Self-reported by parents of children with autism in Fogang:
"Children of the Stars" fight disease
People often hear the term "autism" but don't understand it well.
Seeing the immature faces of children with autism, it is hard to imagine that their lives are different from ordinary people.
They turned a deaf ear to the calls of their relatives, while the parents exhausted their entire lives to bring their children back to normal social life.
At present, there are more than 200 children with autism in Fogang, who are called "children of the stars."
Learning to live a normal life for these children and their parents is a war against illness, which no one knows about the bitterness.
"I just want my children to lead a normal life"
Yu Hao still clearly remembers that three years ago, she was alone in the diagnosis room of Guangzhou Children's Hospital, facing the sad news that would crush her alone.
The doctor told her that her 1-year-old son, Kangkang, suffers from autism and autism. He cannot take care of himself or integrate into society.
"Boom." This 26-year-old young mother felt that her own sky was falling.
After Kangkang was diagnosed with moderate autism, Yu Hao took the children from Guangzhou to her husband's hometown, Tangtang Town, Fogang County.
With their husband's monthly salary of 6,000 yuan, their lives are unsustainable in big cities.
In order to allow Kangkang to stay in the Xinxing Education Studio in Fogang County for rehabilitation, Yu Hao rented a house in the county to take care of the children full-time, while her husband worked in Foshan and went home once or twice a month.
The emotions of a child with autism are hard to figure out. In the first second, he touched your face happily, and in the next second, he was completely immersed in his own world and refused to communicate.
"Why do other people's 4-year-old children say so much, but your children ignore others." Faced with the mother's complaints, Yu Hao's heart is almost broken.
Others said that she could ignore it, but even her mother could not understand herself, which made Yu Hao collapse.
Taking care of a child with autism is too difficult, all kinds of stress are constantly flowing, Yu Hao feels that she is also suffering from depression, and has thought about suicide for a hundred, but she still chooses to go on and smile.
Once, Yu Hao took Kangkang to KFC and saw his peers at the next table eating fries. Kangkang found it fun and suddenly ran forward and patted the kid on the shoulder.
The child's parents thought that Kangkang was beating his child, and he pointed to Kangkang and called him a fool.
Yu Hao hurried forward to explain that his child had a tendency to be autistic and could not control his behavior. This calmed down the anger of others.
"I would rather others say that my son has no tutor, or can't stand others saying that he is a'stupid', he is not!" Taking the children out, Yu Hao occasionally encounters such embarrassing situations, "I always talk to Others explain that he has autism tendency, so that more people in society will understand children with autism, instead of silently pulling the children away. "Faced with the eyes of others regarding their children, Yu Hao hopes that the society will give more tolerance.
That night, Yu Hao took Kangkang to the pharmacy. She just glanced at the Qushi tea bag, and then turned her head to find that the child beside her had disappeared.
She couldn't find Kangkang no matter how she looked, and in a daze, she broke her knee severely.
And for an instant, she felt relieved.
The child has always been like a heavy burden, and she can't breathe.
Within half an hour, countless thoughts circulated in her mind, "What can I do if he is abducted?" "How can he survive outside?" She couldn't imagine whether she could live without the child.
Finally, she found the child in a friend's house.
When asked if he would have another child to accompany and take care of Kangkang, Yu Hao said that he would not dare to give birth.
She is afraid that the other child will also have defects, and she is afraid that the pressure of another child to take care of both parents and brother at the same time is too great.
Sitting in front of the cultural center, two or three groups of children from the kindergarten class passed by Yu Hao hand in hand. The children were not afraid of strangers and sweetly called "Auntie Hao".
"I just hope that my children can go to ordinary schools, meet ordinary classmates, and lead ordinary lives like them." Yu Hao wonders if his wish can be realized.
"We dare not imagine the future"
"After eating the food, our child doesn't know how to chew. She swallows the food raw. I must show her how to chew, or grab her cheeks and let her learn to chew." Can't sit still, won't Chewing and walking on tiptoes are symptoms of children with autism. When Xiao Ai was two years old, her mother, Ronan, discovered that she was hearing impaired. When Xiao Ai went to the hospital for a second check-up, she was diagnosed and treated with mild self-defense. Autism.
Xiao Ai has a hearing impairment, which leads to the deterioration of her language ability. At the age of 8, she can only understand and speak some simple sentences.
Let her wear shoes, at least one or twenty times before she can understand what her mother meant.
Xiao Ai was wearing a hearing aid, and the other children were curious when they saw it. They pointed to the hearing aid and asked Ronan, "Auntie, why does she wear a strange thing?" "That is the ear of a star. With it, Xiao Ai can hear you." Voice." Every time he was asked this question, Ronan had to endure his heartache and patiently explain it to other children.
"Why other people's children are so healthy, but my own baby is so special?" Ronan felt that God was too unfair.
"I am very open, so I treat her as a normal child. Because there is a child like this in my family, how can she integrate into society if even the parents can't accept it?" Ronan must comfort him to look away. Slowly learn to accept the facts.
Unlike Yu Hao, Ronan gave birth to a younger sister after discovering that Xiao Ai had autism.
She is worried that when she gets old, no one will take care of Xiao Ai.
Taking care of autistic children makes Ronan unable to work. Her husband also works outside, and a family of four depends on her husband's monthly salary of 6,000 yuan.
Now Ronan lives with his parents, and sometimes parents will help, but they can only take care of Xiao Ai's younger sister, and "cannot handle" Xiao Ai.
Except for their parents, almost no one can get close to the world of Xiao Ai.
Only in the parent group of Xinxing Education Studio, Ronan feels that he no longer needs to be a special parent. Other mothers understand his own sufferings and grievances.
As a child with autism, Xiao Ai is an absolute family center. The 5-year-old sister will inevitably feel that her mother is partial to her sister and feel wronged.
Treat children with autism not to beat and scold, but to encourage.
Sometimes Xiao Ai made a mistake, Ronan couldn't get angry with Xiao Ai, but he couldn't help but transfer his anger to his sister.
The grievances of the younger daughter, Ronan, saw her eyes and told her younger daughter: "My sister is sick and needs family care in particular. A healthy younger sister should take care of her older sister." Ronan can only make the younger daughter more considerate of herself by reasoning.
Ronan also thought that in the future, it would be too difficult for the youngest daughter to take care of Xiao Ai alone.
Now she and her husband have the idea of having another child. Although the financial pressure is heavier, but for the future of the two children, even if they work hard, they agree.
Xiao Ai is 8 years old, and Ronan is now worried that she will not cope with her menstrual period in a few years.
How can children take care of themselves when they grow up?
How to communicate with others?
How to enter the society to find a job?
"With this child, we dare not imagine the future." Ronan was both worried and afraid to face the unknown.
She is going to help Xiao Ai apply for the first grade of elementary school in September this year, but is the school willing to accept Xiao Ai?
Can Xiao Ai adapt to school?
All this made Ronan feel worried.
"Last Hope" for Autistic Families
On April 1st, World Autism Day, Xinxing Education Studio and Xiaoyudian Volunteer Association organized a charity event for children with autism in Fogang County.
According to Pan Weiling, head of Xinxing Education Studio, there are currently more than 200 autistic patients in the county, accounting for about 10% of the total number of disabled people in Fogang County.
Xinxing Education Studio is responsible for helping autistic children with rehabilitation training, helping them learn basic daily movements such as eating and folding quilts.
The studio currently maintains operations by charging students a monthly tuition fee of 3,000 yuan and funding from caring people.
Fogang County also has free public special schools, but only accept students with a low degree of autism and require students to be 7 years old to enroll.
Because the children are too young or have a high degree of autism, many parents choose to send their children to the Xinxing Education Studio, where autism rehabilitation training is more targeted.
For many families with children with autism, the monthly tuition fee of 3,000 yuan is a heavy expenditure.
"I hope that all sectors of society can give more care to disabled children, not only materially, but also spiritually." Yu Hao said.
Because of the complex causes of autism, autism is currently a world problem. There is no complete cure, and it can only be relieved through early intervention.
Hope that children learn to take care of themselves, this is the common wish of all parents of children with autism.
However, there are too few professionals engaged in rehabilitation of children with autism in Fogang County.
Rehabilitation training institutions play a vital role in the intervention of people with autism, and they are also the "last hope" for families with autism.
In the face of funding pressures and a shortage of professionals, the current rehabilitation training resources are far from sufficient to meet the needs of patients.
The treatment of autism requires not only the efforts of parents and teachers, but also the common understanding, tolerance and support of the whole society.
(At the request of the interviewee, all characters except "Pan Weiling" are pseudonyms)
Luo Yuanqi