A mother of an autistic child who also had a heartbreak, she never gave up on the way to her child's recovery, and with the support of her family, she founded a special education school to bring hope to more families
A mother's commitment
■ Yuan Peng, all-media reporter of China Women's Daily
"In order to let these disabled children have a chance to recover, so that they can survive and live like ordinary children, and so that the parents of disabled children like me who were once desperate and helpless can see a glimmer of hope, even if it is difficult and tired, I will run the special education school!" 」 The person who said this was Zhao Yan, a villager in Hongshui Town, Minle County, Zhangye, Gansu Province. It's an ordinary family, but unlike the average family that enjoys the joy of the world, it has a child with autism.
He was also desperate but never gave up
Zhao Yan's family of five, in-laws work in the hometown of farmers, Zhao Yan and her husband Hu Qipeng run a small restaurant in Minle County, although life is not very rich, but the family of five and the united states are also happy.
In 2007, Zhao Yan and her husband had their first child, named Lele. As LeLe grew up day by day, Zhao Yan found that the child did not talk much, walked late, and had little communication with his parents. Until Le Le was four years old, Zhao Yan waited for a desperate fact: the child was diagnosed with autism.
From 2011 to 2012, Zhao Yan took her child on a long and bitter road to seek medical treatment.
Zhao Yan can't forget: the child was lost at the Beijing Railway Station, in the sea of people, she screamed lele and looked around; in order to prevent the child from running away again, Zhao Yan tied Lele's arm and her own arm together with a rope, and did not let go for a minute or a second... After seeing countless doctors and taking countless medicines, what made her most desperate was the conclusion given by the doctors: children cannot be cured!
Zhao Yan's heart was broken, and she had also thought about giving up, but whenever she looked at the sleeping children around her in the middle of the night, her heart softened again. "I must let my children live in this world with dignity!" Zhao Yan made up her mind in her heart.
The family gave their full support to the school
In 2013, Zhao Yan heard that there was a special education school in Lanzhou, so she took Lele to study. In the three years in Lanzhou, after professional training and persistence, Lele's conventional cognition, language, and life self-care ability have been improved and improved little by little, and children can speak simple sentences, and even no longer reject and attack others. However, the relatively high tuition and living expenses in the provincial city have made Zhao Yan's family unsustainable, and in order to treat the child, the family has fallen into difficulties.
"If there were such a school in our county, the cost would be much less, and it would also enable more children like Lele to receive a better education." In this way, a bold idea emerged from Zhao Yan's mind.
In May 2015, Zhao Yan, who returned to Folk Music, began to prepare for the school. Zhao Yan's education level is not high, but she is bold and persistent, has a pungent energy that dares to think and dare to do, and more importantly, her husband and in-laws have given her the greatest support.
During that time, Zhao Yan raised funds everywhere, rented venues, decorated classrooms, recruited training teachers, etc., in order to prepare for the school, Zhao Yan's family gave everything. "The support of my family is the most important thing, and to be able to get to this day, my family has given me the greatest support spiritually!" Zhao Yan told the China Women's Daily all-media reporter.
Zhao Yan's in-laws are ordinary croppers, after discovering the child's illness, in order to treat the child, the restaurant of the two closed a year later, and her husband Hu Qipeng usually did some small work outside.
When Zhao Yan proposed to run a special education school, her husband did not object, and he said to Zhao Yan: "As long as you have the ability to run the school, I can find a way to solve the problem of money." Her husband's words made Zhao Yan take a reassuring pill. Since then, Zhao Yanyi has devoted himself to running the school without hesitation.
"From finding out the child was sick to seeing the child, going to school, until then running the school, the family never complained about anything. Father-in-law is paralyzed at home, usually the family's affairs depend on the mother-in-law, the mother-in-law usually gives me the most words is, you rest assured to go busy, the child gives me, you don't have to care about the family's affairs! Zhao Yan said that over the years, her family has given her too much tolerance and support.
Bring hope to more hopeless families
On October 15, 2015, the Minle County Zhibo Special Education School founded by Zhao Yan finally opened! Zhao Yan will never forget the first day of school: ten children, some children running around and jumping and screaming, some children do not know how to call people when they urinate and defecate, and some children are stupidly curled in the corner... Most of these children have an unfortunate story behind them, some families are torn apart because of the birth of their children; some children's parents are originally disabled and simply unable to take care of disabled children; and some families, in order to treat their children, the whole family is in debt and destitute...
Faced with the children who came to study and the hopeless families behind them, Zhao Yan made a surprising decision: not to charge a penny for tuition.
At the insistence of Zhao Yan and the teachers, after a three-month training, some children can actually recite the "Three Character Classic" and "Disciple Rules" in their entirety; some children can follow the music and dance; children who hide when they see people can take the initiative to greet people and even perform on the stage... The results of running the school made Zhao Yan extremely pleased.
With the touching deeds of Zhao Yan running a special education school attracting attention from all walks of life, the Zhangye Women's Federation, the Disabled Persons' Federation, the relevant departments of Minle County and some social caring people have given Zhao Yan great support. In January 2018, with the support of the Minle County Government and the Disabled Persons' Federation, the school moved into the Minle County Rehabilitation Center for the Disabled, with multiple functional rooms with a variety of professional rehabilitation equipment, the number of students increased to 160, according to the ratio of teachers and students in special education institutions to 1:4, the teacher team also increased from 8 to 23.
Because of Zhao Yan's contributions to children with disabilities, in recent years, Zhao Yan has been rated as "the most beautiful mother in the city" and "the most beautiful family in the city". In 2018, her family was also named one of the "Five Best Families in The Nation".
During the interview, the reporter learned that LeLe is 15 years old. In 2019, Zhao Yan and her husband had a lovely daughter, and this clever and clever daughter brought new happiness to Zhao Yan's family.
Zhao Yan told reporters: "Now his son Lele can basically take care of himself, he can eat, dress, do housework, take the bus, and communicate with his family in language is also very smooth... His recovery should be the best! Zhao Yan, an ordinary peasant girl, fulfilled her promise to her children.
【Source: China Women's Daily】