Chinese advocates pave way for autistic children

Children play at the summer camp. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

"Children with ASD have emotions – they feel things intensely. They just have difficulty expressing those emotions," says Lian.

He tells a story of an autistic child who started throwing a tantrum when filmed by a TV crew, only to later express himself on an iPad, typing, "I don't know these people, I don't want to be filmed", at which the TV crew apologized.

Parents of ASD children also face a lack of professional support – in the form of trained Special Needs teachers in school, and avenues to find jobs for grown children in the workplace so they can stand on their own two feet.

Although children with ASD can now attend public schools, few such schools are properly equipped to teach them effectively. "If they go to a normal public school, they might just be left in a classroom by themselves – this doesn't do them any good, either. What we need is real inclusion education," said Lian.

Sometimes, children with ASD even face discrimination from their nearest and dearest. "Even my mother, who loves my daughter, said my daughter was acting up one day even though she wasn't, so that she wouldn't be present at my brother's dinner party," says Zhao. "It's also a form of discrimination, and it really hurts."

"When you have this kind of child, you automatically score a zero in the competition of life," she adds. "If you get into an argument with anyone, they can always say, 'Your child is an idiot,' and that's a trump card. There's nothing you can say after that."

Xu Bing, the founder of Gift, a Christian NGO that helps provide support for parents with children with disabilities in Zhengzhou, said, "I started this organization because I felt real compassion for the parents. Of course, the children are adorable and we all fell in love with the children, but it is really the parents I wanted to help. They just had no one to turn to, and are often targeted by scams that give false hope."

Gift runs support groups for parents of children with disabilities, fun activities for the children, and also runs an annual summer camp for the families.

"Gift helped me to meet other parents in the same situation. This way, we can gather our resources together. Some organizations are more likely to help parents' organizations because they feel that their motives are more pure."

When asked what she wished people knew about children with ASD, Zhao Hua says, "Don't treat them differently. Don't stare at them, but don't treat them with pity either. Just treat them like you would anybody else."

Despite all the challenges he and his child face, Lian is optimistic about the future. "I believe in love," he says. "Just like in the movie Frozen, I believe love can conquer anything."