Xiao Yi, a reporter from China Economic Weekly, | a photo report in Beijing
After the closing ceremony of the Beijing Winter Paralympic Games began, the circle of friends of many parents of autistic children was swept away by a message - the paintings of two autistic children appeared at the closing ceremony of the Winter Paralympic Games.
When the news came, many people stared at the TV screen, "all over the world" looking for pictures: two small birds dancing among the flowers; small white flowers blooming in the branches.
Autistic child Ozawa's "Dancing" and Ke Yi's "Colorful" appeared on the stage of the closing ceremony of the Beijing Winter Paralympic Games xinhua news agency
In the 23 minutes of the opening ceremony, disabled artists and children sang the classic song "You Raise Me Up", and an old-fashioned record player appeared on the screen of "Bird's Nest", and the needles drew different pictures with the music, showing the good life of families with disabilities. As the picture continues to change, autistic child Ozawa's "Dancing" and Ke Yi's "Colorful" appear on the bird's nest screen.
April 2 is World Autism Awareness Day, and may our love for this group of people fill every day.
Ke Yi's father, who was crouching in front of the TV, was shaking a little in his hands and tears came out of his eyes. Ke Yi's mother also cried, and she was immersed in happiness all night.
Born in 2005, Ke Yi is the younger sister of twins, both of whom are severely autistic. The painting was created when she was 16 years old, when she had been painting for nine years.
Ke Yi and the twin sister could not hold the pen when they were more than 7 years old, and when they painted, they did not take the pen to "smear", but relied on the touch of the pen to accumulate color, and it was with such a point-and-touch painting method that this work was completed.
Ke Yi's mother said: "I didn't expect that a child with severe autism like us, she also had a glowing and even radiant moment, lighting up the hope of thousands of disabled families." ”
Ke Yi's work "Colorful"
Ke Yi, who has just begun to learn to draw, never can take a pen to pick up a pen, all of which are calculated in terms of "years".
Zhang Junru, founder of Beijing Golden Wings Disabled Children's Art Rehabilitation Service Center (hereinafter referred to as "Golden Wings"), is watching Ke Yi painting. On March 7, Zhang Junru received a message to recommend her children's works to the closing ceremony of the Winter Paralympic Games, which made her very excited.
According to reports, Golden Wings adopts a very low fee form to reduce the burden on families, so that more children with disabilities can enjoy the joy and self-confidence brought by art, and the insufficient part is raised by integrating social resources and developing derivatives. 20% of the income from derivatives is returned to families of children with disabilities, and 80% is used for art rehabilitation teaching and sustainable development. Up to now, a total of more than 1 million yuan has been returned to families with disabled children.
After Ke Yi went to high school, her family strengthened the training of her self-care ability in life, and she now learns to cook with Aunt Su, not only to make food for herself, but also to take care of her family. A few days ago, Aunt Su's hand fell, and Ke Yi made her tomato egg noodles.
Aunt Su is a close aunt who has accompanied Ke Yi for 10 years. 10 years of companionship, but every day, every time there is a little progress, can give Aunt Su the confidence to persevere. "If I do a little more today, maybe I can change my child a little, and her quality of life will be better in the future." Aunt Sue said.
On the day of the closing ceremony of the Winter Paralympic Games, when Keyi's parents were proud of their children's works, in another family, complex emotions such as happiness, bitterness, satisfaction, gratitude, pride, and grievances that accompanied the surprise also intertwined in the hearts of Ozawa's parents.
Ozawa, a 21-year-old boy with autism, began studying painting in 2018. In April 2019, he was admitted to the Beijing Institute of Economics and Management to study jade design and technology.
When he was in school, Ozawa was marginalized by his classmates because of some manifestations of autism, and was almost dropped out of school by complaints from parents several times. For a long time, he had no friends, was stressed, and was not happy, and his mother was dominated by panic and anxiety every day.
At a parent-teacher meeting, Ozawa's mother finally couldn't help crying, and confessed Ozawa's situation to other parents, hoping that parents could support Ozawa. After that sincere word, most parents began to understand and accept Ozawa, but once Ozawa was promoted to grade or changed class teachers, the same problems would appear again and be repeated.
Now, Ozawa is in his junior year of college and is about to graduate this year.
Ozawa's "Dancing"
During the interview, Ozawa took the initiative to explain his paintings to reporters.
Ozawa is about to graduate this year, but for Ozawa, he is likely to face the problem of unemployment after graduation. Ozawa's mother is now very distressed, if he does not contact people, his ability will be reversed, especially worried that all these years of hard work will be in vain. Some companies have integration jobs, but without employment support, it is difficult to adapt. She hopes that companies or individuals in Beijing will provide children like Ozawa with the opportunity to integrate into society.
Walking on the road, Ozawa will let his mother walk inside, and everywhere Ozawa rides an electric car to ride his mother. "Sit in the back seat of the car and look at his burly back. Although he can't be admitted to Tsinghua Peking University, he can take care of me warmly around me, and I should be very happy in the second half of my life. Ozawa's mother said.
Ozawa's mother said that when he was a child, he trained him to cut fruit, cut his hand several times, and when he bled, his parents' hearts were really dripping blood. "But we won't always be with him, he needs to learn to survive on his own."
(This article was published in China Economic Weekly, No. 6, 2022)
Cover of China Economic Weekly, No. 6, 2022