2 hours, 27 minutes and 37 seconds. This is the Guangzhou Marathon (half-marathon) result of 17-year-old "Star Youth" (Note: Refers to autistic youth) Yixi.
It's not just Guangzhou Marathon!
In the past two years, Yixi has participated in eight half-marathons: Shaoguan , Zhaoqing , Zhuhai ... He ran to the end in every game.
Yi Xi’s handsome face and firm eyes when running made it difficult to associate him with “autism”.
What is the force that drives Yi Xi to run bravely?
So, what is the way for Yi Xi to run? On the road, there was a person running closely behind Yi Xi, silently guarding Yi Xi. This person is Yi Xi’s father.
Yixi’s father is a “well-known person” in the circle of parents of autistic children in Guangzhou, known as Brother Sheng. Speaking of his child Yixi, Brother Sheng's chat box suddenly opened up.
My child and I are "autistic" together
When Yi Xi was one and a half years old, she could not call her parents or look at people, she could only bab and make some repetitive noises. Sensing that something was wrong with the child, Brother Sheng took Yi Xi to three hospitals in succession, and was finally diagnosed with autism.
"Like all parents of children with autism, the moment my child was diagnosed, I felt as if I had fallen from heaven to hell. My eyes were in darkness and I couldn't breathe. "Brother Sheng recalled.
When Yixi was a child
In order to accompany the child for rehabilitation training, Brother Sheng's wife quit her job and stayed with the child full-time. Brother Sheng shouldered the burden of the entire family by himself. Before Yixi went to elementary school, Brother Sheng took him to nearly 10 different institutions for rehabilitation training, and tried audiological training, sensory training, dolphin therapy, acupuncture treatment, etc. and Like many parents, Brother Sheng dreamed that his child would recover soon. As long as he heard others say which method is effective, he would take his child no matter how far or how expensive it was. However, after spending almost all the family’s savings, Brother Sheng found that Yixi still could not live and study like other children.
“At that time, not only was the child autistic, but we as parents were also autistic. We didn’t want to see anyone or go anywhere. "Brother Sheng said. Because of the child's problem, Brother Sheng did not even attend gatherings among friends, fearing that others would know what happened to his child.
insisted on providing integrated education for his children.
After going through a long road to recovery, the growing Yixi began to face the problem of going to elementary school. Brother Sheng decided to send Yixi to a special school. After three years of study, Yixi Xi made great progress. At the suggestion of the special education teacher, Brother Sheng tried to take Yi Xi to receive integrated education.
However, the reality quickly poured cold water on Brother Sheng.
Yi Xi was dismissed from the school after only two weeks. It turned out that it was inevitable for Yi Xi to adapt to the unfamiliar environment. There have been some behavioral problems, such as walking out of the classroom in class, barking when excited, running around, etc. These "normal behaviors" of autistic children are incomprehensible and unacceptable to teachers who have not been exposed to inclusive education.
After the child was persuaded to leave, the whole family was in a very low mood. But as the head of the family, Brother Sheng forced himself to get out of his depression in the shortest possible time.
Brother Sheng took Yixi back to the special school and had in-depth and detailed communication with the teachers. Together they redesigned the training plan for Yixi, strengthened behavioral and discipline training, and strengthened home rehabilitation training. “After get off work and on weekends, I take my children for training by myself, hoping that their children can gradually improve their abilities to the level where they can go to general schools for integrated education. "
Hard work pays off. After five months of hard training, and Brother Sheng's repeated communication, Yi Xi finally got an opportunity to return to the general school to study. At the same time, Brother Sheng also provided autism science education in the school, allowing Yi Xi's classmates to The students also learned about Yixi's practical difficulties and set up a support team to help Yixi adapt to the study and life in the general school.
In the general school, Yixi learned a lot of cultural knowledge and also took the primary school entrance exam.This makes Brother Sheng feel very happy.
With the unremitting efforts and care of Brother Sheng and his family, Yi Xi has grown up slowly.
"Star Dad"'s Father's Day wish
Today is Father's Day.
When talking about "holiday gifts", Brother Sheng waved his hand: "I don't want a Father's Day gift. But as Yi Xi grows up, I have a stronger wish: Yi Xi and the 'Xing Youth' who are in a similar situation to him can find jobs as soon as possible and support themselves."
Father Sheng Ge (left) and son Yi Xi (right) participate in the event together
In order to realize this wish, Brother Sheng has been working hard for several years - his other identity is the vice president of the Guangzhou Autistic Children's Association. Creating job opportunities for "Star Youth" has been one of the focuses of Sheng Ge's life and work in recent years.
"Autistic groups have a common characteristic, which is repetitive and stereotyped behavioral habits. To achieve employment for autistic groups, employment projects must be designed based on the characteristics of the group." Sheng Ge introduced.
After nearly two years of exploration, in 2019, the Guangzhou Autistic Children's Server Association, where Brother Sheng works, launched the "Star Family Employment Support" project with the support of project design, project fundraising, and project dissemination provided by Amity Foundation and Guangzhou Amity Charity Development Center. It hopes to train "Star Youth" to learn steaming skills and sell steamed rice to achieve employment. Since the launch of the
project, Brother Sheng and the project staff have been very busy: looking for venues and sales support, inviting catering industry experts to provide technical guidance to the "Star Youth", conducting regular assessments and arranging appropriate work tasks for project trainees...
So far, the project has successfully trained 4 "Star Youth" to achieve employment. More "star youths" are embarking on the road of self-reliance because of this project.
Every day of busyness makes Brother Sheng feel that he is one step closer to his wish.
For Brother Sheng, as long as his children are safe, healthy and making progress, every day is his Father's Day.
