According to the Eden Social Welfare Foundation, one out of every 15 children in Taiwan has developmental delays. These delays can affect a child''s cognitive, physical, social or emotional skills. The foundation has provided early intervention services for children for the past 27 years. From now to June 30, you can support their work simply by enjoying a meal at an Italian restaurant. Formosa News reporter Stephany Yang has the story.

Entertainer Josie Lin and 4-year-old Tzu Tzu, help patrons disinfect their hands and take their temperatures. Then Tzu Tzu and Lin take their orders and serve meals. This is an event organized by the Eden Social Welfare Foundation. Tzu Tzu is 4 years old. She has delayed development in cognitive learning. Her mother is also disabled, and can only provide Tzu Tzu basic life care and guidance. Tzu Tzu came to the Eden Social Welfare foundation''s treatment center a year ago. With support from the staff, Tzu Tzu''s communication skills have improved a lot.

Josie Lin
Entertainer
Participating in this event and serving as a charity ambassador for the Eden Social Welfare Foundation has allowed me to really know what children with development delays go through, and what channels are available to help them. I interacted with Tzu Tzu today. Actually, I really don’t see the difference from her appearance, only after she spoke, I can hear that her speech is a bit slower than ordinary people. But with the help of the Eden Social Welfare Foundation, she can improve quickly.

According to the World Health Organization, 6 to 8% of children show some form of delayed development in language acquisition, cognitive learning, and other forms of development. The Eden Social Welfare Foundation provides early intervention treatment services such as special education, family support, and medication. From March 30 till June 30, the Eden Social Welfare Foundation and an Italian restaurant have partnered to launch a series of promotional activities at the restaurant to raise early treatment funds for children with developmental delays. If you order a two-person meal, the restaurant will allocate 2% of the sales amount toward early treatment funds for children with developmental delays. In addition, the public can donate online.

Emma Chu
Eden Social Welfare Foundation
There are more than 100,000 children with development delays in Taiwan. In fact, one out of every 15 children may have developmental delays. The foundation’s assistance to children with development delays is through early intervention treatment. They will visit our center. Our teacher will accompany them and assist them with their developmental delays. Early treatment is for children aged 0-6. In fact, 0-3 years old is the golden period of treatment. If children 0-3 years old can come to early treatment, that can actually speed up their growth.

Children with developmental delays and their families endure many hardships throughout the children’s lives, and yet these challenges can be reduced with early intervention. The foundation hopes that more people can lend a hand to help these children and their families.