Community Service Spotlight: Indifferent to Difference

At AISG, the mission of community service is to empower our community to take action locally and globally to bring about positive change, Unite - Care - Act. Our student-led community service groups follow this mission in seeking causes to dedicate their efforts.

Over the course of the school year, we are highlighting some of our student groups in our newly themed feature, Community Service Spotlight with the purpose of increasing awareness to our AISG community and beyond of our students making a difference outside of the classroom.

This time, our spotlight is on Indifference to Difference and we have asked them to introduce themselves and share their message. Enjoy the story of one of our newest community service groups and what they are all about. 

The New Kid on the Block

So, who are we, and what do we do? We are one of the newest student-led community service groups at AISG that was formed to promote awareness about autism. We derive the “Indifferent” part of our name as it reflects how Chinese society often stigmatize autism and shows a lack of understanding for autism spectrum disorders (ASD), with many people still holding the view that autism is caused by poor parenting or karma. The incorporation of this into our name is a somber reflection of how a lot of work still needs to be done to increase the awareness of our own community and our society. “to Difference” is an acknowledgement of how autistic individuals are different, and our need to embrace their differences as who they are. It is also a hope that we can shift the attitudes of those “indifferent” to this issue into one of understanding, and potentially one that creates a positive change for our community as a whole.

 

Flexibility in the Time of COVID

As a new group, carrying out these goals proved to be much easier said than done, with our lack of connections to actual organizations being our greatest difficulty. In our first semester in service, we focused solely on the PTA International Day event as we had little to no outside connections. This year, we’ve overhauled our objectives and since then we’ve had two successful projects, with several more planned in the remaining school quarter. Our first two projects have been visiting trips to a local autism center, where our members and volunteers learned about autism and eventually had the chance to interact with autistic children to further our own understanding. We currently have several other projects planned, including an autism conference, a build trip (aimed at refurbishing dilapidated autism centers), and a signature event. We are very grateful for our opportunities to go on these trips even with the looming threat of cancellation only a footstep away.

 

As with all our community service groups, we have had to navigate around COVID-19 and its restrictions. This pandemic has taught us to be flexible and ready for anything and one of the greatest strengths of our community is our flexibility in the face of great adversity. COVID-19 has hindered our ability to serve since the beginning, and yet, our community service groups continue to support their communities despite the surmounting difficulty. We wish to pass on these words of encouragement and to inspire the continued service that so many groups in AISG provide.

 

Experience the Difference

Our events have always been open to both members and non-members of our group. Our end goal has always been to inspire and motivate our peers to have a passion for service regardless of what group they are in. We have never collected a fee for our events even when the high costs of providing learning materials and supplies for the center pile up; we believe that it is essential to provide these experiences without barriers (like cost) even if the cost comes back to ourselves. In our mission of self-discovery as young adults and as students, these experiences serve to cultivate our sense of community and global citizenship. If you ever want to learn more about our group, as a student, a parent, a PTA member, or a teacher, please don’t hesitate to join us in one of our projects or visits. Come and experience the difference.

 

To learn more about AISG Community Service, click here.