A place to continue dreams for special students

Accompanying children

One day at the end of March, the first members of Gia An Club - VIP Career Guidance (located at 59, Ngo Van So, Vinh city) received the first envelopes with the content "March salary". The amount of money in each envelope was not large but it was the result of hard work after days of hard work, care, and meticulousness in every drawing, every needle and thread.

Receiving salary, not only club members but also teachers, fathers and mothers were excited and emotional. This joy is wonderful!

Before that, it took a long time, under the skillful hands of Hung, Nguyet, Phu... many handmade products with personal imprints were born.

Although the quantity is not much, receiving hand-painted bags, small, pretty notebooks bound in fabric, paintings drawn with watercolors, acrylics... many people could not help but admire.

Recently, in response to the 50th anniversary of the Liberation of the South and the reunification of the country, the club members launched a product called straw bags with the red flag and yellow star painted on them and the words "Independence - Freedom", "Vietnam - Happiness" which also received attention. After each product was well received by the buyers, the group had an additional income and saved a portion to pay the salaries of the members.

Hung, Phu, Dung and Nguyet... are all special children. Nearly 18 years ago, when they were born, they were all healthy and had bright, intelligent faces. But then, 6 months, 12 months and up to 15 months after birth, their parents began to notice something unusual about their children.

Nguyet's mother is a middle school teacher and when she started to see her child showing signs of being quiet, afraid to communicate, and slower to walk and speak than other children of the same age, she was very worried.

Over the years, thanks to her mother's support, 18-year-old Nguyet has been able to go to school and integrate with her peers. However, at the new threshold of her life, she hopes her child will have a place to be recognized, to work and live like normal people. She came to Gia An Club for that reason.

Phu is also a special boy, as he was diagnosed by a doctor at the age of 2 with hyperactivity and attention deficit. Because he did not want his child to be at a disadvantage compared to his peers, his family took Phu for intervention early, to study and integrate with his friends until the end of grade 9. At the same time, Phu also studied at the Provincial College of Culture and Arts in both Painting and Music. Currently, although he is considered to be quiet, Phu is an emotional boy, draws well, plays the guitar well and has many talents.

In order for the child to develop his strengths, the family has sent Phu to Gia An Club, because there he has a teacher to support him and friends of the same age. Here, the children can also participate in other activities such as career guidance, life skills training, drawing training and many other experiential activities. After each class, the children make handmade products according to orders...

Multiplying hopes

We understand you!. We are with you!. We believe in your children! We create a safe and friendly environment, that is the message that Gia An Club - VIP Career Guidance aims at when it started operating. This is a club dedicated toautistic childrenand slow development are operating under the first vocational guidance model in Vinh city.

The initiator and developer of this project in Hanoi is Ms. Phan Thi Lan Huong, working at the Department of Children (Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs). In fact, in the past, not only in Nghe An but also in Hanoi and many other provinces and cities, projects and vocational guidance centers for autistic and slow-developing children often operated in the form of independent teaching. Meanwhile, when they reach adulthood, what they need and what their families want is for them to have a place to learn a trade, to live and to work.

Ms. Thu Phuong is the one who brought the model to operate in Nghe An and is also the one who understands better than anyone the feelings of fathers and mothers whose children have autism spectrum syndrome and developmental delays.

Truong Hung, her second son, born in 2006, was discovered to be “abnormal” when he was nearly 2 years old. After many years of accompanying her child, after many sleepless nights and worries, she realized that “there is no miracle to change” but she herself had to change for her child. She could not run away, not hide, but had to help people have a different view of special children, so that they would be respected, understood and loved.

Therefore, to make her son stronger, she tried to help Truong Hung integrate with everyone. This boy, at the age of 6, entered grade 1, at the age of 12, he started studying the Intermediate Painting program at the Provincial College of Culture and Arts. Together with his son, he participated in sports activities, community activities and other integration activities... At the age of 18, Hung and his mother took their first steps at Gia An Club as a member.

Sharing more about her decision, Ms. Thu Phuong said: For families with autistic children, many families can accompany and provide their children with a full life, but that does not seem to be all. Children need to learn life skills, self-care skills, social communication skills... Besides, children have the need to work, to create the value of life like normal people... Therefore, when participating in this club, children will be given the opportunity and confidence to demonstrate that ability.

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Currently, we have many places to support, educate, and intervene early for young autistic children. However, the needs of older children who need to discover their abilities and orient their work are still not met.

In fact, in recent years, Vietnam has had hundreds of thousands of people with autism, many of whom are of working age but only very few can find suitable jobs.

Another important thing that autistic adults need to learn is life skills, self-service skills, self-protection skills, and anti-abuse skills...

Gia An Club was born with the desire to give children the opportunity and confidence to help them express their abilities and most importantly, to eliminate the prejudice that autistic people are a burden to their families and society.

Ms. Thu Phuong

Because this is a completely new model in Nghe An, Ms. Thu Phuong believes that success cannot come overnight. On the contrary, with perseverance and patience, she and the teachers here are making efforts every day to give the boys and girls many meaningful experiences.

Here, children not only learn skills and work, but also play and express themselves through music, movement, art...

As a teacher with nearly 10 years of experience in educating students with autism spectrum syndrome, teacher Nguyen Thi Thuy said: Many people think that these are special students, but I see them as other normal students, each with their own personality, their own identity and each of us respects the differences of the children. To teach them, teachers need not only knowledge and skills but above all love and sharing. The learning outcome is the progress of the children every day and this is a great source of motivation for us to believe in our journey.

Talking about Gia An Club - VIP Career Guidance, Ms. Thu Phuong also said that she and the boys and girls here are ready to embark on a new journey, a journey of love, understanding and hope. Moreover, they believe that although the children here are not like other children, when they are born and grow up, they are still magical children - in their own way.