Focus

Film puts challenges of autism in the frame

By Qin Zhongwei (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-07-02 10:44

In Jet Li's latest film, Ocean Heaven, he plays a much different role than he does in his signature kung fu blockbusters. In the film, he plays the loving single father of his son, Dafu. The father has, alone, taken care of Dafu for more than 20 years and, after being diagnosed with terminal liver cancer, begins to worry about the boy's future.

An autistic child plays a game with teachers at Wucailu, an autism education center in Beijing. [Provided to China Daily]

People have literally been sobbing in the cinema, including Tian Huiping, a 53-year-old mother, who cried not least because the heart-wrenching story on the screen was inspired the real life story of her and her 24-year-old son, who was diagnosed with autism when he was four years old.

Tian quit her job in southwest China's Chongqing city 17 years ago to move to Beijing and establish Stars and Rain, the first nonprofit organization for education about autism spectrum disorder (ASD). She says she hoped to change the way people view children with the disorder. After nearly two decades, she said she sees more people showing sympathy, but added there are still major challenges.

Autism is a neural development disorder characterized by impaired social interaction and communication. It has no cure. There are an estimated 35 million case of autism across the world and more than 1 million in China, according to a report from Beijing Youth Daily in April.

The symptoms usually begin to appear before the age of three but can be easily neglected by Chinese parents who may not have relevant knowledge. Compared with practices in the US, which involve screening all children for autism when they are 18 months to 24 months old, China is lagging, according to Tian.

As diagnostic techniques and evaluation skills improve, the number of autistic children is showing "an astonishing speed of growth worldwide, regardless of nationalities or race", according to Sun Menglin, founder of Wucailu, another autism education and research center in Beijing.

Education of autistic children, which can help dramatically improve their quality of life and functional independence, is one of the biggest challenges China faces, said Sun.

"When people talk about autism, they simply treat it as a medical issue, but how to take care the autistic children is actually an education issue," Sun told METRO.

Wucailu, which began in 2004, offers training programs for children and parents lasting at least three months. The courses involve exercise, music, painting, interactive games and teaching simple life skills, said Guo Shuya, a teacher at the center.

There are now more than 100 such centers or nurseries around the city, according to Guo. Few of them have stable public funds and their quality varies widely.

Almost all such centers face financial difficulties, although finding personnel to staff them is an even greater challenge, according to Sun.

"So far, no colleges in China, as far as I know, are training teachers exclusively to help autistic children," said Sun.

In the past years, she has invited experts and professors from Israel, the United States, and Japan to give her teachers guidance, but she knows she alone cannot change the situation of autistic children in China.

Ocean Heaven, touches on realistic issues but unfolds in an idealistic way: the friends, neighbors, even the bosses of Dafu's father, are considerate and supportive. But in reality, society is not necessarily so enlightened.

"We are part of them and they are part of us," Tian said firmly.

Even so, she concedes discrimination and misconceptions persist. Many parents of autistic children in China feel guilty about their children or are too humiliated to get together with others.

Craig Michaels, professor from Queens College at the City University of New York, who specializes in special education program and who visited Beijing for the past two weeks to help evaluate autistic programs in China, told METRO that China's institutions such as Wucailu have achieved "amazing" progress over the years, but that "there is still a long way to go", including ensuring better social welfare for the families of autistic children and equipping adults with autism with the essential skills necessary to be employed.

Michaels also plans to get Chinese teachers to study in the US and help with projects researching autism in China. In September, Liu Mei, a young teacher at Wucailu is going to join a one-year exchange program at Queens College and will become the first teacher from a Chinese private autistic organization to receive professional training at the City University of New York.

Sun said she is extremely excited about Liu going to the US.

"Liu is practicing English so hard now every day - just imagine what she will be able to contribute when she comes back," said Sun.