Experience Camp for RD Student’s Assistants

TFRD held the Experience Camp for Rare Disease Student’s Assistants from December 28 to 29 at Beitou Resort. It was the first two-day-and-one-night training course to help university students understand the meaning of "assistance." 39 students from 15 colleges and universities participated on that day.

To allow students to interact with rare disease (RD) students with a physical disability, four RD students were invited to join us. We arranged a fun task for each group to go to the MRT station to find and help the RD students return to the classroom.

We invited the teacher from the Visual Impairment Resource Class and Taipei City Hearing Impaired Voice Association to introduce what visual impairment is, the inconvenience of the visual impairment individuals, and how to help them. Psychological counselor Mr. Li showed the students how to build relationships, interact with and listen to people with a physical disability. Besides, the counselor invited three students to respectively take a walk at the corners of the classroom. Then one student was given an egg and was asked to throw the egg to another student. During the practice, the atmosphere was very stressful. Through this exercise, the teacher helped the students to understand what empathy is. The next day, the instructor talked about physical disability and the use of assistive devices by briefly demonstrating tips for wheelchair use.

Finally, we welcomed Ms. Zhou, an RD student studying for her master's degree, who is using the Student’s Assistant Service, and Ms. Huang, her assistant. Both of them shared the feelings from the perspectives of the recipient and the helper. They explained how they got along with each other. They said only through constant questioning and communication could they understand each other's real needs. Respecting each other's ideas and values is also an important issue between people.

A series of rich and informative workshops aroused the students' concern for disable students. In the closing ceremony, everyone signed a pledge. The end of this event is not the real end. We hope that all the participants will put what they learned into practice in both school and life, which is what the event is all about.

Translator: David Lee (Becker Muscular Dystrophy)