CHAPTER 10

Original: November 5, 2003

Reposted: April 8, 2025

Lun has spent twelve years in school, receiving education and care, and now he is about to embark on another stage.

Lun will be seventeen years old on November 1st (2003) and is in Grade 12 (G12) graduating at the end of June next year. He was diagnosed with autism when he was four years old, and the diagnosis was reconfirmed when he was six. By then we knew that he had severe mental retardation and would definitely not be able to learn like normal people. G12 was his last stage in the school system and he would not be promoted to college or university.

Since he was born at the end of the year, according to school regulations, he should be able to stay for another two years after graduation and then leave school.

The school has always provided Lun with a very stable, safe, kind and caring environment. Since he set foot on the campus, he has basically received very good care. Since kindergarten, the school has arranged teaching assistants to take care of his studies and personal affairs one-on-one throughout the day. All the assistants are very friendly to Lunlun, and some even take good care of him.

The two principals of the ordinary kindergarten and special kindergarten where Lun studied still missed him many years later. The female assistant in the kindergarten was originally from Hungary and worked as a doctor. After immigrating to Canada, she became a teaching assistant and was responsible for taking care of Lun in her first year. She is gentle and well-educated, and loves Lun very much. During the summer vacation after the school year, we hired her to provide daytime activities for Lun, with the government's respite care service funding so that parents could have a break.

We moved the next year and Lun transferred to another school, but SEA still took care of Lun during the winter and summer vacations. It is not easy to take care of autistic children, and they do not trust others easily. If parents can find a suitable candidate, they will try to keep him/her.

She had a son who was fourteen years old at the time. He often helped take care of Lun, and Lun also listened to him. As the female assistant grew older, her son gradually took over her care. Later, every Friday night, Lun would say "Adam" to remind us to go to the assistant's home on the weekend.

Because the school provides one-on-one care, Lun has not been bullied or harassed. His life became very regular, and he was able to come into contact with different people and learn how to get along with others. School became a social training ground for Lun.

Because the school has taken good care of Lun, we have felt at ease every time a new school year started. Lun is now in G12. He will have to stay in school for another two years, then he will definitely leave. For this reason, we have discussed with the social workers what kind of service fits Lun after he becomes an adult.

In the past two years, Lun  has become more sensible than before, but he is still unable to live independently. We are both entering middle age, and we have to plan Lun's life after adulthood and fulfill our responsibilities as parents.