Integrated education on the agenda How can "children of the stars" embrace the future?

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■ April 2 is World Autism Awareness Day. Autism, also known as autism, is a brain developmental disorder that begins in infancy and is characterized by social communication disorders, narrow interests or range of activities, repetitive stereotyped behaviors, and sensory abnormalities. From a medical point of view, the cause of autism is unknown, there is no specific drug, there is no exact treatment, only parents and rehabilitation institutions through correct behavioral intervention and continuous repeated training to improve the child's condition.

■ According to incomplete statistics, the number of autistic groups in mainland China has exceeded 10 million, and the proportion of diseases is still rising. In recent years, the mainland has introduced a series of policies for the rehabilitation and education of autistic children, solving the problems of many patients' families. However, compared with young age patients, older autistic patients over the age of 16 face a "fault line" of social support – many of them are "captive" at home and unable to integrate into society. "When we are old, what about the children?" Becoming a growing concern for parents of "stars" ("children from the stars").

A question /

When "Star" is no longer "Child",

How can social support keep up?

In early March, Zhang Chuhui had just celebrated his 20th birthday. In his daily life, he looks no different from ordinary people. In 2020, the piano passed the tenth grade, and is currently learning instruments such as guitar and drum kits, and has also formed the "Extraordinary Orchestra" with the "Star" partners.

At the age of 3, Zhang Chuhui was diagnosed with moderate autism. Mom gave up her job and took her baby full-time for rehabilitation. Until the age of 6, Zhang Chuhui still could not communicate with people normally.

Although the child's recovery and growth are still ideal, Chu Hui's mother's anxiety has not diminished in the slightest.

"When we are old, what about the children?" She said that although the state's support for mentally disabled groups is increasing, there are still many problems in reality. The care of children is long-term, parents are getting older, incomes are getting lower and lower, what should the future of children be inherited?

'One possibility'

A transfer student in a regular school

Can inclusive education be truly accepted?

Most families with autism face a choice when their children are six or seven years old: whether to send their children to special education schools or to attend classes in ordinary schools, or to go to rehabilitation institutions?

Zhao Xiaoling, principal of Chengdu Xindu District Special Education School, told reporters that the core problem of autism is to solve children's social, emotional and behavioral problems. "Early detection, early intervention, early rehabilitation, children are expected to get better improvement."

Zhao Xiaoling said parents are more willing to send their children to ordinary schools. Attending classes in ordinary classes is of great help to their rehabilitation and integration into society, but ordinary schools lack special teachers and it is difficult to give targeted professional support to children in transfer classes.

The reality is that if the average school does not intervene early enough for autistic children, some problems may arise. For example, many people can not understand the behavior and thoughts of autistic children, because the surrounding incomprehension may lead to the child's inner impatience, some extreme impulsive behavior, there will be a lot of emotional behavior problems, for various reasons, the acceptance of autistic children in ordinary schools is not high.

'A status quo'

"Some enterprises would rather pay disability insurance,

Also reluctant to recruit people with disabilities"

With regard to the employment of persons with disabilities, the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Persons with Disabilities stipulates that "the state implements a system of proportional employment arrangements for persons with disabilities", and employers who do not arrange employment of persons with disabilities in accordance with the prescribed proportion shall levy the employment security fund for persons with disabilities in full according to the number of their differences.

"A phenomenon is that some enterprises would rather pay disability insurance than hire disabled people; some enterprises have nominally arranged the employment of disabled people in order to avoid paying disability insurance, but in fact they have not really let them take up their posts; and some enterprises have limited the recruitment of personnel to first- and second-level disabled people, because hiring a severely disabled person can be exempted from disability insurance by two people..." A "star" parent told reporters. In her view, such an approach has no practical significance for the child himself, because "the child's ability has not been exercised, and the family labor force has not been liberated."

Ran Ming (pseudonym), the head of a designated rehabilitation institution in Chengdu, also revealed that most enterprises would rather pay disability insurance than recruit disabled people. The reason is that the probability of injuries caused by disabled people is much higher than that of normal people, and once there is a work injury, enterprises will face high compensation risks. "At present, the government's attention to the employment of people with mental disabilities is increasing, and there are also many public welfare institutions and social organizations in Chengdu, such as the Home of Good Workers, who have accepted and resettled some groups over the age of 16 who cannot normally integrate into society."

But in Chu Hui's mother's view, "this is a kind of sheltered employment." In order to make her children more independent, she is trying to achieve "supportive employment" for her children.

The dawn of the dawn:

A number of proposals and proposals of the two sessions of the National People's Congress have paid attention to the introduction of relevant policies in various districts and counties in Chengdu

It is gratifying that the autistic community is attracting greater social attention.

At the two sessions of the National People's Congress this year, a number of CPPCC members and people's congress deputies spoke out in response to the urgent needs of autistic families, including early screening, medical security, rehabilitation intervention, integrated education, and employment care. This can give more than 10 million autistic families across the country a glimmer of hope.

"Chengdu is also actively practicing." Zhao Xiaoling said that Wuhou District took the lead in introducing care and employment policies related to adult mental disabilities, and various districts and counties have also successively launched, and the Wuhou District Full Day Care Center for the Mentally Handicapped in Wuhou District and the DayCare Center for the Mentally Handicapped in the Wuhou District Comprehensive Service Center for the Disabled have been established. The relevant support policies have also spawned the "Second Life" public welfare coffee and the Red Flag Chain Employment Training Point for People with Mental Disabilities.

"The issue of all ages is also getting attention." Ran Ming said that for the elderly group aged 16-60, the "Rongle Sunshine Home" opened by the Chengdu Disabled Persons' Federation in various districts is also providing daycare services for people with mental disabilities. For that part of the symptoms are more serious, neither can adapt to ordinary school life, the institution has not carried out the corresponding rehabilitation courses, staying at home children, "Rongle Sunshine Home" is also cooperating with the school, once a week to provide door-to-door service to help parents with rehabilitation training.

Public hospitals are also actively exploring. The reporter learned that the Chenghua Women's and Children's Hospital, which is expected to be officially operated at the end of 2023, is planning to promote the rehabilitation training project for special children, in order to use the high-quality concept and medical level of West China to carry out rehabilitation training for special children.

In the near future, perhaps, Chengdu citizens will be able to let children with autism receive professional rehabilitation training at their doorstep.

Chengdu Business Daily - Red Star News reporter Peng Xiangping

Intern Zhang Yexin