伊甸園電子報

Growing Up With A Loving Dad’s Care

A few years ago, Xiao Jing’s father got into a car accident that restricted his movements, then took up the mantle of raising three children with developmental delays all alone. Fortunately, he had help from Yilan’s Community Service Center, allowing his youngest son to receive developmentally critical education and early interventions. People called Xiao Jing the slow flying angel, who step by step was able to fly higher and higher, eventually being able to soar. Accompanying his son’s growth and seeing him develop healthily was all the father wished for.

Author: Nina Chu | Translation: Ian Sung |Photographer: Chih-Yin Wang

Xiao Jing was hiding from his dad playing hide & seek, and sneakily went outside into the fire alley. The dad didn’t catch up, choosing to quietly hide inside the house behind the door. Upon not being able to see dad, the cheeky laughs quickly turned to an urgent cry.

“Bapaaa-” yelled Xiao Jing.

“Meow, meow, meow…” called Xiao Jing’s dad, mimicking a cat.

“Bapaaaaa-” cried Xiao Jing, desperately looking for his dad.

Knock, knock, knock. The dad tips the door to give Xiao Jing a hint.

“Ahh, ha-hah!” exclaimed Xiao Jing, finding his dad behind the door and happily hugged his leg.

Xiao Jing’s dad has deep bonds with his children. Surrounded by three kids, the dad’s eyes are always filled with joy.

The Car Accident

On one cursed day, Xiao Jing’s father had a car accident.

“Chief! Something terrible has happened! The vegetable truck collided with A-Yi’s scooter and he’s lying on the ground as if he can’t move!” shouted the neighbor, who seemed like he was standing on a frying pan.

“What?!! Hurry up and call the ambulance!” ordered the Chief.

“Wake up A-Yi! Wake up!” begged Xiao Jing’s uncle nonstop as he rode with A-Yi in the ambulance.

Xiao Jing’s father originally worked in Northern Taiwan. One time he had a car accident 3-4 kilometers from his home, during which he hit his head on the ground, going unconscious. Villagers who saw the accident all thought it was all awful, with no luck whatsoever to alleviate the injuries. When Xiao Jing’s aunt went to the hospital, his head was so deformed she wouldn’t have recognized him if not for his tattoos.

He also injured his neck, waking up to rampant dizziness, loose teeth, and impaired vision in the left eye. During hospitalization, he went through so much pain that he contemplated suicide; however, the immediate afterthought of who would take care of his three children kept him strong.

Xiao Jing’s father gradually recuperated, but due to his physical injuries he couldn’t return to work in the North. For half a year after leaving the hospital, his headaches and dizziness persisted. He said, “It was so dizzying everyday that it felt like I was drinking hard liquor.”

Thankfully, Xiao Jing’s family had strong support. When the dad was injured, yet had to take care of three children at the same time, uncles and aunts lended helping hands. Now Xiao Jing’s family of four lives at their uncle’s place, preventing the dad from moving too much living alone and further injuring his spine.

Early Intervention

Xiao Jing resides conveniently close to the Eden Foundation’s Datong Maoan Station Care Center. Elders go there to find companionship, sing together, handcraft art, and dine together. At times grandparents bring their grandkids, adding even more fun to the mix.

Besides activities for elders, the Yilan Community Service Center also goes there to introduce early intervention services. When Xiao Jing’s older brother and younger sister went there for the activities, they were screened for developmental delays, allowing the social workers and their father to arrange timely early treatments. Now, those two siblings have successfully finished elementary school. This year, the five year old Xiao Jing underwent examinations and got the same result as his siblings, so social workers set up early treatment for him as well.

At first, Xiao Jing was easily irritable, couldn’t sit still, quickly lost patience playing with toys, and kept leaving his seat. Eventually, during recent classes, special education teacher Lin Yucen improved Xiao Jing’s cognitive abilities and fine hand movements using different colored toys and shapes, which also guided him to have dialogue in their games. They switched between active and passive activities, greatly improving Xiao Jing’s concentration and stability.

In a morning class, Xiao Jing completed various activities with the guidance of his teacher. At the end of class, the teacher asked Xiao Jing to do his own jacket’s zipper and practice self-care in order to prepare him for entering kindergarten later this year.

A Race Against Time, Delivering Early Intervention Services To Every Town & Village

Many factors contribute to developmental delays in youth, including environmental, social, cultural, psychological, neurological, and physiological factors. If parents aren’t able to catch developmental delays in children early enough, instead finding out via differences with other children during school, then they miss the opportunity for early intervention – making a world’s difference developmentally in neurogenesis, cognitive abilities, and behavior.

Social worker Lin Rukui emphasized the profound effects early intervention – during critical periods – has for children with developmental delays on their future potential. The timely treatment of learning intervention, for example, ensures the outcomes are more effective and reduces educational costs for the family. The lack of resources in rural areas deprives children of key stimulation and learning, resulting in insufficient in-depth learning. It forces people to resort to “3C” learning (harmfully relying on phones, tablets, and computers). For that reason, the Yilan Community Service Center avidly promotes early intervention and education, providing much needed resources.

Lin Yucen, a special ed teacher, starts each week traveling from the Yuanshan, Yilan office to give Xiao Jing his lessons. Given forgiving traffic conditions, it takes an hour’s drive. When Yilan’s frequent rain occurs, roads encounter mudslides – leaving one-way streets as the only option, so special ed teachers have to reschedule classes in rural, hard-to-reach areas. One time, a teacher expected to teach at a home on Yilan South Mountain, but being met with snowy conditions without tire chains forced them to cancel the class for safety. Special ed teachers face all sorts of road conditions on mountainous roads, so they have to keep a close watch on weather reports before departing.

At the end of the morning class, the teacher walked Xiao Jing home hand in hand.

“Dad!” exclaimed Xiao Jing upon returning home. Seeing dad sitting in the living room gave Xiao Jing the strength to feel calm.

Losing a Child Was Not an Option

“My spouse and I don’t have children – we can help you raise one. What do you think?”

After the car accident, the family was talking with their friends – a married couple without children – who suggested they could help raise one of the children, seeing as Xiao Jing’s dad wasn’t able to work, had to take care of three children, and they themselves had a bare nest. Although three children, sometimes mischievous, were a handful, how could the dad have had the heart to give any of them away?

Every week, Xiao Jing made steady progress in therapy, learning the tools to adapt to kindergarten this summer. Being able to accompany his children and see them grow up healthily was all Xiao Jing’s dad wanted in his heart.

Suicide Notice:

Please call the 24 hour suicide helpline for free psychological consultation.

Ministry of Healthcare & Welfare Relief Line: 1925

Every difficulty in life can be overcome with support. Cherish life, hold onto hope, and care for those around you.