Xu Wensheng (left)
China Times (www.chinatimes.net.cn) reporter Wen Mei trainee reporter Zhou Nan reported from Beijing
"Coach, it's been really hard to take us for so many years." "Hug the coach." "Thank you coach, get the gold medal and we're going to invite you to a big dinner" ......... The people who said these words were Lin Liuli, 17, Xu Wensheng, 9, and Chen Zhaoran, 21. In addition to the three children, there is 15-year-old Ye Peng, all four of them are from the Special Education School in Jiaocheng District, Ningde City, Fujian Province, and are also athletes who represented the Fujian team in this year's Special Olympics roller skating program.
On October 28, with the end of the final race of Special Olympics, the children's final results were confirmed. Ye Peng and Lin Liuli won gold medals in the Special Olympics men's 12-15 years olds 500 meters and 16-21 years old 100 meters respectively, and Chen Zhaoran won the silver medal in the 500 meters of the Special Olympics men's 22-29 years old group.
Roller skating competition scene
Special Olympics roller skating is a competition for people with intellectual disabilities, emphasizing not just skill, but also participation and integration. As a special population physical education teacher, Zhou Tianyuan, coach of the Special Olympics roller skating team in Fujian Province, who has been involved in the Special Olympics project for many years, told the China Times reporter: "The platform of the Special Olympics is really good, and many children with intellectual disabilities may not have the opportunity to go out in their lifetime and see so many people outside." This platform really helps many children establish goals and realize the value of their lives. ”
"Born special"
According to Zhou Tianyuan, the group of children he brought with him were "born special", suffering from different degrees of intellectual disability, intelligence was significantly lower than the level of the average person, and showed obstacles to adapting to behavior. Among them, Chen Zhaoran also suffers from autism.
Chen Zhaoran has been training since the founding of the Fujian Special Olympics roller skating team in 2008, when he was only 9 years old, as a "senior" athlete, he once won 2 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze in the fifth special olympic roller skating competition in the country.
Chen Zhaoran's mother, Chen Saifeng, is also the leader of the Special Olympics roller skating team, and since her son joined the roller skating team, she has witnessed Zhou Tianyuan come to fame with one child after another. "In my eyes, Coach Zhou is not only a coach, but more like the 'dad' of roller skating teenagers. I especially thank Coach Zhou, Zhaoran has suffered from autism since childhood and is reluctant to communicate with people, but he has a sense of competition and team spirit after participating in roller skating, and he has improved in cognition, understanding, emotional behavior, etc., and the quality of sleep has also improved. ”
Today's Chen Zhaoran is 22 years old, in the message to Chen Zhaoran, Zhou Tianyuan said: "Chen Zhaoran from an ignorant boy to an 'old' youth, step by step slipped out of his wonderful life, I hope that he can also slide out of the wonderful road in the future life." ”
It's not easy to skate out. Roller skating itself has certain technical difficulties and dangers, coupled with the poor physical balance ability of children with intellectual disabilities, it is more difficult to learn to glide smoothly.
In Zhou Tianyuan's view, the most important thing in training is the change of behavior habits, so he always starts from the most basic roller skates and protective gear. Children with intellectual disabilities have poor hands-on ability, it takes ten minutes to wear shoes and protective gear, and when training at school, Zhou Tianyuan always leaves more time for them to do it themselves. "Habits are important, and we need to cultivate them slowly, step by step." According to Zhou Tianyuan, in addition to Xu Wensheng's small age and lack of hand strength, he still needs his help, and other children can complete the wearing faster.
The hardest part of training is that children can't understand movements, even if their intelligence is equivalent to that of seven- or eight-year-olds, but their comprehension ability is sometimes inferior to that of seven- and eight-year-olds, so they learn very slowly. Zhou Tianyuan has no better way, that is, through continuous demonstration, intensive training of the movements, "teach and re-teach, teach re-teach, teach countless times, let them form muscle memory." Sometimes the sudden movements are a bit like that, and I encourage him to do it a few more times to show me and slowly set the action. ”
In order to let the children fully experience, Zhou Tianyuan filled up the project, which was a test of the athletes' physical strength and perseverance. But they don't feel stressed. This group of children always seems "ignorant", they have their own happiness, Zhou Tianyuan told reporters with a smile: "They think it is very fun, very happy, said they like here, do not want to go back." ”
"Growing up on the road"
Roller skating opens a new door for children with intellectual disabilities.
In school, as long as the children who show interest in sports, Zhou Tianyuan is willing to let them try roller skating. Xu Wensheng is only 9 years old, the training time is not long, and he is also the youngest participant in the Fujian roller skating team of the Special Olympics. Because he was too young, whether it was training or life, Zhou Tianyuan would give him more care. Zhou Tianyuan told reporters that in order to take care of Xu Wensheng's living, this trip to Shaanxi, the two of them even slept in the same room. "In fact, I am most 'afraid' of bringing young athletes every time, they are young and easy to get cold and sick, so I will take very careful care of them."
Young children inevitably have sluggishness in training, and when the regular communication is not good, Zhou Tianyuan will "coax and deceive". "Sometimes they don't want to practice, I told them that after practicing, they can take a plane, and then when they train, they ask when the plane will come every day, I tell them to practice well, I call the plane to come, and sometimes in the playground I see a plane flying in the sky, and they are also very happy." The younger child I 'coaxed' him, the older child would laugh along with it. In fact, I also use another way to guide them. Zhou Tianyuan said.
In Zhou Tianyuan's view, this group of children with intellectual disabilities is "very lucky" to be able to participate in roller skating. He told reporters: "Many children I have been taking them since the age of seven or eight, so many years, every time they participate in a competition, after returning to school, there will be obvious changes, physical fitness has improved, life self-care ability has become stronger, behavior habits have become better, the whole person is much more cheerful, more willing to interact with classmates." ”
After Zhou Tianyuan took Ye Peng out to compete in 2017, Ye Peng "changed his whole person", and Zhou Tianyuan consciously trained him to become the leader of the sports team, often letting Ye Peng do action demonstrations for other students and leading them to do warm-up exercises. ”
The children won medals on this Special Olympics trip, and Zhou Tianyuan was certainly happy. In the interview before the game, Zhou Tianyuan told reporters that his requirements for children are not high, and he can play as much as possible. "I always told them that if we can get the gold medal, the coach is very happy, if not, we will also experience the fun of the conference, feel the atmosphere, come from Fujian to come, but also see the outside world." Especially for young athletes, it is more important to give them the opportunity to try and accumulate competition experience than the results themselves.
Regarding the children's special Olympics trip and future life journey, perhaps a dynamic of Zhou Tianyuan on the social platform is the best interpretation: "Grow on the road, come on!" ”