BTS' Suga donated 5 billion won and held an opening ceremony for the Min Yoon-gi Treatment Center at Severance Hospital for the treatment of children with autism spectrum disorder on the 30th.
To commemorate the release of BTS' digital single 'Butter' in 2021, a global press conference was held at Olympic Park in Songpa-gu, Seoul, and Suga had photo time at the event.
Dong-seop Yoon attended the center's opening ceremony. The president of Yonsei University, Yonsei University Medical Center Director Geum Ki-chang, Severance Hospital Director Lee Kang-young, Severance Children's Hospital Director Kang Hoon-cheol, Severance Hospital Psychiatry Department Director Ahn Seok-gyun, along with Professor Cheon Geun-ah, director of the Min Yoon-gi Treatment Center, and Kim Yong-jik, president of the Korea Autism People's Association, attended as external guests.
The Min Yoon-gi Treatment Center was founded by BTS member Suga (real name Min Yoon-gi), who donated to Severance Children's Hospital. It was established on the basis of 5 billion won.
The center is equipped with safety measures and includes a treatment room for speech and behavioral therapy and a music-social group therapy room equipped with sound and soundproofing facilities.
For the previous half-term, Suga interacted with children with autism spectrum disorder with Professor Geun-ah Chun and performed musical services such as playing the guitar.
As a result of this collaboration, Professor Cheon Geun-ah and Suga developed ‘MIND’, a social group therapy program using music, presenting an art-integrated treatment system for the first time in a university hospital in the world.
The MIND program is a non-verbal therapy based on music. It is effective for children with low cognitive ability or difficulty responding to language.
It encourages children to express themselves by allowing them to choose the instrument of their choice, and supports them to learn social skills such as waiting through ensemble play.
The effectiveness of music-based autism spectrum disorder treatment has been reported in studies in Norway and other countries to contribute to improving self-expression and social interaction skills.
Yonsei Medical Center officials and Suga took a commemorative photo. [Photo = Big Hitmu]
When Suga volunteered, Groups A and B, who had only minimal response to speech therapy, showed an active interest in music by choosing an instrument and matching the beat.
Professor Geunah Cheon, director of the Min Yoon-gi Treatment Center, introduced the world's first autism spectrum disorder treatment program that combines music, language, behavior, and social skills training, and developed the program and trained professional personnel through the integration of various artistic activities such as art and physical education. We are aiming to do so.
In addition, we plan to promote globalization of the program by signing global partnerships and publish a program manual through clinical research and academic presentations.
Professor Geun-ah Cheon said that the Min Yoon-ki Treatment Center provides not only therapy but also social education to children through music. They said they expect it to contribute to improving social awareness of autism spectrum disorder.