“Do you need help?” “Have a think.” “You can do it.”

That was K.’s father, sitting beside his seven-year-old son during a break at a camp this spring. In front of them was a puzzle of nine small pieces. For most children K.’s age, it would not be hard. For K., who has a neurodevelopmental difference, it called on everything he had been working on for two years.

When a piece wouldn’t go where he wanted, K. called out, “Ah! Ah!”, loud enough to catch the attention of everyone nearby. His father stayed with him still, calmly.

K. joined the Early Intervention class run by our partner, Saigon Children’s Charity in Vietnam, two years ago. At the time, the hardest things for him were managing his emotions, cooperating with others, and staying with an activity long enough to finish it. A puzzle asks for all three at once.

In Vietnam, neurodevelopmental differences are still not widely discussed, and a child shouting in a crowd is often taken for being naughty or stubborn. What was actually happening, instead, was a boy who was frustrated and kept going anyway.

“Last piece,” his father said. K. put it in, and the two of them high-fived.

K. has since completed the Early Intervention class and started mainstream elementary school. With support from his teachers and classmates, he is settling in well. It took a class, a father who stayed beside him, and two years of practice. Our partner works to give more children in Vietnam that same start.