Edge of the class

By Global Times – South Reviews Source:Global Times – South Reviews Published: 2014-7-29 21:23:01

Parents of special needs kids find help hard to find


Students make pottery following instructions in a special education institute in Zhongshan, Guangdong Province. Photo: CFP



"Sometimes I even tell her to go and die," confesses Gao Lin, the frustrated mother of a 10-year-old girl with developmental difficulties.

Gao's daughter Lanlan, a village kid in Guangdong Province's Dongguan, with light skin and a round face, looks no different from any other kids around her at school. But the girl's intellectual disabilities have caused rejections from schools and peers.

She is now in the second grade of primary school, a year later than most kids in China.

Lanlan is one of many special needs children across the country who fall between the cracks of the system. A latest check in 2012 when she was 8-year-old shows her IQ was 70. Like the many other kids whose IQs fall between 70 and 85, she has been neglected and discriminated against in mainstream schools, and at the same time not qualified for special education schools for children with intellectual disabilities.

Lanlan has twice entered special education institutions but been returned to mainstream schools. Three years ago, after spending a month at a private boarding school that charges 300 yuan($48) per day, Lanlan's teacher called Gao to take her daughter back after Lanlan was almost hit by a car when she was playing ball.

When Lanlan turned 9 in 2013 and was attending another one-on-one special school, Gao decided to switch her daughter back into a mainstream school after getting advice that children learn better in groups.

Lanlan was nearly kicked out again when her class teacher complained to Gao about her poor academic performance and assaults on her classmates, until Gao explained to the principal and teachers about Lanlan's circumstances.

"Just let her [Lanlan] stay and hang in there for as long as she could," said Gao, as she was put off by the high cost of sending Lanlan to private institutions.

Gao was at first unaware of Lanlan's slow development in speech and walking until she saw the kindergarten group photo with the 4-year old Lanlan standing alone, far away from the line-up.

Alarmed and worried, Gao took Lanlan for a check and discovered her child had incurable intellectual disabilities and her skills could only be improved with persistence and guidance.

Gao quit her job and took full charge of her daughter's medication and education by taking her to countless hospitals. She also read many self-help books on taking care of children with intellectual disabilities.

Lanlan now performs slightly better at language tests, but still cannot manage most simple math problems.

"She is tired, and I'm tried too," said Gao as she became fatigued with the long hours of helping Lanlan with her homework from 4:30pm after school hours until nearly 10pm every night, repeatedly delayed by Lanlan's short attention span and requests to watch TV. Like many children who have intellectual disabilities, Lanlan may also be on the autistic spectrum, but the diagnose process in China remains slow.

The frustrating process, coupled with her husband's negligence and noninvolvement, has caused Gao to frequently lose her temper. She says she sometimes kicks her daughter and pulls her hair to vent her anger.

"I told her to go and die, to jump off the building, and said she lives like a useless piece of trash," Gao said. 

Behind Gao's occasional brutality there is deep guilt and an unsettling hope that her daughter can have a conventional future. "I cried every time after I beat her. But for everything I do, I just want her to have a better future, that she could manage to find a husband, who will not reject her [because of her IQ]," she said.

There are not yet any official statistics on the total number of children with borderline intelligence. But currently in Dongguan, a city with over 8 million population, there are only four public special education institutions for disabled children.

"Your kid is normal and it would be such a waste to put her here!" Gao quickly dismissed the idea of putting her daughter into the special needs school after hearing these words from a staff member.

In fact, the school also offers no place for candidates like Lanlan, as the limited places only allow them to take students with more severe disabilities.

The most common practice in China in dealing with marginalized students like Lanlan is to integrate them into mainstream schools.

"Such integration has to be supported by a comprehensive education system designed for students with special needs," noted Chen Huiying, director of Dongguan Disabled Rehabilitation Center. "This includes setting up a government department taking charge of the matter, training professional teachers, providing funding, and building a database."

"But such a system is still absent nationally, let alone in Dongguan."

However, Ma Xiuxia, the principal of a special education school in Tangshan, Hebei Province, holds a different view.

"Special schools still has the advantage of low student-teacher ratio," Ma was quoted as saying by the Huanbohai News, noting that the ratio in mainstream schools is 1:19, while the ratio in special schools is 1:2.5.

"Teachers in special schools are specially trained and are able to provide individualized education for students according to their progress.

China has some 6.27 million children under 14 with intellectual disabilities, according to authorities. At present, 45 percent of Chinese with disabilities, both physical and intellectual, are illiterate, compared to a rate of 5 percent among the general population, according to a 2013 report. The Ministry of Education in January announced a plan to boost special education, aiming to push the enrollment rate of students with disabilities up to 90 percent in 2016.



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