New Hope for Star Children

by Yin Xing

Children with autism have been likened to stars in the sky. They twinkle， lonely in their own world， so in China many call them “children who come from the stars.” But cruel reality lies behind the romantic designation： Autistic children suffer speaking disabilities and endure interpersonal barriers， narrow interest sets and rigid behavior.

Wang Xinhui is the head of the Star Road Autistic Childrens Rehabilitation Center in Chifeng City， northern Chinas Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. During her 15 years of practice in the field of autism rehabilitation， she has experienced considerable frustration as well as joy. She has overcome countless roadblocks to seize fruitful gains.

Encountering Autism

Wang majored in education in her college years. After graduation， she set up a childrens potential development center， integrating the functions of a kindergarten and early childhood education.

In 2004， things changed when a child named Yangyang enrolled in the school.

It didnt take long for Wang to discover that Yangyang was different from other children： He stayed away from others and yet never missed his mother. He always played alone in the corner， and if someone managed to pull him back to his seat， he would leave again a moment later. And he never interacted or even maintained eye contact with anyone.

“At that time， I was totally ignorant of autism，” Wang admits.“After discussing Yangyangs behavior with his parents at their home， we all decided to head to Beijing to take Yangyang to a doctor， who officially diagnosed him with incurable autism. Seeing the desperate parents and innocent child， I made up my mind to help them no matter what.”

But how？ At first， Wang had no idea. She tried to use her own methods to teach Yangyang but saw no significant improvement after a whole month. She realized that she had to learn the right way to effectively help the child. Later， she joined several colleagues to survey autism rehabilitation efforts in Beijing， Shanghai， Guangzhou， and Shenzhen among other places to learn from others work. A year later， the teachers mastered basic skills for teaching autistic children， and Yangyang started making remarkable progress under her guidance.

One summer day as Wang was conducting individual training lessons for Yangyang， she turned to pick up a card when she heard him exclaim， “Mom！”

“What did you say？” Wang couldnt believe her ears.

Yangyang did not look at her， yet he repeated， “Mom！”