帮助残疾儿童.doc

帮助残疾儿童 Parents of children with severe disabilities have many challenges and concerns. One big worry is who will care for their children after the parents are gone. 严重残疾儿童的父母们总会面临很多挑战和担忧。其中最让他们担忧的是当他们去世后，不知有谁会来照顾他们的孩子。 Al Etmanski is a veteran community activist, and after his daughter Liz was born with Down syndrome, he turned his attention to the needs of those with disabilities and their families. Etmanski was feeling pretty good about the work he was doing in Vancouver, British Columbia, until he was approached by three men at a party. All were in their 70s and had children with disabilities. 艾尔?艾特马斯基是一位长期从事社区工作的积极分子。他的女儿莉斯一出生就患有唐氏综合症。从那以后，他就把他的精力转向那些需要帮助的残疾人士和他们的家庭中去了。艾特马斯基以前一直在加拿大大不列颠哥伦比亚省的温哥华市工作。他感觉在那儿工作也很满意。但直到他在一次聚会上遇见了三个已满了70且他们儿女都是残疾人的男士之后，他的态度发生了一些转变。 Etmanski says the men told him they were pleased with his work helping younger parents. But they asked: What about us? 艾特马斯基说，那三个男士对他从事帮助年轻残疾儿童父母的工作表示满意。但他们也问道：“那我们这些上了年纪的残疾儿童的父母又该怎么办呢？” Etmanski wasnt sure precisely what they meant. 艾特马斯基那时并不太理解他们说这话的意思。 The men told him their adult children were OK now, but they were worried about what would happen to their children in the future. Existing programs and services wouldnt keep their children safe, they said. Etmanski says the older parents told him: We want people to be our eyes and ears and arms and legs when we are not around. We do all kinds of things that paid staff dont do. And who is going to look after our kids when we are gone? 那几个人士告诉艾特马斯基，目前他们的子女情况都还好，但他们担心的是他们子女未来的境况。而国家现有的项目和服务无法保障其子女的安全。艾特马斯基说那三个人还告诉他：“我们希望有人在我们不在我们子女身边的时候，充当我们的眼睛，耳朵，手臂和腿脚的角色。我们现在所做的都是那些相关的带薪员工所不愿做的事。当我们死后，我们也不知道谁会来照顾我们的子女。” Planning For The Future 将来计划 Their concerns resonated with Etmanski and he — along with about a dozen other parents — began thinking about how to address the issue. It was a relatively new problem, because in the past, children with disabilities didnt usually outlive their parents. 他们的担忧也引起了艾特马斯基的共鸣。他和其他跟他有类似经历的父母们也开始思索如何来解决这个难题。这个问题跟其他问题比起来，算是个新出现的问题。因为在过去，