Grateful, for the services, provided by the early intervention programs, helping these children grow up, translated…
She Couldn’t, Understand the Evaluation Reports, and Asked the Social Workers to Explain to Her, Line-by-Line, and Complied with the Suggestions of the Test Results, and Discussed with the Social Workers on How She Could, Help Her Child Hone Up on the Basic Skills………
The Lesson of a Migrated Mother
Yo’s mom is of Indonesian-Chinese descent, after she graduated from college, she’d started working at a factory back home, and met Yo’s father who was on business. The two dated for awhile, then were, married, but as she’d arrived in Taiwan, she’d realized, that there’s, this huge GAP of what her husband told her about his conditions and the reality, and yet, she’d, already, married, and so, she’d, followed her own fate.
In Indonesia, there’s not enough information on education of special needs children, so, as Yo started off in kindergarten, the teachers asked his mom to take him to the hospital for an evaluation, then the hospital, transferred Yo to the Early Intervention Center of the Social Services, and, after getting the consent from his parents, they’d sent Yo’s case to the Resources Center of Xinyi Nangang District.
At first, because of the lacking in speaking the same language, Yo’s mother didn’t know that the center was there, to offer the family the assistance, believed, that the Social Services is going to, take her son away, so she’d, rejected them, kept stressing, that her son was, fine. Later, we’d, invited her to the center, and she’d, finally, let her guards down, and became, willing to comply.
Yo’s mother is someone with great stamina, once she’d decided on something, she would, see through to the very end. In the process, she’d mentioned to the social workers handling her son’s case, that she couldn’t work, because of her foreign status, that the household economics, was handled solely by her husband, and so, when Yo was three, four months, she’d, potty trained him. This persistence of hers, it’d, shown up at how active she was, in involving herself in her own young son’s early intervention; she couldn’t read the evaluations, and asked the social workers, to explain it to her word by word, and complied with the suggestions in the reports, in order to gain a better understanding, she couldn’t speak Chinese, and she’d, started learning, her second language too.
With his mother helping him, Yo’s diagnosis of being severely autistic, improved to having only, mild mental retardation, he’s now, a handsome high school kid in the regular classes. And, after Yo’s mother went through this passage, she’s now, fluent in both her native tongue and Chinese, she has, a translation job, and had the extra strengths, to help members of her church who are, severely depressed.
The Parent and Child, Growing Side-by-Side
Another case, En and his mother.
En’s mother, through the toddler scanning, found her son to show signs of developmental delay and autism, and so, they’d come to the Social Services. After the Department of Social Services received consents from the parents, they’d, asked the early intervention centers, and set her son up for a series of needed help.
At first, En was afraid of strangers, didn’t interact with other people, lacked verbal communication skills, and so, he’d often cried, thrown the tantrums to express his needs; maybe it was because of this, his mother almost, never smile, she always, looked, very worried. Seeing how much stress she’s, carrying, the social workers at the early intervention resource center used the methods of cross-industry, invited the parents to counseling. After the discussions, En’s mother slowly, learned to adjust the way she teaches her son, and worked alongside with the programs, expected that she can, help her son. From emotional expressions to behavioral control, to practicing interpersonal interactions, adjustments of foods, brushing teeth, along with other trainings of basic living skills, whenever En encountered some problems, the Early Resources Center is, always there, to help them out.
In En’s mother’s hard work and never giving up, in these past two years, we all see how much he’d grown, from not wanting to enter into the unfamiliar office, to now, smiling, inviting people, into the functions; from not being able to speak, to being able to read a whole story now.
On En’s path of early intervention, his mother carried a ton of pressures, but because of how much her son was, progressing, with the support of the early intervention teams, the lines on her face, softened down, she’d, started, smiling more, found her own, self-confidence, and her optimism. In the participation of the courses, she also found the strengths, to help other parents, to give them the warmth, the support they were, in need of.
Working in the early intervention resources center, we’d meet up with an assortment of parents, sometimes, the social workers are the parents’ friends, sometimes, coaches, listening to the troubles the parents had, and made sure, that the parents are, doing right by the methods to which they’re, teaching their young. The difficulties aren’t, reduced, but, every time, seeing how the parents and the children are, marching forward, it’s, the best kind of return, and this became, the motivations of us, keep going in our work.
And so this, is how the supports of the parents, as well as the professionals are need, in helping a child in the early intervention programs, because, if one is missing, then, the child would not receive, what s/he needed, to succeed in her/his life, and it’s a good thing, that there are, these social services programs that helps the parents with children with special needs out in this world today.