03/11 SHLIVE丨Becoming aware of AUTISM 为孤独症家庭点亮未来之路

NEWS ON 3/10

Welcome to this edition of ShanghaiLive,

I'm He Jian.

欢迎收听今天的《直播上海》

我是何健 / ICS主播

At the ongoing national legislative session, the vice governor of Minhang District, lawmaker【人大代表】Liu Yan, is making another suggestion after years of persistence on the improvements for children with autism【孤独症】. Reporter Sun Siqi takes a look at what she is proposing this year.

In a southwestern suburb of Shanghai, children with autism are learning at Qibao Experimental Primary School. They’re not separated from other children and many have made friends who help and take care of them. A boy with autism told us he likes his friends and teachers, and they are good to him. In Shanghai, children with mild to moderate autism are able to go to a regular school, and this has helped their development.

在上海西南郊区的七宝实验小学，孤独症儿童正在学习。他们没有和其他孩子分开，许多人还与帮助和照顾他们的同学结成好朋友。一个患有孤独症的男孩告诉我们，他喜欢他的朋友和老师，他们对他很好。在上海，轻度到中度孤独症的儿童可以去正规学校上学，这有助于他们的成长发展。

Wang Jin, Principal

Qibao Experimental Primary School

王瑾 / 上海市七宝实验小学校长

You can see that when autistic kids came in at first grade, they had weak communication skills and could barely control or take care of themselves. But by grades three and four, there's a noticeable difference. They follow a teacher's instructions, talk to classmates and express their like for others.

你可以看到，当孤独症儿童在一年级时，他们的沟通能力很弱，几乎不能控制或照顾自己。

但是到了三四年级，情况就有明显的不同了。他们会听从老师的指示，与同学交谈，并表达自己对他人的喜爱。

Liu Yan, Lawmaker

Vice Governor of Minhang District Government

Early intervention【早期干预】 is crucial for children with autism. At the moment, the most effective treatment is social interaction【社交互动】 to help them approach the world.

早期干预对孤独症儿童至关重要。目前，最有效的治疗方法是通过社会互动来帮助他们接近这个世界。

In 2018, lawmaker Liu Yan submitted a suggestion for more children with autism to be enrolled in regular schools. Back then, fewer than 20 percent of them across the country sat in the same classroom as regular kids. As the situation improves, difficulties exist like hiring medical professionals to instruct teachers. Plus, additional facilities can cost a school hundreds of thousands of yuan a year.

2018年，刘艳提交了关于让让更多孤独症儿童进入普通学校就读的议案。当时，全国只有不到20%的孤独症儿童能拥有和普通孩子一起上学的机会。近年情况不断改善，但一些困难也逐渐浮现出来，比如教师需要治疗师的专业指导。此外，添置各种额外设施也是一大笔费用。

Chen Jin, Special Education Official

Minhang District Education Bureau

We also need more teachers with a background in special education【特殊教育】. We've been trying to train such teachers with the help of East China Normal University and the city, but we still need help.

我们还需要更多有特殊教育背景的教师。在华东师范大学和市里的帮助下，我们一直在努力培养这样的教师，但我们仍然需要更多的帮助。

Liu notes thee problems in her draft suggestion, but she’s also mulling【长时期思考】over another question: where will these students go after nine years of mandatory education. She found that 60 percent of such children end up at home again after middle school, relying on their parents for the rest of their lives.

这些问题，刘艳在她的议案中都关注到了。但她还在不断思考另一个问题: 完成九年义务教育后，这些孩子的去处在哪里? 她发现，有六成孩子在中学毕业后只能回家，依靠父母度过余生。

Liu Yan, Lawmaker

Vice Governor of Minhang District Government

For children who still can't take care of themselves there needs to be separate daycare facilities. At the moment, they are not accepted by either orphanages【孤儿院】, nursing homes or mental health facilities. For those who can take care for themselves and work, there needs to be vocational schools【职业中等专业学校】 or even vocational colleges【职业高等专业院校】to admit them. There needs to be government-level action on this.

对于那些仍然不能照顾自己的孩子，需要有单独的日托机构。目前，孤儿院、疗养院或精神卫生机构都不愿意接受他们。对于那些既能照顾自己又能工作的人，就需要中等职业教育学校甚至高等职业学院来接纳他们，政府需要对此采取相应的行动。

Many families with an autistic child have one parent taking care of them full time. The burden【负担】only increases as the child ages. Liu maintains that sorting out where-to-go will greatly relieve the stress on such families. And for the kids, it will prevent them from becoming overly isolated once again.

在孤独症家庭，父母其中一人全职照顾孩子的情况并不少见。患儿家长的负担随着孩子年龄的增长而加重。刘艳坚持认为，解决孩子们的去向问题将大大减轻这些家庭的压力。对孩子们来说，这也将防止他们再次被边缘化。

#热词加油站

lawmaker [ˈlɔːmeɪkə(r)] n. 人大代表

autism [ˈɔːtɪzəm] n. 孤独症

mull [mʌl]] v. 长时期思考

special education特殊教育

burden [ˈbɜːdn] n. 负担