JOY ELLEN YOON

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Development of Manual for Parents Raising Children with Disabilities

New hope for families raising children with disabilities is being birthed on the Korean Peninsula. Raising a child with special needs is always a challenge, but for Korean mothers, there is still not enough resources for what they can do to help their child at home.

As a result, from March 7-28 IGNIS Community trained a cohort of about 15 Korean mothers raising children with disabilities in neurodevelopmental techniques and sensory processing activities. Following these in-depth seminars, each family’s child was assessed and recommended specific developmental and sensory activities to do with their children at home.  

IGNIS Community’s Training for Korean Families with Disabilities

IGNIS Community has two goals for doing these trainings. First, we aim to see Korean mothers encouraged and empowered to address their children’s needs at home. Through their newly-learned skills, we hope that their children will significantly progress in their development.

Secondly, IGNIS Community is partnering together with this initial cohort of mothers to translate and write a manual for parents raising children with disabilities. Already the basics of neurodevelopment, sensory processing, and instructions for each activity have been explained in detail. Coupled with the “Discovering Joy” YouTube Channel, step by step instructions are empowering parents to implement these activities themselves at home.

Journey Towards Joy” Manual in Korean

However, as these mothers implement these activities with their children, we hope that their voices will contribute to the book. Our desire is to see the lives of these children transform before our eyes and for their testimonies to become a vital part of this story!

Already mothers are being encouraged. One mother testified a few weeks ago as to how impactful this training has been for her personally. What has been most encouraging is the fact that this manual will potentially be used in the North as well as in the South:

“Today I cried a lot while watching a video showing what kinds of sensory confusions children with autism experience as they walk down the street. At that time, my heart was saddened because I sympathized with my own child, and as a result, I felt alone walking in a chaotic world. This experience of walking in my child’s shoes saddened me… These words are for me who was previously grieving but am now connected to this ‘Journey Towards Joy’. My sorrows will truly be restored to joy… Through this ‘Journey Towards Joy’, I, too, am now dreaming of being reunited with a loving family in North Korea.”

Over the next several months, these mothers will be tracking their children’s progress and documenting their changes. By the end of the year, their own journeys will be added to the manual with the aim of officially publish it. Through this simple guide, IGNIS Community hopes that many more families will be touched, empowered, and given new life through their “Journey Towards Joy”.