Following an incident earlier this week in which a teacher in Taichung strangled his cerebral palsy-afflicted daughter to death, civic groups gathered yesterday to call for the public's support for parents and families with mentally disabled children.
Chen Chieh-ju (
"I myself and other parents have felt frustrated with our mentally or physically disabled children and have also considered taking the same path, but we sought help," Chen said. "We hope that families out there who have the same problems can get help too and prevent more tragedies like this from happening."
PHOTO: SUNG CHIH-HSIUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
The junior-high school teacher, surnamed Chuo, suffocated his eight-year-old daughter on Sunday afternoon while his wife and maid were shopping. The daughter had cerebral palsy and was blind.
Sun Yi-hsin (孫一信), deputy secretary-general of the association, said that parents of disabled children have to shoulder an incredible amount of pressure and far too many responsibilities.
Sun said that, as in Chuo's case, his family had a maid to help care for the child, so it was emotional pressure and not the lack of care-giving aid that caused him to strangle his daughter.
Many parents have chosen to commit suicide together with their disabled children to put an end to the pressure, Sun said.
Huang Mei-lian (
"But my father accepted me as who I am because he said that every life is precious," Huang said.
The association, along with several disabled care-giving groups, hope to reserve the last Sunday of each year as a "Breather Day" for parents with disabled children.
On that day, Sun said, civic groups, social workers and volunteers will help care for disabled children for one whole day, allowing the parents to have a day off.
In addition, the government should institute better care-giving policies for the disabled, Sun added.
Sun said that Chuo had not joined a support group for parents of disabled children and had no one to share his feelings with or turn to for support.
Only 15,000 parents and family members have joined such groups, but there are more than 150,000 disabled people in the country, Sun said.
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Taiwan has recorded its first fatal case of Coxsackie B5 enterovirus in 10 years after a one-year-old boy from southern Taiwan died from complications early last month, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. CDC spokesman Lo Yi-chun (羅一鈞) told a news conference that the child initially developed a fever and respiratory symptoms before experiencing seizures and loss of consciousness. The boy was diagnosed with acute encephalitis and admitted to intensive care, but his condition deteriorated rapidly, and he passed away on the sixth day of illness, Lo said. This also marks Taiwan’s third enterovirus-related death this year and the first severe
RSS