Our Young Hero on an Electric Wheelchair

How this young boy with a rare condition came out of his shells, and became, more outgoing, with the socialization trainings offered by this development center for children with special needs, translated…

My First Impressions of En-En was that He is a “Well-Behaved Boy”, Unlike How Many Children Would Make a Huge Fuss When Placed in a New Environment, He Always Sat Quietly on His Own……………

En-En, Who Loved the Dog, Ryder, from Paw Patrol

“The PAW Patrol, ready for the calls, Ryder, En-En, ready to go!”, as classes are out, the noises came from the classes, the loudest noise was made by the young boy, En-En of the Hsinbei Ai-Ji Development CEnter.

For a time, En-En loved the cartoon, “The PAW Patrol”, he’d often used what he could pick up, the toys in class, to act out his hero fantasy.  He is understanding, knew the instructor is busy, taking care of the other children’s needs, he would lead the other children to be heroes, to observe when I’m available, then, invite me to the rescues he was conducting.

At age two, En-En came to the Love Intellect Development Center, the Plain Classes No. 2, before he came, he’d already been diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (a rare genetic disorder, the muscles of the patient will deteriorate with time, causing lack of strengths and atrophy), he was immobilized, can’t move on his own, can only sit on the stool in the classrooms, but he can eat his meals on his own, or pick up the straws to drink water.  My very first impression of En-En was that he was a “well-behaved child”, unlike how a lot of children who’d start to cry and fuss in a brand new environment, he always sat quietly—until there’s a course that he couldn’t, manage.

illustration from UDN.com

Before he was sent here, En-En grew up in a loving family, the families all treated him very well, and had subconsciously, made things easy for him, to take the trials of his life away, as much as they possibly could.  And so, as En-En bumped into things he’d never encountered before, or things he couldn’t manage (like the muscle strength training) courses, he would start wailing from fear, and used his movements, to show us that he didn’t want to participate in the activities.

At first, this stressed me out, late on, I’d found, that asking if he was willing to do the activities, if he didn’t, then I skipped him, let other classmates do it first, and after he saw others perform the actions, being careful in his nature, En-En would, normally, get engaged.

The Electric Wheelchair Helping the Child March Toward His Own Independence

Three years had come and gone now, through the once six months assessments, along with the fellow students and the teachers’ accompanying and guiding him, at age five, En-En became more and more independent, and he’d even, gained that sense of, “I’m an older brother” aura.  He could not just finish up all his lunch foods on his own, he’d also found someone he could help at the teeth brushing afterwards, telling the others how to squeeze out the toothpastes, to brush their own teeth, to rinse, or to get the wet towel to wipe their faces down, sometimes, he’d even help the teachers to tell other students, “don’t grab the foods with your hands”.  He’d changed from a child who needed the care, to someone who’d, helped, watch over others.

To train the kids in the center to become more independent, and to have them accumulate the multitudes of experiences, the center fought for one electric wheelchair for all the kids to share.  At the start of En-En’s training to use the electric wheelchair, he was, a bit, nervous, compared to other children, he’d feared bumping into things more, but as he got the hang of it, he’d started, exploring the various places in the center in the wheelchair.  He’d, found an angle to which he could, enter and exit the elevator with more mobility, when he couldn’t before, and can go shop at the super convenience shops with an adult’s company too now.

and here’s his favorite cartoon character that he’d become in his class…

Ryder and his pet, Chase, from online

Last year, the Love Intellect Development Center sent the kids in the early intervention programs into preschool, to get them to assimilate, hoping, that through interacting with other children, the children in the center could successfully, enter school soon.  The first time, En-En, faced with a brand new environment, even though he’d behaved shy, and scared, but, used his delicate heart, his eyes to observe the goings on around him, and got onboard the program to enter into preschool soon.  This year, En-En is graduating, and will be starting in the formal preschools soon, we hope, that our young hero will, keep on, opening and passing through those doors that will challenging him continually, in his coming of age.

And so, this kid was shy in nature, but, with the guidance of the school instructors, he’d become, more outgoing, and that’s a good thing, because children need the socializations, and especially for special needs children like this, getting them ready for the world, training them to know how to interact with the outside world is absolutely necessary, because they can’t be locked up in an institution for the rest of their lives.  So this is a good training that’s needed for children with special needs that this development center offered to them.