At 3 p.m. on March 15, the weather in Changsha was fine, and inside a closed glass door next to Furong Middle Road, 19-year-old Yao Rou sat in the sun, quietly watching the traffic outside the door. When someone was about to enter and exit, she quickly got up and opened the door, and then carefully closed the door. At the same time, on the fifth floor of a building in hunan province's special education secondary school nearly 20 kilometers away, 23-year-old Tang Shiyang stepped on the sewing machine, aligned his hands with the cloth to be sewn, pushed and pulled under the sewing machine needle, and then flipped and folded, and a cuff was already made.
They have a common identity - "Tang Baby". They suffer from Down syndrome and have obvious intelligence backwardness and special faces after birth. Behind this sweet-sounding name is the compromise and struggle they have made to integrate into ordinary life. March 21 is the eleventh World Down Syndrome Day, and we documented the employment stories of two "Don Babies".
Yao Rou: The first "gatekeeper" of the Autism Children's Education Center
(Yao Rou is sorting out the classroom's teaching aids players, etc.) ）
"I want to be a host, and I want to play basketball." Between work, Yao Rou said her careful wishes. She works at Changsha Aifu Autistic Children's Education Center (hereinafter referred to as "Aifu"), mainly for parents who pick up and drop off children, opening and closing doors and cleaning public areas of the institution.
This is Yao Rou's fifth month of work here, and her performance has been affirmed by colleagues and parents, and everyone affectionately calls her "Soft". Zhang Yingying, director of Aifu, said: "Rourou is very serious and responsible in work, and the current state is also very good, which is relatively rare. ”
In the view of Yao Rou's mother Chen Juan, this road has been very difficult and lucky. Yao Rou was found to have Down syndrome at the age of one year and seven months, and then began a journey of rehabilitation and integration at a special education institution. When Yao Rou was in kindergarten, Chen Juan chose an ordinary kindergarten for her — she felt that she could not let her child be "special" forever. Later, Yao Rou went to elementary school and junior high school in ordinary schools, and the teachers and classmates of the school took great care of her. At that time, Chen Juan also thought about her daughter's future, optimistic that she thought: "At that time, we opened our own restaurants, I think, at least we can train our daughter to become a waiter." ”
After Graduating from junior high school, Chen Juan sent her to Emile, an institution in Changsha dedicated to the rehabilitation, education and vocational training of people with intellectual disabilities and autistic children. There, Yao Rou learned professional skills such as day care, and Chen Juan also paid attention to cultivating her self-care ability in life, so Yao Rou learned to wash clothes, take the bus and subway alone to go to class, cook vegetables, etc., and also learned to take care of her brother and take him out to play.
Now, seeing that her daughter has a job, Chen Juan is very satisfied, she said frankly: "Her father is no longer there, if one day I am gone, she still has to survive." After yao rou's father died, the "Tang Guo Home" spontaneously established by the parents of "Tang Baby" gave the mother and daughter a lot of care and help, which also made Chen Juan firm - to guide her daughter to face the hardships of life more optimistically, and to help others after self-reliance.
Yao Rou was conscientious and responsible, and was willing to communicate with others, which left a deep impression on the teachers of the institution at that time. In October 2021, Emile opened the Aifu Autism Children's Education Center, which needed to work manpower, and they thought of Yao Rou. Aifu was very close to Yao Rou's house, and it only took her a few minutes to walk.
Now, Yao Rou goes to work at Aifu at 1 p.m. every day. Aifu's gate is usually locked because I am worried that the children who are recovering and studying here will run out. Yao Rou hung the door key around her neck and stood guard at the door at any time during the time when parents were frequently in and out. When the children were all out of class, she began to clean the common areas, including the cleaning of the bathroom and the placement of toys and teaching aids in individual classrooms. When she was busy, the teachers who left work would shout before going out: "Soft, I'm gone." No matter what she was doing, Yao Rou would run out and respond to her colleagues with a smile and continue to complete her work.
After the work was completed, Yao Rou turned off the lights, cut off the power, locked the gate, and walked briskly towards home in the gentle night when the lights came on at eight o'clock in the evening in the city.
(Tang Shiyang sews clothes cuffs on the workstation, and the sewing machine is painted with heart-shaped symbols.) ）
Tang Shiyang: Love to sing and dance, learn to operate a sewing machine in a month
The city lights stay up all night, witnessing the coming of night and illuminating the streets before dawn.
At 5:50, the alarm clock sounded, Tang Shiyang got up to get dressed, and she never fell into bed. Wash, make breakfast, eat breakfast, just after 6 o'clock she went out - she had to take the bus alone to Hunan Triple Force Clothing Co., Ltd. in the south of Changsha city before 8 o'clock. The road is far away plus the transfer, it takes nearly two hours one way, Tang Shiyang has become accustomed to this, when she went to the junior high school to the special school, it also took two hours to take the bus to the school.
Tang Shiyang was found to have a diagnosis of Down syndrome when he was eight months old. She also attended elementary and junior high schools in regular schools, and also scored a "100" score in Chinese in the first grade of primary school. However, the parents gradually found that their daughter was becoming more and more difficult to learn, and by the time she was in the second year of junior high school, she could not learn the equations anyway, so they decided to send her to a special education school to learn some practical skills.
After finishing high school, Tang Shiyang worked in a nursing home and express delivery station closer to home, and her mother Yang Weiping also tried to find her a cleaning job.
In November 2021, under the introduction of acquaintances, Tang Shiyang came to his current unit to learn to be a seamstress. Yang Weiping feels that this is a job that does not need to communicate too much with others, and can also master a craft, and the unit itself recruits employees with other types of disabilities, so although it is a little far from home, they cherish this job opportunity.
At the beginning, Tang Shiyang would not use a sewing machine, and under the guidance of the workshop master, he practiced over and over again, and Yang Weiping, who had experience in sewing, would also guide his daughter. Now, Tang Shiyang has become skilled, she sits in front of the sewing machine, first installs the bottom line, then pinches the noodle thread head through the nearly ten holes on the machine in turn, and finally passes through the pinhole accurately and quickly, and then starts working with the foot pedal sewing board.
Tang Shiyang has recently been working on sewing cuffs. She also has a notebook with a detailed record of her daily work. For this more technical job, she happily said that she learned for a month to get started, and also took out her mobile phone to open a bank App, showing the balance shown above to reporters, saying that it was the salary paid last month, and she was not willing to spend a penny. Yang Weiping revealed that her daughter still needs to continuously improve her sewing skills to become a regular employee, in order to help her daughter achieve this wish as soon as possible, she often takes her daughter to work overtime on Sundays.
Tang Shiyang likes to dance, and used to dance in the square near his home after dinner. She hadn't been dancing for a while since she was a beginner in sewing, and she told her mother that "what should be put down should be put down", and in order to do a good job and become a regular employee, she was willing to give up some personal hobbies. Tang Shiyang also likes to sing, copying a thick book of lyrics, and one of her favorite songs is "Like You". Recently, she has talked about her boyfriend, and she likes the theme song of "The Legend of the New White Lady", and when it comes to the rise, she also takes the initiative to sing it.
Tang Shiyang's boyfriend works in Jiangsu, and in addition to chatting with her boyfriend, she also often brushes vibrato. She said that her favorite is Wang Meng, "her three gold performances at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, very, very good." Now, Tang Shiyang is gradually comfortable with her work, and every night after dinner, she will go to the square to dance.
In the night light, in the dancing crowd, there is a serious shadow that is spinning, jumping, focused and working hard.
Parents' voice: I hope that children will live with dignity
More than 20 years ago, the story of the "genius conductor" Zhouzhou was widely concerned, showing the dilemma faced by the "Tang Babies" and their families to the world. For every "Tang Baby" family, they have survived the initial and costly rehabilitation and special education stages, and have ushered in the employment problems of their children after they have reached adulthood.
In Hunan, there are many "Tang Babies" who bravely accept the challenge and set foot on the job like Yao Rou and Tang Shiyang. Zhuzhou, 21-year-old Liu Hongjun worked as an intern teaching assistant at a concentric circle special education institution. In the classroom, he cooperates with the bishop teacher to demonstrate the movements and interact with the children; outside the classroom, he needs to sort out the toys and teaching aids in the classroom. Liu Hongjun's mother frankly said: "We do not have so high requirements for our children's employment, as long as there are companies willing to accept him, give him the opportunity to grow, and let him realize his self-worth is very good." ”
Zhou Lin, vice president of "Tang Guo Home", is also a mother of "Tang Bao", and she is deeply touched by the employment difficulties of "Tang Babies" after they grow up: "Everyone does not know much about the Tang syndrome group, and there will be many concerns. ”
When looking for a job, there have been "Tang Baobao" who have encountered enterprises that are willing to accept them, pay them wages, buy social security, and only need them to hang their disability certificates in the enterprise, and people do not really have to go to work. For this intention of the enterprise, the parents of "Tang Baby" generally feel that rather than material help, everyone hopes to have an environment and opportunities that can make their children grow.
Zhou Lin said frankly: "What we hope is that the other party can provide a job opportunity to the 'Tang Babies', have specific jobs, and help children improve their ability to travel independently, communicate independently, understand work and awareness of social rules, etc. I think these are the real wealth for children." Because I want my child not only to live, but also to live with dignity and quality. ”
Xiaoxiang Morning News reporter Li Nan