At Pandur Special Education Center, each day begins with a focus on patience. What started with just a few children has grown into two facilities serving 43 students. The children range from as young as two years old to over five. Each child has a different condition, different needs, and a different pace for progress. So the classes are divided accordingly, and teaching methods are adjusted for each group.
“After a period of intervention, from day care to one-on-one sessions, my child is now able to attend first grade. He’s developing like other children. People who meet him wouldn’t think he had any condition unless I told them. The teachers here have always supported and encouraged us, and they’ve been very patient. Thanks to them, he’s made really good progress.”
For Dao Thi Thanh Xuan, a mother of a child with autism, the Pandur journey used to be filled with uncertainty. Changes and improvements often take months, sometimes years. But for the teachers here, even small improvements matter.
Teacher Thanh Thi Hang has been with the center since its early days. “Teaching children with autism or behavioral disorders is much more difficult. But that’s also what motivates me to keep improving my skills and knowledge, so I can support them better. Seeing them gradually integrate into the community is the biggest reward for me.”
At Pandur Special Education Center, teaching does not follow a standard lesson plan. Instead, each session is broken down into small, repetitive steps. Teachers use picture cards, gestures, and simple verbal cues to help children recognize objects, express needs, and respond to instructions.
For some children, a lesson may begin with something as basic as maintaining eye contact for a few seconds. For others, it could be learning how to hold a spoon, say a word, or sit still for a short period of time. Every response, no matter how small, is repeated, reinforced, and gradually built into a habit. For another young teacher, Lu Thi My Vien, motivation comes from everyday moments in the classroom.
“What keeps me going is when the children understand and respond. For example, if I ask a child to bring me a glass of water and they can do it right away. Or when they recognize their own belongings, or learn how to sit properly on a motorbike. And most importantly, parents trust us and bring their children here, hoping they will improve day by day,” said Vien.
The challenges are not only in teaching, but also in managing behavior. Some children may suddenly cry, scream, or refuse to cooperate. Others may take weeks just to respond to their name. There are days when progress seems to stop altogether. For teachers, that means repeating the same instruction dozens of times, staying calm in unpredictable situations, and learning to accept very slow progress. What also makes this center unique is its teaching staff. Most of them are young, and all are from the Cham ethnic community. For many of them, this is not just a job, but a choice to return and contribute to their own community.
“I realized that in my hometown, children with autism or developmental delays didn’t have access to early and proper intervention like in big cities like Ho Chi Minh City. Many parents lacked information and had to travel far for support, which was costly and time-consuming. As a teacher, I wanted to bring what I had learned and experienced back here to help these children,” said Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy, the founder of the center.
Her effort has since created a space where both children and teachers continue to grow. During a recent visit to Pandur Special Education Center, Truong Mai Manh, the Youth Union secretary with the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Lam Dong Province, shared his appreciation for the teachers’ work.
“Teaching is already a demanding job. But working with children with autism is even more challenging. They may have behavioral and language disorders and cannot control themselves well. So it requires a great deal of effort and dedication from the teachers,” said Hanh.
Not every child can fully integrate, and the journey is often long and uncertain. But beyond those challenges, the work at Pandur Special Education Center continues, day after day. With patience, persistence, and care, these young teachers keep guiding their students forward, step by step, helping them build the skills, confidence, and connection they need for life beyond the classroom.
