Career guidance for autistic children

Teacher guides children to draw on straw bags. Photo: Ho Lai

Gia An - VIP Career Guidance was established with the desire to become a warm home, a solid support for special children to take the first steps on the journey of independence. Here, children learn skills, receive career guidance, can work and receive results from their own abilities.

First month salary

In a house on Ngo Van So Street (Vinh City, Nghe An ), members of Gia An Club - VIP Career Guidance are diligently drawing and painting on straw bags, conical hats, notebooks, etc. During the recent 50th anniversary of the liberation of the South, handmade products with the image of the red flag with a yellow star attracted the attention and were ordered by many customers. Truong Hung - a member of the club, knew how to quote the price of the product and gave the QR code for customers to pay.

Although the quantity is not much, each hand-painted bag, cloth-covered notebook, watercolor painting, oil painting... when introduced and displayed for sale is carefully, meticulously and beautifully cared for. Each product is well received by the buyer, the group has more income and a portion is saved to pay the salaries of the members.

After a period of apprenticeship and trial production of many products, the club members received their “monthly salary” in a pretty envelope. The amount was not large, but the joy and excitement were evident on the innocent faces of the children, as well as the tears of their parents when they witnessed the first fruits of their children’s labor.

Truong Hung, Gia Phu, Minh Nguyet, Dung… members of the club are special and different children. They were born with healthy, normal bodies but have autism. Ms. Tran Thi Phuc (Minh Nguyet's mother) brought her child to Gia An - VIP Career Guidance just over a month ago.

About 15 years ago, knowledge about autism was not widespread, but accompanying Minh Nguyet, she is now like a psychologist and special education expert. The slow-talking, shy girl now smiles more, is more open, and is not afraid to interact with strangers. She let her child try to learn to play the piano, learn to draw, and learn to cook at Hong Lam Technical Economic College. And the destination now is Gia An - VIP Vocational Guidance to embark on a new journey, learn skills, make handmade products according to orders...

“This year my daughter turns 18. At this threshold, I hope she has a place to orient her career, work and in the long term can work and live like a normal person…”, said Ms. Tran Thi Phuc.

Special children receive their first salary from the fruits of their labor. Photo: NVCC

Journey to make autistic children independent

Ms. Tran Thu Phuong - the founder of Gia An - VIP Career Guidance is also the mother of a special child. Her second son - Nguyen Truong Hung was born healthy and handsome like other normal children. But when he was nearly 2 years old, she observed and saw signs of "language regression" in her child. Although it was unwanted and full of anxiety, her mother's sensitivity urged her to take her child to the doctor and received the result that Truong Hung had autism.

Accepting that “there is no miracle to change”, the mother began a new journey with her child. She sent Truong Hung to a specialized intervention center, then to an integrated elementary school. By the age of 12, the knowledge of junior high school was too much for her child’s level of understanding, so she enrolled him in an intermediate level painting course at Nghe An Province College of Culture and Arts.

When her son turned 16, Thu Phuong began to consider the future. According to Thu Phuong, Nghe An currently only has specialized centers for autistic children, with early intervention functions at a young age. There are no skills or vocational training centers for people with autism when they grow up. Meanwhile, in the long run, what the children need and their families want is for them to have a place to learn a trade, live and work.

She researched, surveyed and planned to send her child to the Career Guidance Project for children with autism and mental retardation in Hanoi founded by Ms. Phan Thi Lan Huong, who worked at the Department of Children (formerly Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs).

But the problem is that autistic children need their parents and relatives to be by their side during their studies and intervention, along with a safe and familiar living environment. Meanwhile, parents have to work, worry about the family economy, and even take care of other children. Therefore, she expressed her wish to build a career guidance model for autistic children in Nghe An.

Ms. Thu Phuong built the club with the heart of a mother and named it Gia An with the meaning: Family - Peace. The first goal is to help children have the ability to take care of themselves, clean, cook simple meals, have self-protection skills and learn a suitable profession. The things that Gia An club is orienting these special young people to do are handicrafts: Making notebooks, hand embroidery, painting on straw bags, cloth bags...

Currently, the club has teachers in charge of teaching intervention, skills, drawing and embroidery. At Gia An house, members learn skills, work, have time to exercise, sing and dance... At noon, the children stay with teachers to learn cooking, cleaning and hygiene.

As a teacher with nearly 10 years of experience in educating children with autism, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy said: “Many people think that these are “special education” students, but I teach them like normal students with their own personality and identity. To teach them, we need not only knowledge, but also love, sharing and patience. The learning outcome is the progress of the children every day and this is a great source of motivation for us to continue our work.”

Talking about Gia An - VIP Career Guidance, Ms. Tran Thu Phuong confided: "Even though parents love their children unconditionally, one day they will grow old and cannot take care of them anymore.

Families can prepare a financial reserve to provide, but cannot guarantee that children can take care of themselves without their parents. Normal people need to study and work to earn a living, have joy and goals in life, and so do autistic children. They need to work, activate skills, and think in accordance with their cognitive world.

Cam Giang (According to giaoducthoidai)

Source: http://baovinhphuc.com.vn/Multimedia/Images/Id/128730/Huong-nghiep-cho-tre-tu-ky