Severance Hospital and BTS member Suga (real name Min Yoon-gi) will establish a specialized treatment center to support the treatment and social independence of patients with autism spectrum disorder.

On the 23rd, Severance Hospital held a groundbreaking ceremony for the "Min Yoon-gi Treatment Center" on the first floor of Jejung-gwan, aimed at treating children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder. This center will support mental health for children and adolescents through language, psychological, and behavioral therapies, and will operate a variety of programs linking clinical practices with research.

During his activities with BTS, Suga has consistently shown a commitment to sharing and has maintained a continued interest in mental health, psychological and behavioral issues, particularly adolescent depression. He has sought ways to help through his talent and abilities in music.

In November of last year, Suga began communicating with Professor Cheon Geun-ah, an authority in the pediatric psychiatry field at Severance Hospital. Through several meetings afterward, he learned that patients with autism spectrum disorder require tailored treatments appropriate for their life cycle, but that achieving this with existing short-term therapeutic interventions would be difficult. He also agreed that building a specialized treatment center capable of supporting treatment over the medium to long term for more than 10 years is necessary to facilitate positive changes in symptoms of autism spectrum disorder, and expressed his intention to donate 5 billion won to Severance Hospital. This is the largest donation ever made by an artist to Severance Children's Hospital and indeed the entire Yonsei Medical Center.

Subsequently, Professor Cheon and Suga discussed the construction of the treatment center and social skills training using music for pediatric patients with autism spectrum disorder from the end of last year to the beginning of this year. Based on this, they developed a social skills group program called the "MIND" program, which integrates musical content into existing social skills training programs.

The MIND program is an acronym that implies its meaning: "to enhance interaction and sensory experiences through music, to provide opportunities for forming social relationships and communication, to learn the process of naturally building relationships through community, and to respect individual diversity while fostering a society in which they can all coexist." The children participating in this program will play instruments and sing, compose words to match the music, and express their emotions and thoughts through music and writing.

From March to June of this year, Suga took weekends to meet children with autism spectrum disorder and participated in program development. He personally played instruments such as guitars to help the children match rhythms and harmonies while encouraging them to express emotions through music. Furthermore, he also taught the children how to play instruments on their own.

As the program progressed, the children's emotional and verbal expressions significantly increased, while their social skills were trained through collaborating with other children or waiting. Oh (10) and Lee (12), who previously did not show active responses during language therapy, began to select instruments on their own and showed talent in playing rhythmically.

During the ensemble process, various emotional expressions were also revealed. Kim (18), who played the saxophone, had minimal language and emotional expression, but expressed emotions through facial expressions during collaboration with other children and responded to the interest and praise of the therapists.

This program has confirmed its effectiveness in helping children with autism spectrum disorder, who have limited verbal abilities, to form social relationships.

In the future, the Min Yoon-gi Treatment Center will enhance the MIND program and establish a self-reliant music project model. To ensure the program's continuous operation, they will systematize the training processes for specialists in each therapeutic area to strengthen the program's sustainability and professionalism.

Once the construction of the Min Yoon-gi Treatment Center is complete in September, regular program sessions will be expanded and newly established. They will operate various treatment sessions utilizing music for patients with autism spectrum disorder as well as individuals with developmental disabilities. They will also expand the previously conducted ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) and language therapy programs. Additionally, to objectively demonstrate the effects of the MIND program, clinical research, academic paper presentations, and the publication of program manuals will be pursued.

Professor Cheon Geun-ah said, "Beyond financial support, I sincerely appreciate Mr. Suga's sincere talent donation and volunteer activities over the past several months. I have been deeply impressed by Mr. Suga's earnest demeanor, which he has consistently shown with seriousness and intellect." She added, "The ultimate goal of the Min Yoon-gi Treatment Center and the MIND program is to help children with autism spectrum disorder grow into independent beings and healthy members of society through the medium of music and to alleviate prejudices against patients with autism spectrum disorder and improve disability awareness."

Suga said, "Through the program preparations and volunteer activities with Professor Cheon Geun-ah over the past 7 months, I have deeply felt that music can be a precious channel for expressing feelings and communicating with the world. It was a great gratitude and happiness to be able to participate in the treatment process of children with autism spectrum disorder, and I will continue to lend my strength so that more children can be part of our society."

[Photo] Severance, Big Hit Music provided.

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