It is the greatest wish of all parents that their children grow up safely. However, in Taiwan, there are many children with developmental delays who due to illness, environment, or social and cultural factors that affected in all aspects of their development and must make frequent trips to hospitals or early intervention service centers for rehabilitation at a young age. Eden Foundation is entering its 30th year of early intervention services. To call on the public to continue to pay attention to the needs of families in early intervention service and to create an inclusive and friendly society, we held the press conference of the Service Programs for Underprivileged Children as "Say Hi & our love standing by, Early intervention services make its 30th anniversary.” today on 5th, March. The Charity Ambassador Mr. Kuan-Ting Liu, who is about to become a father, together with Eden Foundation invited a little more smile and action from the public, so that every special family can be picked up.

Eden Foundation's Charity Ambassador Mr. Kuan-Ting Liu (from right), Slow-flying Angel Roy and graduate of early intervention service Mr. Jui-Ting Huang happily pose for a group photo (Photo by Eden Foundation)

Mr. Tine-Yuang Ho, Vice CEO of Eden Foundation, said that in the 1990s, when the concept of children with developmental delays was still limited to avoiding deterioration as well as strengthening rehabilitation and treatment in Taiwan, Eden broke the traditional mindset of " a big chicken crows slowly as the late bloomer", and actively promoted the implementation of "prevention is better than cure", and "grasping the golden period of early treatment from 0 to 6 years old", among other concepts. Since the end of 1994, Eden has formally launched its early intervention services, and has been doing so for 30 years. It has not only developed multiple therapeutic services, but has also organized outreach activities in various places to identify children in need of help through child screening, and has helped more than 20,000 children with developmental delays every year. However, despite the concept of early childhood care is becoming more and more popular and the parents are paying more and more attention to the development of their children, we have found in our service experience that there are still many families with slow-flying angels who are worried about whether their children will be accepted by the society, and they have experienced being looked at differently many times when they go out.

The growth of a child is the accumulation of life experiences, and the ability to interact with the outside world is even more crucial. Therefore, the 30th Anniversary of Eden early intervention service promotes "Inclusive and Friendly" and calls on the public to recognize the needs of slow-flying angel families and give them positive support. Jui-Ting, the surprise performer at the press conference, is the graduate of Eden Fung Shan Early Intervention Service Center 14 years ago. When he was hospitalized and bedridden for a long time, which affected his physical and social development. Then he was received the intervention service from Eden, with the active cooperation of educare givers and parents, he has made great progress.

Graduate of Eden early intervention service, Jui-Ting, gave a wonderful performance to encourage slow-flying angels and their family to learn bravely and grow up happily.

Currently, Jui-Ting is working steadily in a sheltered workshop and is trying to match him with a job in the general workplace. His mother said that because she was worried that her child would not be able to integrate into mainstream society, Jui-Ting chose to work directly after graduating from senior vocational high school, and now he commutes to work every day by shuttle bus, goes out with friends on holidays, and has his own life and hobbies. Thanks to the early intervention serivce, even though he didn't have the best start in life, he is able to continue to get better, have a better future, and participate into the society.

Roy, a slow-flying angel who is currently use the service at Taipei Early Intervention Service Center, and his mom also came to share their experience in childcare. Roy is 4 years old, has been receiving early intervention service for 3 years. He was born prematurely at 26 weeks, and later suffered from sepsis due to a bacterial infection, which led to a brain injury that caused shock and resulted in muscle hypertonia, limiting his overall development and mobility. "Growing up" has not been easy for Roy.

Ms. Yi-Lin Wu (from left), Director, Taipei Early Intervention Service Center of Eden Foundation, and slow-flying angel Roy as well as his mom share their journey of early childhood care (Photo by Eden Foundation)

Roy's mother said that her child had been going back and forth to the hospital since birth, which was heartbreaking for the whole family. Seeing her child in pain and suffering, she felt very remorseful and guilty, and coupled with the enormous pressure of caring for her child, she often felt socially isolated, and even when she took her child out of the house, she was worried that other people around her would look at her child differently. After getting into Taipei Early Intervention Center, with the support of the professional team, she also met many slow-flying angel families and those family went out with their children on weekends to support each other, then gradually let go of her heavy burden. Now that Roy has made significant progress, besides thank Eden for being there for them, and will look forward to the community seeing the uniqueness and beauty of each child and playing happily together with a friendly as well as accepting heart.

Eden Charity Ambassador Mr. Kuan-Ting Liu presents "the popping up of Love" to Roy.

Over the past 30 years, Eden Foundation's Early Intervention Service has been sticking to the concept of "accompanying a child with love, guarding a family, and creating a social environment that is inclusive and friendly". Through the diversified and appropriate professional services, we have not only assisted slow-flying angels to explore and learn, but also been the greatest support to slow-flying families. Please support Eden's Service Programs for Underprivileged Children "The 30th anniversary of early intervention services". A little more smile and action will make the slow-flying angels and their families to walk a mile further! For more information, please refer to www.eden.org.tw or call the donation hotline at 0800-025-885.

Eden Foundation makes its 30th Anniversary of Early Intervention Service and invites the public to accompany slow-flying angel families with love and understanding