Yoon_Hope_for_Autism.pdf

MF40-3_Yoon_Hope_for_Autism.pdf



Hope for Autism
and Developmental Disabilities
in the DPRK
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BY STEPHEN & JOY YOON
Stephen & Joy Yoon graduated from Olivet Nazarene University with majors in Biology in 1999. Stephen went on to earn his doctorate in
Chiropractic from Cleveland Chiropractic College in Los Angeles in 2004 and a Ph.D. in Rehabilitation Medicine in DPRK in 2012. Joy earned
her masters degree in Biology/Ecology from UCLA in 2003 and a certification in Educational Therapy from UC Riverside in 2017. For the
past eleven years, Stephen and Joy have been serving as Christian workers in North Korea. Their cross-cultural work in North Korea has
included Christian business, humanitarian work, and medical outreach.
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Treatment for children with developmental disabilities
is available for the first time in the DPRK. Prior to this
project, no official specialized medical training or therapy
existed for children with cerebral palsy or autism in the
DPRK. Both were considered untreatable or were treated
with lack of expertise. Worldwide, according to the Center
for Disease Control and Prevention, 3.3 out of every 1,000
children are affected by cerebral palsy and 1 out of every
110 children are affected by autism. Therefore, specialized
treatment of pediatric developmental disabilities was a
great need in the DPRK.
Now, through one American family, treatment for children
with developmental disabilities has begun in the Kim Ilsung University Pyongyang Medical School Hospital.
Although this family has been working and living in the
DPRK for over ten years, they moved to the capital city of
Pyongyang in 2013. They became the first American family
to send their children to the Pyongyang Korean School
for Foreigners and to reside within the apartments of the
Foreign Diplomatic Compound. There have been many
firsts for this unique American family, but the greatest firsts
have been in the strides made for the rights of children with
disabilities within the DPRK.
With skills in rehabilitation medicine and special education,
this family is implementing, for the first time in the DPRK,
treatment and education for children with developmental
disabilities in the medical university system. Initially, the
local hospital administrator did not acknowledge that
developmental disabilities, such as cerebral palsy and
autism, existed in the nation. However, as patients came
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«
After approximately 11 months of
therapy, she realized her dream:
she walked out of the hospital!
She now has a new dream to become
a rehabilitation doctor so that she,
too, can help children like herself.
»
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MISSION FRONTIERS MAY/JUNE 2018
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to be treated in the hospital, the need to treat pediatric
developmental disabilities was officially recognized.
One of the first patients with cerebral palsy who brought
awareness to disabilities throughout the nation came in the
fall of 2013. She was ten years old at the time and diagnosed
with spastic quadriplegia. This young girl could not walk, so
her classroom teacher would strap her to her back and carry
her to school every morning. Once at school, her teacher
would then strap her to her chair so she could listen to class
lectures. This girl’s greatest dream was to walk to school
one day with the rest of her classmates. Following the
beginning of official treatment for children with cerebral
palsy in 2013, she was finally able to receive medical care.
After approximately 11 months of therapy, she realized her
dream: she walked out of the hospital! The local broadcast
network came and televised her discharge and today she is
attending school with the rest of her classmates. She now
has a new dream to become a rehabilitation doctor so that
she, too, can help children like herself.
Thousands of children like her are waiting in the DPRK for
medical treatment and many of them have never attended
school. Through this family and the establishment of
a therapy program for children with developmental
disabilities, other children now have hope for the future.
After the hospital’s successful treatment of children with
cerebral palsy, the Department of Public Health began
establishing pediatric rehabilitation centers in all 10
provincial children’s hospitals. In addition, a cohort of
doctors is being trained in treatment methodologies at Kim
Il-sung University Pyongyang Medical School Hospital. The
government has ensured the development of this specialty
within all 10 medical schools in the country by signing an
agreement with the sponsoring NGO known as IGNIS
Community. Even the former leader, Kim Jong-il and the
current leader, Kim Jong-un have signed off on this project!
But the story does not end there. Now, with the help of a
partnering American therapist, the program for children
with developmental disabilities has expanded to include
not only children with cerebral palsy, but also children
with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Prior to June 2015,
there was no diagnosis or therapy of any kind available
for children with ASD in the DPRK. ASD was essentially
unknown and both children with ASD and their parents
struggled as they tried to cope with the challenges that
faced them with neither resources nor skills.
In two short years, the Pyongyang Medical School
Hospital has made great strides in learning about ASD
and the therapies available. In cooperation with the DPRK
government Ministries of Public Health, the hospital has
hosted a series of four separate weeks of lectures and handson therapy skills training provided by IGNIS Community
volunteers. Doctors who have participated in this training
will be the pioneers of ASD therapy in the nation. In
addition to specific skills and techniques in facilitating social
interaction and communication in children with ASD, the
training content also included foundational theories and
philosophies of practice. Through the lecture content and
discussions about different models of disability, whole child
development and the importance of cultivating trusting
relationships with children and families, attitudes and
perspectives of both doctors and families have changed.
A seven-year-old boy with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
walked into the therapy room with his mom, his eyes wide
and face ashen with fear. He had never spoken before and
could not attend school because of his challenges with
sensory processing and social communication. He could
not tolerate anyone near him and responded by crying out
in fear or spinning a toy to help relieve his anxiety. By the
end of a 30-minute therapy session, he was engaged in a
beautiful, back-and-forth tickle game with the therapist,
laughing loudly and deeply. He excitedly grabbed the
therapist’s hands and placed them on his stomach and
even spoke his first partial word to ask for more tickles! His
mom, with tears in her eyes, said that this was the happiest
she had ever seen her son.
Another mom of an eight-year-old boy with ASD openly
shared her struggles of raising a child with special needs.
Her despair turned to hope as the therapists listened to her,
encouraged her, and reassured her that she is not alone.
These are just a few of the stories of hope and healing that
have taken place in the lives of children and families who
come to the new pediatric therapy clinic started by IGNIS
Community at Kim Il-sung University Pyongyang Medical
School Hospital.
Besides the lecture component, the ASD training series has
also included a significant amount of hands-on training.
Morning lectures about theory and techniques are then
implemented in the therapy clinic in the afternoon.
The techniques are first modeled by the visiting western
therapist and then each therapist-in-training has had
MISSION FRONTIERS MAY/JUNE 2018
the opportunity to practice the skills they have learned
as they engage with a child with ASD and his caregiver.
Each therapy session is followed by a time of debriefing
and questions. The DPRK therapists and other observers
have noted this debriefing time as one of the most helpful
methods of learning for them, enabling them to see how
techniques can be utilized and adapted to real-life situations
based on the child’s individual needs.
The doctors are eager to learn and are motivated to help
children with the new skills they are acquiring. The hospital,
now equipped with basic developmental milestone charts and
ASD screening materials, is screening each child that comes
through its doors for ASD and other developmental delays.
Pyongyang Medical School Hospital has seen this training
series as valuable and has invited others to join their
learning. As of June 2017, a total of over 30 doctors from
Pyongyang Medical School Hospital, Pyongyang Children’s
Hospital and the DPRK Disability Federation have taken
part in the lecture series. The Assistant Director and Chair
of the Neurology Department at Munsoon Rehabilitation
Center have also expressed interest in participating in
future training.
The lecture series on ASD has not only been helpful for
doctors and therapists providing direct care; but has also
caught the increasing attention of government officials
from The Ministry of Science and Technology and the
Ministry of Public Health. Their increased awareness
and education about ASD is crucial in the adaptation of
the medical system and formation of policies to include
the diagnosis and care for children with ASD and other
developmental disabilities.
IGNIS Community envisions that through the training
of medical students in rehabilitation specialties, through
empowering parents and through igniting change in the
society’s perspective of disability, children with cerebral
palsy, ASD, and other developmental disabilities will be
transformed to their full potential and be able to participate
in their community. Child by child, one family and one
doctor at a time, we are seeing this vision become a reality