Dr. Dao Thu Thuy and children with developmental disorders find a bright future

As the founder of SEED Center with the mission of training and providing career guidance for people with developmental disorders, do you see any misconceptions about children with developmental disorders?

Dr. Dao Thu Thuy: In society, many people confuse neuropsychiatry with developmental disorders. However, neuropsychiatry is not a disorder. Intellectual disability is also easily confused with autism spectrum disorder and language disorder. Each subject has very different characteristics and signs, but in general, they all have cognitive difficulties and behavioral problems.

Developmental disorders are disorders of the nervous system, damage inside the brain, not a disease and cannot be cured. However, if detected early, early intervention steps will gradually stabilize and adapt, children can learn many skills to be able to live independently.

What inspired you to found the SEED model? Can you share about the process from the early days of establishing the center?

Dr. Dao Thu Thuy: Previously, I worked in early intervention for children with developmental disorders. In 2018, a friend of mine had a son who had graduated from college but could not find a job. We realized that finding a job for healthy people is 1 difficult, but for people with disabilities it is 10, even 100 times more difficult. From that, I was inspired to build the SEED model.

In 2019, SEED was newly established and had been operating for more than 4 months when the Covid-19 epidemic spread. At this time, SEED encountered many difficulties and seemed to be unable to survive. At that time, we decided to teach online and launched the "Accompanying children" movement to attract parents to join evening classes to teach their children basic life skills and make handicrafts at home. The expanded online evening class attracted students from outside Hanoi , the North, Central and South. Every evening, there were 3-4 classes operating continuously and hundreds of parents participated.

Images of classes and learning activities at the center

With the motto "Sowing seeds of love, welcoming a bright future", how has the center implemented and carried out its mission?

Dr. Dao Thu Thuy: The center's motto has shown an important principle in teaching - always starting from love. In addition, the fact that students come to the center not only to study but also to work is a special point in SEED's training method. Students here are all 12 years old and above, with the ability to communicate, use language and control their behavior. With this target, the center aims to help them find career opportunities through specialized vocational training classes. The products at the center are made according to the production line model, and each student is in charge of a position on that line depending on each student's own strengths. Some of you are good at cooking, some are good at fine arts, cutting and pasting, some are very careful, some are very agile... Based on your strengths, the teachers at the center will accept qualified students after each course to do similar work at the center and pay them a salary, create income for them, create conditions for them to be able to live independently, reduce the burden on their families and society. The center aims for independent business, sustainable development, and does not rely on charitable sources to operate the center.

Handicrafts that the center's students make themselves

Realizing that the center is operating according to an innovative and pioneering model, playing a big role in helping children with developmental disorders integrate into society, can you share about the challenges the center is facing?

Dr. Dao Thu Thuy: During the past 5 years, the biggest difficulty at the Center has been finding outlets for the products, how to sell the products and make a profit to pay the children's salaries.

Furthermore, many young teachers are reluctant to work with adolescents with developmental disorders because most of them are bigger than their teachers and have many behavioral problems, especially gender-related behavior. In addition, in developed countries, each enterprise must commit to hiring 2-5% of disabled workers, but Vietnam has not yet included employment policies for disabled people in its commitments to enterprises. Therefore, it is difficult for disabled people to find jobs in factories, enterprises, etc.

As someone with many years of experience in this field, what would you like to say to those who have been pursuing theeducational model for children with developmental disorders?

Dr. Dao Thu Thuy: As educators, accompanying children with developmental disorders, I always believe that "Nothing is difficult, only fear of not being persistent" and only when we have enough tolerance and patience can we help children grow up every day. For the SEED model, output connection plays a very important role in helping the model go in the right direction. You need to learn and grasp market needs in a timely manner to have a training orientation for suitable professions, thereby creating valuable products for society.

What message would you send to parents and young people today?

I hope the term "autism" will be used appropriately and not be derogatory. I hope that parents will continue to be patient and steadfast in helping their children grow up, become independent, self-supporting and useful people. At the same time, SEED is always open to welcome students to work and support them to help them integrate into the community. I hope that young people will be a bridge to help more people recognize autism and developmental disabilities so that they do not discriminate and are always willing to help those with developmental disorders.

Source: https://toquoc.vn/ts-dao-thu-thuy-cung-tre-roi-loan-phat-trien-tim-diem-sang-cho-tuong-lai-20240626165030179.htm