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Xinhua News Agency, Shanghai, April 2 (Reporters Wu Zhendong and Guo Jingdan) "I wonder if Director Kong can still arrange some things for me to do?" "I think going to work is a joy for me." "Director Kong, can I go to work?" ...... Kong Fanfeng told reporters that Yue Yue, 27, often sent her such messages.
"Yue Yue's awareness and desire for self-worth realization makes me have mixed feelings."
Kong Fanfeng is the founder of the Shanghai Spread Wings Children's Wisdom Service Center, an institution that provides rehabilitation training and life guidance for children with autism and other developmental disorders, and Yue Yue has received rehabilitation and correction for many years.
"Society's tolerance for children with autism is getting higher and higher, which is a comforting aspect. However, the messages sent by Yue Yue also constantly remind us that the opportunities for the elderly 'stars' to integrate into society are still too few. Kong Fanfeng said.
↑On March 26, teachers at the Shanghai Spread Wings Children's Training Service Center gave one-on-one training sessions to children with autism. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Ying
"Children of the Stars" is a popular term for children with autism. Due to the common speech development disorders, interpersonal communication disorders, stereotyped behavior patterns, etc., autistic children have difficulty communicating with others, like stars twinkling alone in the distant night sky. In the mid-1990s, the first children with autism were diagnosed in China. Nowadays, although children have grown up, they are accompanied by lifelong diseases that still cause obstacles to their further education, employment, and life.
"The child was diagnosed in Shanghai when he was 8 years old, and we have moved to Shanghai ever since. I quit my job and stayed home full-time to take care of her. Yueyue's mother, Ms. Xiao, said that at that time, the whole family thought that "this disease must be seen well."
Yue Yue's family has experienced the common mental process of many parents of autistic children: unable to accept, collapse, escape, until slowly reconciled with the disease, there will be "fantasies" - as long as a good doctor and a good way are found, the child can miraculously recover until it is fully accepted that the child will be accompanied by the disease for life.
↑On March 26, Yue Yue and her mother did parent-child handicrafts at the Shanghai Children's Peizhi Service Center. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Ying
"Later, after thoroughly convincing myself, I began to find a way to discover the shining points in her, cultivate her, and plan for her future." Ms. Xiao said that Yue Yue has shown a musical talent since she was a child. "No matter what the song is, you can sing it in its entirety by listening to it once or twice." Therefore, rehabilitation training and vocal training were carried out at the same time, and the whole family spared no effort to provide Yue Yue with the opportunity to learn music and perform on stage, and Yue Yue won many awards in competitions and held personal concerts.
↑On March 26, Yue Yue was singing. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Ying
With personal efforts, family members who do not abandon, coupled with the guidance of professional teachers in special schools, the companionship of classmates, and the care of all walks of life, Yue Yue spent a happy campus time. But after graduating from junior high school, like other older children with autism, she faced the dilemma of having no school, no work to do, or even nowhere to go.
"Ordinary children are bored and have a temper tantrum at home all day, let alone autistic children? Nothing can be done, which will aggravate their abnormal behavior and is not conducive to recovery. Kong Fanfeng said, "They need to enter the society and integrate into the society." ”
Their needs seem "simple". Yue Yue especially likes to go to the Wing Spread Center, where teachers and volunteers regularly lead her to carry out baking, handicraft making and other courses to help her master practical skills for independent life in the future.
↑On March 26, Yue Yue practiced making pastries under the guidance of cake shop employees. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Ying
Sometimes, the caring enterprise will give Kong Fanfeng an "order", let the older children in the wing spread center complete simple labor such as carton packaging, and the "wages" will be distributed to the children in piece counts.
"Yue Yue and several children are scrambling to do it, and they especially like to 'make money', but not for money, but to enjoy the satisfaction of self-sufficiency." Kong Fanfeng said that autistic children need to be paid attention and recognized more than ordinary children, and these things will make them feel that they can also get paid through labor and are useful to society.
The reporter saw in the wing spread center that the corners and corners were placed with tissue boxes, handmade soaps with essential oils, diamond pasting paintings and other items that older children participated in making. Enterprises often come to subscribe in order to enhance children's confidence and ability to integrate into society in this way.
Junjie, a 17-year-old mildly autistic, has taken a gratifying step on this path — because of the good effect of behavior modification, the spread wing center recommended him to a nearby cake shop for practical training, mainly engaged in cashiering and packing. This makes Junjie closer to "going to work".
↑On March 26, Junjie put on his overalls and prepared to start work. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Ying
Junjie still has certain obstacles to communication with people, and adheres to his own "guidelines", and at 5 p.m., he is not bad at all, and must "leave work" - Kong Fanfeng said, which is a typical manifestation of the stereotypical behavior of autistic patients.
However, Junjie's work is still highly praised by colleagues. "He is down-to-earth, serious, attentive, and diligent, and his execution is very good, and we all hope that he will become a colleague as soon as possible." Clerk Sun Xiaofei said.
↑On March 26, Junjie packed a cake for customers. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Ying
This is a good start. A number of parents of older autistic children told reporters that although the children were identified as having the ability to engage in simple work, most of the companies would reply to the same words when they really went to work: "We can pay our children, don't come to work, everyone is in trouble." ”
More training and employment opportunities are exactly what these parents are looking forward to. "If children can only be 'kept in captivity' at home forever, and cannot support themselves, when we die, how can they live?"
Kong Fanfeng said that many people have kindly seen the "genius" side of autistic patients, but that little bit of "genius" cannot dissolve the great hardships of a family to care for children for a long time. "I hope that there will be more guarantees and measures so that all sectors of society can pay more attention to and effectively help older autistic patients, so that they can support themselves as soon as possible, so that their parents can rely on them for the elderly."
At the end of the interview, Yue Yue offered to sing a "Ballad of Peach Blossoms" to express her wishes. In the song: "Peach blossoms are beautiful, peach blossoms are beautiful, blooming in that March... Daughter dreams, flying all over the sky, meeting for a year..."
Video reporter: Yuan Quan, Wu Zhendong, Zhou Yang (intern)