The social volunteer service group of the church in Fufeng County, Baoji City, Shaanxi Province, visited teachers and disabled children in Xinyue Handicapped Children’s Center on November 10.
This center, established in Jiangzhang Town in September 2005, is a non-governmental non-profit service organization. It mainly accommodates children and adolescents aged 3 to 18 who have autism, Downs syndrome, cerebral palsy, language impairment, hyperactivity disorders, learning disabilities, and mild or moderate intellectual disabilities. It aims to help them integrate into mainstream society as soon as possible. This center offers courses such as one-on-one training(not sure), rhythmic dance, music, language, precision teaching(not sure), practical language and arithmetic, sensory integration training, physical training, painting, self-care, and vocational skills training.
Elder Fan Kexiao and his group of five visited places where the children study and have their activities. The visitors remained there to have meals with them and learn about the inner world of these autistic, deaf-mute children. They did interactive activities with the children for more than an hour, coming into close contact with them, talking with each other, and playing games together. They also had a discussion with teachers and some students in the conference room. One teacher introduced the operation and current situation of the welfare home since its establishment.
Xinyue Handicapped Children’s Center now has 15 faculty members. In the fifteen years since its establishment, with the support of people from all walks of life, there are now 28 students (more than 40 at the most), but only had six children when it first began. The students mainly come from Shaanxi, but some from Xinjiang, Hebei, Gansu, Shanxi, and other provinces.
The teacher said it was not easy to teach them something. Teachers need to spend several months or even years to help the children complete an ordinary and simple task. For example, it took more than two years to teach an autistic child to button their shirt.
After more than two hours of discussion, the staff and co-workers of the church delivered food and supplies to the center.
- Translated by Abigail Wu
