Under the same Starry Sky: Autism in China

By Wu Jin
0 Comment(s)Print E-mail China.org.cn, April 2, 2019
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The late Chinese contemporary poet Ha Zi wrote: "You're the pretty hostess in your night and I have to meet clumsy customers in my daytime."

A chorus celebrating the 12th World Autism Awareness Day at the Beijing BISS International School on Sunday,  March 31.  [Photo / Courtesy of BISS and ETU]

To appreciate the loneliness at night while being afraid of the social life in daytime, the line may well describe people who tend to live in solitude or prefer a life of reclusion. This lifestyle is in many ways similar to those living with autism, who in China are called "The Children from the Star".

Autistic people might be shy, quiet, sensitive and fragile, but they are also capable of deep concentration, imagination, resilience and diligence. They are intuitive when it comes to the arts and can even acquire and master knowledge in the same way ordinary people do. As we celebrate the 12th World Autism Awareness Day on April 2, 2019, we are reminded that autistic individuals now find themselves less marginalized despite their different ways of communicating and different perceptions of the world.

As part of a campaign focusing on how to understand, live and befriend autistic people, the Beijing BISS International School, one of the first international schools in the capital, and its partner ETU Education, a privately-run educational institute, staged a grand ceremony for 17 autistic people to celebrate their coming of age last Sunday. Wearing long dresses or suits, they were escorted by their parents to the center of the stage where the songs of young voices and lyrics of youthful dreams resonated.

Yue Yiming, a 17-year-old boy with autism, was one of those who attended the ceremony. His mother recounted that he quit school when he was in junior high because both he and his teachers suffered a lot when he was admitted to the school. However, his mother later heard that there was an institute where autistic children could learn how to paint and decided to enroll him there.

"While he was in school, we found that he had drawn many portraits at the margins of his textbooks, so we sent him to the institute to have a try," Yue's mother said. This was where Yue began to show his true talent.

According to Yue, his favorite artist is the Italian painter, Amedeo Modigliani. On Sunday, he brought two of his paintings to the BISS, one of which was a portrait of a woman drawn in a similar fashion to that in Modigliani's works. While being praised for his outstanding mastery of Modigliani's style in his painting, the boy was confused and asked why that should be chosen as the best painting.

Indeed, it might not be the best painting, but it should be one of the works marking the intrinsic quintessence shared by autistic people.

The first batch of people diagnosed with autism are now in their 40s or 50s, but Jia Meixiang, director doctor of the Peking University Sixth Hospital (The Mental Health Institute) and the associate director-general of the Beijing Rehabilitation Association for Children with Autism, said their psychological age was still equivalent to that of teenagers.

"Some 30 years on, we have witnessed significant progress in the efforts to help autistic people. More than 2,000 institutes have been established by the China Disabled Persons Federation, there are now professional training centers for autistic children and more extensive medical research has also been done in this area," Jia said while attending the BISS' philanthropic event. "We just hope that they can live with happiness and dignity in the same way the rest of us do," she added.

The BISS and ETU plan to start a philanthropic campaign to raise the awareness of autism, in the meanwhile, to empower autistic people with knowledge, competency, dreams and actions.

"We hope that we can build a bridge for autistic people to integrate into society, teach them not only how to perceive the world, but also how to return their affection and love to the world," said Zhou Jing, who is a mother of an autistic son and director of the Autistic Children Rehabilitation Fund at the China Social Welfare Foundation.

There have been numerous success stories and many people with autism are now working in bakeries, studying abroad, and even becoming qualified drummers or painters. Tian Tian, an autistic boy from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, had his painting "Reunion" displayed on the big screens at the NASDAQ stock exchange in New York City's Times Square. Last Sunday, the painting was auctioned for 20,000 yuan (US$2,976) during a philanthropic gathering.

"Just like you (a slogan for the event), every child owns a special trait, and this is not confined to autistic children." said Li Yinuo, the co-founder of ETU. "We aim to educate children on the realities of society, how to contribute constructively. We also try to encourage them to understand and learn more, make their own choices and take action."

"I was reluctant to come in the beginning," said Zhao Qian, a grade-three student from ETU, who joined in the chorus "One day" with other autistic children at the event. "My mother insisted on sending me here, because she said we should help autistic children with compassion. I hope I can learn more about autistic children through the event, befriend them and help them express themselves more freely."

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