Parents seek 'ageless help' for mentally disabled kids
- Source: Global Times
- [08:33 July 16 2010]
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By Zheng Yunying
A group of parents in Changning district are petitioning the National People's Congress (NPC) to change the age requirement needed for people with a mental disability to qualify for public welfare admittance to Sunshine Home.
Some 20 parents made the request to Wang Jianmin, a local delegate of the NPC and the vice chairman of Shanghai Disable Persons' Federation, asking for the qualifying age limit, which is capped at 35, to be extended to 60.
Wang told the Global Times Thursday that he sympathized with the parents, who are concerned about their grown-up children not having any assistance from the home after they pass the age of 35.
"Sunshine Home is probably the only option for working or elderly parents who have a child with a mental disability in Shanghai, and that's why I'm planning to propose to that the day care center work on improving services for this group of people," he said.
A parent surnamed Zhu, who initiated the petitioning, and works at the Sunshine Home Guidance Center in Changning district, told the Global Times that the age limit should be changed otherwise her child and others who need help after they turn 35 will be left out in the cold.
"If they aren't allowed to stay, then most of the people will have few options," she said. "They will have to go to a nursery home, which don't have special programs for them, or move back with their parents, who might not know how to answer to their needs."
She added that in the past, the center was not strict about admitting patients who did not fit the age category, but said that since demand for spots have increased, the situation has changed.
Sunshine Home launched in 2005, and has 240 branches across the city. Monthly fees cost 50 yuan ($7.30) per patient.
Meanwhile, a mother surnamed Yu worries that her 49-year-old daughter will soon be cut from the center she attends in Jing'an district.
"My daughter was actually 39 when she got a spot at the center," she told the Global Times Thursday. "She has been there for five years now, and she is so much happier than before.
"A day care center like this allows me to live my own life again," she added. "I will always take care of her, but I don't think she can get better care anywhere than at Sunshine Home; it offers learning, rehabilitation and fun for her that I cannot provide."
