Thanks to her efforts and faith, Mrs. Hang helped her son with Down syndrome become a useful member of society who knows how to work to earn his own living.
Remembering the time she took her son for treatment, Le Thi Hang (born in 1959, living in District 10) cannot help feeling emotional, because now her son can do everything by himself.
A mother's arduous journey
In 1994, she became pregnant and gave birth to her son Bui Tat Thanh. But all her initial happiness vanished when she learned that her son had congenital Down syndrome.
“In fact, I had a difficult birth. When I gave birth to Thanh, I was already 37 years old. On the day he was born, Thanh could not breathe for five minutes, his whole body turned blue and he had to breathe through oxygen… which led to his Down syndrome”, Mrs. Hang said.
In the early days, she was in great pain whenever she looked at her son. But rising above it all, with the love of her husband and relatives, she decided she must treat her son by every means possible.
At 18 months old, no matter how much he practised, Thanh still could not stand. Seeing this, Mrs. Hang sent him to nursery school and asked the teachers to tutor him. With the teachers' care and supervision, after a few months Thanh was taking his first faltering steps.
When Thanh started learning to read and write, the condition meant his eyes could not focus on one point. Whenever he wrote, his writing went off the lines and his letters scrawled all over the page.
At the age of six, Mrs. Hang sent him to Hoa Binh Village 2 to study. It was also at this time that she learned her son could not speak.
“At that time, after he had been at school for a while, the teachers invited me in to tell me that Thanh could not speak. When I took Thanh for a check-up, I learned that he had a tongue-tie, which was why he could not speak”, Mrs. Hang said.
Thanh can now take care of himself.
But thanks to her persistence and efforts, Mrs. Hang took Thanh to and from school every day and taught him to speak. When he turned ten, Thanh began to babble a few words.
But at this point, Thanh still could not do simple things; he needed help from his mother or older sister for everything. Wanting her son to be independent and able to do basic things in life, Mrs. Hang decided to send him to learn martial arts.
At 15, Thanh was admitted to the Employment Introduction Centre for People with Disabilities. From then on, every day Thanh had to both study and do simple jobs so he could support himself. He also had to practise martial arts three times a week so his body could move and adapt like everyone else's.
“At first, they would not take my son, but after I kept persuading them, the martial arts master finally agreed to take him. Thanks to Thanh's regular martial arts practice, his body is now basically like everyone else's, and he can manage all his personal care by himself”, Mrs. Hang recalled.
And so, for more than 20 years, Mrs. Hang has taken her son to school, martial arts, acupuncture and swimming every day, hoping that one day he will be independent.
Sweet results and heartfelt advice
When she talks about Thanh, Mrs. Hang cannot hide her joy. After all her efforts, her son can now live independently. Recalling the time that has passed, she said Thanh can ride a bicycle to go out, to school or to fetch things from somewhere. He can also do everything around the house, from small tasks to big ones.
Every week, Thanh has to go to evening martial arts sessions to train his body further.
Even without his mother beside him, Thanh can cook simple dishes for himself. “Because I am a teacher, I always put cultural education first. I always tell him that whenever he goes out he must obey the traffic laws, and after eating, any plastic bag must go in the bin… That is why Thanh not only lives well without me but also behaves in a cultured way,” Mrs. Hang said.
Sharing her experience of raising her child, Mrs. Hang said: “I have heard other people say: “just give up”, because it will come to nothing. But I advise parents whose children have the same condition as my son to always keep trying and believe that one day their child will be able to live independently like everyone else. The key is for parents to guide their children step by step and train them little by little, and there will be results.”
Thanh Dat
(From Congluan)_http://emdep.vn/