, social workers, special education teachers, occupational therapists)
- Carers of children with autism
Language: Cantonese / English
Date: Saturday, 28 August 2021
Remarks: Part of the content of this seminar might coincide with the seminar held in October 2020, but participants are welcome to register again for the latest information and to learn more from the sharing of new speakers.
Registration Fee & Deadline: (non-refundable)
On or Before 26 July, 2021 – $60 [Early Bird Period Extended]
After 26 July 2021 – $110
Full-time Student – Free (Student Card is required for verification)
Click on the following link to register:
https://cloud.itsc.cuhk.edu.hk/webform/view.php?id=13368356
Please direct your enquiries to:
Miss Evelyn Lau (The Chinese University of Hong Kong)
Email: evelynlau@cuhk.edu.hk
Telephone: 3943 0851 / WhatsApp: 6825 8138
Radio Television Hong Kong — New Management Thinking
Professor So Wing Chee was interviewed by the Radio Television Hong Kong — Management New Thinking program on June 13, 2021, with the theme "Smoothly Along the Direction of Nature".

Smoothly Along the Direction of Nature
Presenters: Andrew Chan, Poon Ga Yeung, Lee Jing Yee, Fiona Ching
Hosts: Professor Andrew Chan Chi-fai, Dr. Elsie Tsui
Guest: Professor So Wing Chee (Associate Professor, Faculty of Education, The Chinese University of Hong Kong)
Please click on the hyperlinks below to review the exciting content of the program.
https://www.rthk.hk/radio/radio1/programme/NovaManagement/episode/753996
HONG KONG, April 22 (Reuters) – A Hong Kong professor has developed an educational programme using role-playing robots to help children with autism improve their social skills, part of an initiative adopted by non-profit groups and schools.
The programme, Robot for Autism Behavioral Intervention (RABI), is designed for people with autism between the ages of 3 and 18, and aims to help them be more social and to resolve issues such as conflicts and bullying.
Catherine So, associate professor of educational psychology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, told Reuters more than 1,200 children have used the programme since its 2015 launch.
“Individuals with autism have low motivation to interact with others, and hypersensitivity to the world around them,” So said. “So we use the social robots to teach them social skills in order to reduce their anxiety.”
The robots engage the children with role-playing and verbal interaction. A typical class involves two small robots acting out social scenarios on a table top, helping the children see the difference between appropriate and unacceptable behaviour such as tantrums or screaming.
Muse Wong, 41, said her 5-year-old daughter has been in the programme for seven months and her social and communicative skills have improved vastly.
“She has started to have some degree of social life”, Wong said.
After interacting with the robots, the children are encouraged to try out their social skills with a human tutor.
More than 20 non-profit groups financed by governments and public schools in Hong Kong and Macau have adopted the programme. So hopes the project will help fight against exclusion.
“We believe RABI can help children with autism improve their social and behavioural skills, and in turn enhance the quality of their life”, she said.
Professor So Wing Chee, an associate professor of the Department of Educational Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) , was recently appointed by the International Society for Autism Research (INSAR) as the "Global Senior Leader" as the only representative of Hong Kong. She will be responsible for promoting cooperation between local and international research institutions and promoting global autism research.
According to government statistics, the number of school children diagnosed with autism in Hong Kong has increased significantly in the past ten years, reaching nearly 10,000 in 2018-19, causing many school children to have social and emotional problems. Professor So Wing Chee has been focusing on the study of children's language and cognitive development, especially the development of typical and atypical children using gestures. She found that children with autism have a lower understanding and adaptability to gestures, so she concentrated on this aspect of research.
In 2015, Professor So launched a social robot project to specifically design interventional treatment programs for children with autism. The use of social robots to help educate children with autism is a major innovation in the field of medicine or special education. It improves children's behavior and emotional performance through repeated situational interpretation of robots. So far, it has served more than 1,200 Hong Kong autistic children aged 3-18. In 2019, Professor So and her colleague Dr. Sarah Luk established a social enterprise funded by the CUHK Sustainable Knowledge Transfer Service Fund to bring years of research efforts to communities and schools to help more autistic patients.
Professor So said: "I am very honored to be elected as the representative of INSAR Hong Kong. During the two-year term of "International Leaders", CUHK will serve as a research base to actively promote and lead autism research and research in Hong Kong and the entire Asia-Pacific region. Academic exchanges, especially the establishment of autistic behavior and social communication databases, are expected to provide suitable, even tailor-made, interventional treatment programs for each person with autism, supported by research evidence."
About the International Society for Autism Research (INSAR)
The International Society for Autism Research was established in 2001. Its mission is to promote the world's top academic research related to autism and improve the lives of patients and their families. The society organizes an international autism research conference every year. In 2019, it also established a Global Senior Leaders Committee, inviting top scholars from different countries and regions to join, forming an international network to promote exchanges and collaboration, and promote academic research on autism.
Event Information
Intervention for Autism: Alternative Therapy with Social Robots
Webinar
Organizer:
School of Education and School of Medicine (The Chinese University of Hong Kong)
Mode: ZOOM
Target participants:
- People whose work is related to autistic children (including but not limited to speech therapists, social workers, special education teachers, occupational therapists)
- Carers of children with autism
Language: Cantonese / English
Date: Saturday, 10 October 2020
Schedule:
9:30 Admission to Zoom meeting room
10:00 Opening Remarks
Professor So Wing Chee (The Chinese University of Hong Kong)
10:15 Overview of Communication Disorders in Children with Autism
Professor Lee Yuet Sheung (The Chinese University of Hong Kong)
10:45 Use robots to intervene for Hong Kong autistic people
Professor So Wing Chee (The Chinese University of Hong Kong)
11:15 The application of social robots in mainstream middle schools
Autism Support Team (Fortress Hill Methodist School)
11:45 15-minute break
12:00 The application of social robots in special schools
Principal Lam Ka Yee (The Holy Word School of the Christian Chinese Mission)
12:30 Implementation of robot-based intervention across the world
Professor Rajiv Khosla, LaTrobe University, Human Centred Innovations Pty. Ltd
13:30 Q&A, Participants Fill In Online Survey
Featured Speakers:
Professor So Wing Chee (The Chinese University of Hong Kong)
Professor So Wing Chee is currently an associate professor in the Department of Education at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. She obtained her PhD from the University of Chicago and worked at the National University of Singapore before returning to Hong Kong. She focuses on studying the language and cognitive development of typical and atypical growing children, and is keen to design and develop technology-based intervention programs for children with autism to improve their social and communication skills. She has published more than 40 papers in internationally renowned journals and has served more than 1,000 children with autism in Hong Kong so far.
Professor Lee Yuet Sheung (The Chinese University of Hong Kong)
Professor Lee Yuet Sheung is currently an associate professor and head of the Department of Speech Therapy in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. She is a senior speech pathologist and has designed assessment and rehabilitation plans for different patient groups since 1995. The assessments she designed include the Hong Kong Cantonese Vocabulary Comprehension Test (CRVT), the Cantonese Basic Speech Perception Test (CBSPT), the Hong Kong Cantonese Tone Recognition Test (CANTIT), and the Hong Kong Cantonese Spoken Two-Word Recognition Test (CanSWORT). Professor Lee's research areas include pediatric language development, Cantonese tone recognition and pronunciation, test standardization and certification, etc.
Professor Rajiv Khosla, LaTrobe University, Human Centred Innovations Pty. Ltd
Professor Khosla has an educational background in management, engineering and computer science. He is a director of Human Centred Innovations and the Research Centre for Computers, Communication and Social Innovation (RECCSI). He has also been invited to various universities around the world as research and professors. In addition, Professor Khosla has presided over a number of large-scale international conferences on intelligent systems and has won multiple research awards. He has also pioneered the design of undergraduate and postgraduate courses at La Trobe University in Australia.
Other speakers:
Autism Support Team (Fortress Hill Methodist School)
Principal Lam Ka Yee (The Holy Word School of the Christian Chinese Mission)
Registration Fee & Deadline: (non-refundable)
On or Before 3 Oct 2020 – $60 [Early Bird Period Extended]
After 4 Oct 2020 – $110
Full-time Student – Free (Student Card is required for verification)
Click on the following link to register:
https://cloud.itsc.cuhk.edu.hk/webform/view.php?id=10158053
Please direct your enquiries to:
Miss Evelyn Lau (The Chinese University of Hong Kong)
Email: evelynlau@cuhk.edu.hk
Telephone: 68258138
The Use of Social Robots in Autism Intervention: An Alternative Treatment Webinar
Organisers:
Faculty of Education & Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Format: ZOOM Webinar
Target Participants:
Professional staff working with students with autism (including but not limited to speech therapists, social workers, teachers of special needs education, occupational therapists)
Caregivers of children with autism
Medium of Instruction: Cantonese / English
Date: 10th October 2020 (Sat)
Programme Rundown:
09:30 Admission of participants into ZOOM meeting room
10:00 Opening Speech (Professor So Wing Chee, the Chinese University of Hong Kong)
10:15 Overview of communication disorders in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (Professor Lee Yuet Sheung, the Chinese University of Hong Kong)
10:45 Introduction to robot-based intervention for autism community in Hong Kong (Professor So Wing Chee, the Chinese University of Hong Kong)
11:15 Application of social robots in mainstream secondary Schools (Support Team for Autism, Fortress Hill Methodist Secondary School)
11:45 15-minute break
12:00 Application of social robots in special schools
(Principal Ka-Yee Lam, Evangelize China Fellowship Holy Word School)
12:30 Implementation of robot-based intervention across the world (Professor Rajiv Khosla, LaTrobe University, Human Centred Innovations Pty. Ltd)
13:30 Q&A Session. Inviting the attendees to complete the online survey.
Speakers:
Professor So Wing Chee, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Professor Catherine W.C. So received a Ph.D. in Psychology (Language) from University of Chicago, and was an Assistant Professor at National University of Singapore. She is now an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology in the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Having published more than 40 articles in international well-known academic journals, her main research interests include language and gesture development in typically-developing children and children with autism. Her RABI programme has served more than 1000 autistic children in Hong Kong.
Professor Lee Yuet Sheung, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Professor Kathy Y.S. LEE is currently an Associate Professor and Chief at the Division of Speech Therapy, the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, the Chinese University of Hong Kong. She is an experienced Speech-Language Pathologist who has participated extensively in designing the assessment and habilitation programs of various client groups since 1995. She has developed a number of validated tests including the Cantonese Receptive Vocabulary Test (CRVT), the Cantonese Basic Speech Perception Test (CBSPT), the Cantonese Tone Identification Test (CANTIT) and the Cantonese Spoken Word Recognition Test (CanSWORT). Her main research areas lie in pediatric speech and language development, Cantonese tone perception and production, test standardization and validation.
Professor Rajiv Khosla, LaTrobe University, Human Centred Innovations Pty. Ltd
Professor Khosla has a multi-disciplinary background in management, engineering, and computer science. He is the Director of Human Centred Innovations as well as the Director of the Research Centre for Computers, Communication and Social Innovation (RECCSI). He has been a Visiting Research Scientist and Professor in multiple universities around the world. Having chaired large international conferences in intelligent systems, he has received several research and teaching excellence awards, and has pioneered the industry-orientation and design of undergraduate and postgraduate programs at La Trobe University.
Other Speckers:
Support Team for Autism, Fortress Hill Methodist Secondary School
Principal Ka-Yee Lam, Evangelize China Fellowship Holy Word School
Registration Fee & Deadline: (non-refundable)
On or Before 3 Oct 2020 – $60 [Early Bird Period Extended]
After 4 Oct 2020 – $110
Full-time Student – Free (Student Card is required for verification)
Contact:
Miss Evelyn Lau, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Email: evelynlau@cuhk.edu.hk
Phone: +852 68258138