In the social family, everyone has the right to equality, harmony and inclusion. For people with mental disabilities, it is even more challenging to integrate into the community and participate in social activities. The participation of volunteers injects warmth into the process. They not only provide the necessary support, but also help people with mental disabilities to improve their social skills, self-esteem and self-confidence through various activities and trainings, so that they can better integrate into society.
On the afternoon of May 12, the "Community Integration of Mental Disability Science Popularization Series Public Lectures" was held in Shanghai Charity Xintiandi. Volunteers from various communities in Huangpu District and university students from universities in Shanghai gathered to learn how to better serve people with mental disabilities and integrate into the community, and participated in the training course "Interactive Ways to Guide Children's Self-esteem and Confidence".
The reporter learned from the scene that this warm lecture is one of the important contents of the "Volunteer Cultivation Program for the Community Integration of People with Intellectual Disabilities". Funded by the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau, L'Oréal (China) Co., Ltd. through the Shanghai Children's Health Foundation, and implemented by Shanghai Huangpu Xingyu Children's Health Center. The project aims to help volunteers establish a scientific understanding of people with mental disabilities, learn how to get along with them, assist them in social interactions, and popularize the particularity of people with mental disabilities by integrating expert resources in psychology, mental medicine, special education, social work and art education, and holding popular science lectures, professional training and practical activities. At the same time, the project also aims to build a professional team of volunteers to provide services to people with intellectual disabilities and promote their integration with the community and society.
During the event, Ms. Hou Haiyong, one of the first batch of science popularization volunteers cultivated by the Volunteer Cultivation Program, gave a keynote speech on how to create an inclusive, supportive and harmonious inclusive environment to better serve and support the mentally handicapped community. Ms. Jiang Limin, Director of Xingyu Children's Health Center in Huangpu District, Shanghai, gave an in-depth explanation of "Interactive Methods to Guide Children's Self-esteem and Confidence" in the training session.
Yuchen Sun, a social work student at East China University of Science and Technology, was one of the first volunteers of the volunteer training program. Through the school's recruitment activities, he joined Shanghai Charity Xintiandi in the spring of 2023. After participating in the relevant training, he has a deeper understanding of the mentally handicapped community; In the process of accompanying young people with mental disabilities, he felt the inclusiveness of Shanghai and the care for the disadvantaged. Sun Yuchen believes that as a student volunteer, although he cannot provide the same help as professional staff, he can help in his spare time by understanding the characteristics and life of the mentally handicapped community, and carry out wider publicity after graduation in the future, so as to contribute to the creation of a friendly and inclusive environment.
Since its establishment in January 2003, Shanghai Huangpu Xingyu Children's Health Center has been committed to providing rehabilitation services for children with developmental disabilities such as ADHD, autism, intellectual disability, and learning difficulties. Over the past 20 years, Xingyu Center has continuously promoted education methods that are in line with the development of autistic life, serving more than 2,000 families of autistic children. Jiang Limin, director of the center, said that with the increasing attention of the government and society to the mentally handicapped group and the implementation of the volunteer cultivation plan, they expect more caring people like Sun Yuchen to join the volunteer team to help the mentally handicapped group improve their life and social skills and better integrate into the community and society as companions, propagandists and leaders.