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Navigating Stigma and Discrimination: Experiences of Migrant Children with Special Needs and Their Families in Accessing Education and Healthcare in Hong Kong

Author

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  • Kim Kwok

    (Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China)

  • Sylvia Kwok Lai Yuk Ching

    (Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China)

Abstract

This paper explores the barriers to supporting South Asian (Pakistani, Nepalese and Indian) migrant children with special needs and their families encountered navigating Hong Kong’s special needs system and accessing education and healthcare services. It adopts concepts of stigma and disability rights. It draws on semi-structured interviews with fifteen South Asian children and young people with special needs (age 5–21; M = 10; F = 5) and their families, and seven professional practitioners based on the qualitative descriptive method. Informants experienced intersecting stigmatization that included (1) institutional exclusion, (2) daily life microaggressions, and (3) misunderstandings and a lack of awareness education. Simultaneously, some were empowered through (4) support and accommodation, and (5) spiritual support from religion. This paper reveals a paradox embodied by Hong Kong; it is an Asian multicultural city committed to embracing the vision of disability inclusion while failing to ensure necessary support to reduce the stigma experienced by culturally diverse children with a disability. It makes recommendations based on a socioecological framework and concludes that concerted efforts by relevant authorities and organizations should be made to reduce stigma by taking into consideration the intersecting stigmas, specific resources unique to migrant communities, disability rights and cultural sensitivity.

Suggested Citation

  • Kim Kwok & Sylvia Kwok Lai Yuk Ching, 2022. "Navigating Stigma and Discrimination: Experiences of Migrant Children with Special Needs and Their Families in Accessing Education and Healthcare in Hong Kong," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-16, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:10:p:5929-:d:814812
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Nimisha Vandan & Janet Y‐H Wong & Daniel Y‐T Fong, 2019. "Accessing health care: Experiences of South Asian ethnic minority women in Hong Kong," Nursing & Health Sciences, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 21(1), pages 93-101, March.
    2. Kwok, Kim & Kwok, Diana K., 2020. "More than comfort and discomfort: Emotion work of parenting children with autism in Hong Kong," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    3. Collins, Pamela Y. & von Unger, Hella & Armbrister, Adria, 2008. "Church ladies, good girls, and locas: Stigma and the intersection of gender, ethnicity, mental illness, and sexuality in relation to HIV risk," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 389-397, August.
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