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Why an Early Intervention is needed in Vietnam

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Focus Area: Early Intervention

Topic: Change in Community

Le Thi Hien Anh

Teacher

Nguyen Dinh Chieu school for blind children of Hanoi

21 Lac Trung – Hanoi

Vietnam

84 4 9726752

ndcschool@hn.vnn.vn

1. Introduction

I am working in one of the biggest schools for the blind in Vietnam name Nguyen Dinh Chieu School for blind children. Now the school has functions of being:

• an education center,
• a practical school for VIC’s education including blind and low vision children and,
• to make practical researches in the scope of its education.

2. Why do we think about an Early Intervention?

2.1   Statistics: (not from official survey but schools’ figures)

Table 1:

The average age that VIC in some big cities and provinces started school

Place	Average school age
Hµ Néi	12
§µ N½ng	8
HCMC	8.8
H¶i Phßng	11
Th¸i B×nh	11
NghÖ An	12

Table 2:

The readiness of VIC for school life: Percentage of VIC having peculiarly help at home or in the kindergartens

Place	%
Hµ Néi	10
§µ N½ng	3
HCMC	15
H¶i Phßng	5
Th¸i B×nh	0
NghÖ An	1

2.2   Problems faced when we are providing VIC with education 

2.2.1       Integration in class’ activities:

• Most of students (95%) start school much later than their classmates who have been attended kindergartens at least one year before. They are much bigger (from 3 to 10 years) so they feel quite different with other sighted friends. That is why they are not ready or confident to make friends or take part in the games with classmates. They prefer to stay/play alone.
• Many of them (70%) are good learners at the beginning of primary level as the concepts seems so simple but they are not in the secondary class with abstract subjects like math, chemistry. In addition, their words are plenty but many are not of correct meaning as they are empty language in some cases.
• Some of VIC are in bad communication. Their parents are so disappointed and tired of their disabled children that they do not want to spend much time with them.

2.2.2       Mobility and movement

• The VIC (30%) are in slow mobility due to their blindness or/and lack of opportunities to train when they were a small children. In addition, they are not good at how to use other senses for orientation and mobility inside the campus.
• Some of them (20%) have daily living skills like eating, making bed tidy, clean the cups but slowly as they are not used to the work earlier.
• Approximately 70% of them are much smaller than their peers due to malnourished or bad health care.

2.2.3       Shortage of knowledge and understanding about blindness and low vision

• The ideas of working with VIC in the good way are not known or not available.
• There is still a bad social attitude toward blindness (sin, misfortune, overprotection) existing long time. This prevents the parents or community from looking for and/or being ready for professional advises or to share experience with others.

2.2.4       Daily living skills

• So far, most of students (95%) who are 6 years are refused to school as they do not know how to take care of themselves at school like eating, putting on clothes or clean the face because of having no chance to learn at home.

2.2.5       Vision training

• Students who have some vision always read or write even more slowly than the blind. They use their residual vision to read braille.
• When we started visional training,  in some cases it is very late with big students.

2.2.6       Social attitude

• Visually impairment is considered a punishment of parent’s sin in the past time, is a shamed thing to say out or it takes so much time with them so the child is usually left in the corner without communicating and caring. In other hand, some visually handicapped children are the ones who receive family’s misfortune or being so pity. For these reasons, they are overprotected and missing the opportunities to have different activities.

2.3   What are the sources of this?

2.3.1       Students have no chances to communicate or take part in many activities.

2.3.2       Students are not helped in the good way.

2.4   Integration development

• Integration for visually handicapped children have been develop as a Decision on Integration has been approved by the Ministry of Education.

2.5   Comparison with program being applied

2.5.1       Visually handicapped children with good care

• They are more active in class, good behaviors and enjoying school life.
• Vision has been trained and encouraged to use so they understand environment and integrate better.

2.5.2       Sighted ones:

• We have a system of kindergartens in every commune.
• Department of Pre-schooling  under Ministry of Education and District Department of Education are being in charge of management and providing suitable curricula and advises.
• Parents have information, books and reference document in hand.

2.5.3       The results of pilot program of Early Intervention for visually handicapped implemented in Nguyen Dinh Chieu school of Ho Chi Minh city

• For integration:
• It is great to see that the age to send VIC in the regular class is decreased, at grade 2^nd  instead of grade 3^rd  as they are prepared.
• VIC are confident and enjoyable.
• For themselves:
• Body development and other senses are better which can support the lack of vision.
• They are good at Daily living skills.
• Language is developed.

Conclusion:

So far, with development of VIC’s education, we believe that an Early Intervention is urgent and needed for VIC in Vietnam as an effective solution to help them develop and better integrated in the school-life and society. We wish an Early Integration including the cooperation with Eye Centers or Eye Hospital, sending VIC to kindergartens and the last but very important, consulting their parents who spend much time with them will be implemented soon.