Opening the door to inclusion for children with disabilities

Students of Viet Tri Orphanage Center for Disabled Children enjoy playing during group activities.

Listen to children with your heart

A year ago, the family decided to send Nguyen The Bao (born in 2010) to the Viet Tri Orphanage for Disabled Children to receive guidance, care and help from teachers. Although he finished 4th grade, when he first entered the Center, Nguyen The Bao could not write fluently, did not know how to use symbols, was shy and spoke little. Living away from home and staying in a boarding school at first for a deaf and slow-developing child like Bao was both bewildering and worrying. But then, thanks to the caring and guidance of the homeroom teacher and the affection of friends in the same situation, he quickly integrated into the new environment. The Bao now knows many things, communicates relatively well with teachers and friends, and has improved his cognition. On weekends off from school, I can take the bus home with my family and help my parents with some chores: sweeping the house, hanging clothes, cooking... Teacher Vu Thu Dung - homeroom teacher of class 1B with hearing impairments, Viet Tri Orphanage for Disabled Children shared: "The children are disadvantaged children, quite self-conscious and easily hurt and agitated. Therefore, each teacher here not only teaches the class with normal lectures but also requires patience, knows how to control emotions, grasp the psychology and feelings of each child. Sometimes being a teacher, sometimes being a friend, sometimes being close like a blood relative in the family so that the children can truly feel the warmth of love and love, and be attached to the Center like their own family". Although physically disabled, in return, in each child's heart there is always a desire to be loved and empathized. The teachers here are taking care of the less fortunate children every day with all their hearts, hoping to encourage and partly compensate them to help them confidently integrate into the community soon.

Established in 1993, Viet Tri Orphanage for Disabled Children has become a warm home for hundreds of disabled children in the province. With the mission of not only nurturing but also providing specialized education, career guidance and vocational training, the Center has helped children gradually overcome physical and mental barriers to integrate into the community. In the 2024-2025 school year, the Center has 132 students aged 6-18 with disabilities: hearing impairment, visual impairment, intellectual disability and autism, of which hearing impaired students account for 80%. The majority of students are from poor households and in difficult circumstances. Under the dedicated care of 38 staff and teachers, the rate of students integrating into the community after completing the class program accounts for nearly 100%.

The closeness and kindness of teachers have helped blind students at the Viet Tri Center for the Protection of Orphans and Disabled Children overcome their inferiority complex and strive to practice to soon integrate into the community.

If the Viet Tri Orphanage for Disabled Children is a specialized inter-level school for disabled children, the Truong An Inclusive Education Support and Development Center focuses on building a friendly environment, helping children confidently integrate. Established in 2018, the Center has opened 4 facilities in Viet Tri city, Cam Khe district and Doan Hung district. Each year, the Center integrates 30-50 children. Currently, the Center is caring for and educating nearly 80 children, mainly children with autism, developmental disorders, speech delay and developmental delay. Psychologist Bui Thi Thanh Thuan - Director of the Center said: "With the desire to create an inclusive learning environment, encourage interaction and communication between students, along with classroom activities, we also organize outdoor experiential activities and group play to enhance interaction, helping to increase children's language and cognitive development. The 21 teachers at the Center are all intensively trained with regular support from prestigious experts in the field of education at home and abroad. Thanks to that, teachers not only have knowledge of effective teaching methods but also have special care and love for children. The dedication and care of each teacher has helped students feel safe, confident and capable of comprehensive development, early integration into the community". The inclusive education model at Truong An Center not only helps children with disabilities develop skills, but also changes community awareness, eliminates stigma and creates conditions for them to become useful citizens.

Removing difficulties

Having worked at the Viet Tri Orphanage for Disabled Children for 20 years, teacher Tran Thi Hong Van is considered a second mother to the children here. “Coming early and coming home late is a daily occurrence for us. Because when I spend a lot of time participating in the activities and activities of the students in class as well as in the dormitory, it helps teachers and students get closer to each other. Through that, I understand the students' thoughts and feelings better so that I can sympathize with them more. Many times when the students feel unwell or need something, they will call the teacher first, because many of their families live far away. At times like that, regardless of the time, I run to the Center to be with the children,” Ms. Van confided.

Teachers from Truong An Center for Support and Development of Inclusive Education treat children.

Despite their dedication to children, the staff and teachers at the Viet Tri Center for the Protection of Orphans and Disabled Children still have many concerns. Teacher Nguyen Thi Nghia - Director of the Center shared: “Each year, the Center only enrolls 2 classes with 24 children, while the demand of people wanting to send their children here is more than 10 times higher than the actual enrollment because the facilities are cramped and degraded. This difficulty will be resolved in the near future when the Center has been approved to build a new one with an expanded scale, full of functional rooms, classrooms and dormitories for children. However, because this is a specialized education model, we hope to increase training and exchange experiences to improve the professional qualifications of the staff and teachers. Currently, the Center does not have staff to support children with disabilities, while the need is for 14 people to support the children. Supportive devices for children with disabilities: Headphones, walking sticks, specialized educational equipment to support teachers in teaching students with disabilities are still lacking, especially listening practice for children with many difficulties”.

According to the Association for the Protection of Disabled and Orphans, the whole province has more than 3,000 disabled children receiving assistance from the State, of which 2,677 children with extremely severe disabilities and children with severe disabilities are enjoying social protection policies, 1,674 children are receiving educational and vocational training assistance... The number of disabled children is large, but the whole province only has 1 specialized educational facility, the Viet Tri Center for the Protection of Disabled Orphans, and 3 integrated education centers licensed by the Department of Education and Training in Viet Tri city and Lam Thao district, with the number of disabled students enrolled being very small compared to the children's need to go to school. Specifically, at the Truong An Center for Support and Development of Inclusive Education, although the curriculum is mainly autism spectrum screening, early intervention and teaching life skills with a separate curriculum, in recent years it has encountered difficulties in enrollment when it has only recruited about 50% of the children compared to enrollment needs. One of the biggest difficulties today comes from parents. Many families still have prejudices, worrying that their children will be discriminated against and bullied in an inclusive environment. This leads to many people hesitating to register their children to study at the center, instead choosing to keep their children at home or send them to specialized facilities far away. Some children will be integrated after reaching 80% of the child's development scale. However, after the children integrate into the normal social environment, most parents are subjective and do not continue to accompany their children, causing the children to fall behind in the integration gap. Psychologist Bui Thi Thanh Thuan - Director of Truong An Center for Support and Development of Inclusive Education hopes: "We hope that in the coming time, we will be given the opportunity to coordinate with preschools in the province to screen children's development and psychology for early development, helping children have the opportunity to participate in early inclusive education, thereby increasing the opportunity for children to develop normally. Through seminars for parents, we will also contribute to raising parents' awareness of early inclusive education for children."

Although the love of teachers of disabled children cannot heal the physical defects of the children, it will give them confidence and strength to live in harmony with the community, alleviating some of the disadvantages they have to endure. Disabled children not only need care but also need opportunities to affirm their own values. With the efforts of specialized education centers, inclusive education centers and the support of the community, the door to integration is increasingly opening so that no child is left behind on the journey to knowledge and a fulfilling life.

Hong Nhung

Source: https://baophutho.vn/mo-canh-cua-hoa-nhap-cho-tre-khuet-tat-231000.htm