Background
Our interviewee is Lauren Tian who was born in Russia and has been raised in Vietnam. Her father is Vietnamese, and her mother is from Russia. Lauren was born on 1 April 1999 in Russia. Despite the fact that Lauren has a normal appearance, she is unlike other children because she cannot speak or hear anything due to congenital disabilities. These defects originated from a certain kind of antibiotics that her mother took during her 15th week of expectancy when she was diagnosed with flu.
Difficulties in Attending School
Due to Lauren disability, it has become difficult for her to attend normal school because she needs special resources as well as specially trained teachers who are well conversant with teaching and caring for students with disabilities. However, there is a special institution that is built and intellectually operated for disabled children, which is based in Hanoi where Lauren lives with her parents.
Homeschooling
At first, when Lauren was young and had just started her first steps of kindergarten and then proceeded to primary school her parents did not permit Lauren to attend that special institution. This was the case because her parents were afraid that their child would be treated abnormally and thus they felt that she would be 'different' from others, of course, in a negative way. Instead, her parents chose to homeschool Lauren. They hired a specialist to teach their daughter sign language and basic skills that included drawing and getting to know Braille while in the meantime; Lauren's mother showed her some of the necessary mathematical skills and the alphabets. When Lauren attained the age of ten, her parents did not take her to primary school, but instead, they got some extra teachers who were well conversant with sign language in order to teach Lauren science including both social and natural types.
Lack of Social Interaction
Intellectually, Lauren was normally raised, however, deep down inside; she did not feel the same. This really affected Lauren because she did not get a chance to socialize with other kids and make friends. Her friends were mostly family members and some pets. She has two dogs and a parrot. Moreover, she had a friend who was her neighbor, and her name was Kate although she moved to another city when Lauren reached 13. This really affected her and made her sad because it was tough for her to make friends especially when one cannot communicate the same way as others. This frustrated her very much and somewhat depressed, and at the same time, Lauren felt inferior to normal kids at her same age. Her parents tried to make her happy by bringing her to the zoo weekly or some restaurants, but this did not please her at all. However, they knew one thing for sure; some adorable animals and delicious food could never replace a lovely friend.
The Special School
When Lauren's parents realized that their efforts to make her happy were not helping, they were forced to find a solution that would help to make their daughter happy. The only solution to their problem was they had to let Lauren go to the special school for disabled students. In other words, they had to consent to let their daughter live in her own 'community,' where she had the same way of interaction with others. Also, she could become literate and acquire extra knowledge on how to communicate and interact with others. On some first day at a new school, Lauren was quite reserved, and it felt weird for her because she had not experienced this kind of life before. She was shy and could not know any better, whether other kids would like her and understand her or not. More importantly, she was scared of not finding anyone to play with, and this posed a significant challenge for her in finding friends to interact and socialize with. Nevertheless, her fear was soon dispersed as Lauren realized that everyone there was very friendly. Some children could not hear and speak like her, some could not see, and some could not walk or even properly stand. However, those kids always lived their truth, which included two facts: the first was that they did not hide anything and they were not afraid of their limitations; the second was they were so open and willing to help and never hesitant to make friends. That made Lauren feel she was truly living in her own 'community.' At school, Lauren has also learned how to manage her daily routine such as taking her classes in the morning and some in the afternoon just like the normal school. In addition, she has learned to use Braille fluently and begun to learn her compulsory subjects like literature, math and some optional subjects such as French and English. She came home every day after school and happily told her parents what happened in her day. Lauren had changed much since she was moved to this school and she had had more friends than ever. This really transformed her making her happier and open which has really encouraged her to overcome the fear and frustration she had earlier. Further, she had developed her self-esteem and no longer feels inferior to normal children at her same age as she did when she was younger. Besides, Lauren has learned to appreciate herself despite her disability, and she possibly forgets that she is disabled and lives like a 'normal' teenager. Furthermore, her parents noticed that Lauren did not feel shy when communicating with 'normal people' anymore. For example, when one of her mother's old friends visited and asked Lauren a question verbally, Lauren did not show any awkwardness on her face. Instead, she just made a gesture with her hand to say 'No' (that meant, "I cannot speak or hear") and then looked for a note so that she could write down an answer. Lauren was different in a right way, and everyone in her family could notice it. Lauren's life has been positively impacted by her joining the institution, and this has played a paramount role in the way she lives her life now.
