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UPDATED: September-11-2008 NO.45 NOV.9, 2006
I Know I Can
The Special Olympics in Shanghai next year can help more people with intellectual disabilities learn to cope with the challenges of life
By TANG YUANKAI

From music to sports

Xu Chuang was born into a family with a musical background. His maternal grandfather is a conductor of the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra and his father is a violinist at a theater. In Chinese, one meaning of Chuang is "to break ground." Xu's given name bears the family's expectation that he should break new ground in music and carry on the family's tradition.

As a small child, Xu exhibited musical talent. However, when he was six, all such hope evaporated overnight after he was struck by an unusual disease and became moderately intellectually disabled.

"The feeling of having a son with intellectual disabilities is like having a rock on our hearts," said Xu's mother Bao Meiqin, who is a doctor at a school for children with intellectual disabilities. After dealing with many parents who encountered a similar fate, Bao well understands their concerns about their children: "What will happen to them in the future and who will take care of them after we die?"

Bao and the physical education teacher discovered Xu's interest in sports soon after he was sent to the school at which his mother works.

Some teachers told Xu's mother that it was not suitable for him to compete in the Special Olympics because his memory is weak and his coordination is poor. He would learn and practice a set of simple gymnastic exercises for several days and then give an awkward performance.

Yet to these teachers' surprise, through preparing for the Special Olympics Xu's physical skills have been improving and he is becoming more extroverted and articulate. His competition results also showed substantial progress. In 1999, at a table tennis tournament for people with intellectual disabilities of the Asia-Pacific region, Xu won the championship by beating over 500 players from more than 30 countries. This earned him a spot on the training team for Special Olympics athletes at another school for intellectually disabled children.

This is when the mother started to give her son "lessons in survival." She told her boy that it is important for a person with mental disabilities to develop an accurate survival orientation. Toward this goal, it is essential to have a positive and unyielding attitude toward life as much as to master a suitable skill. As part of the course, Bao let her son watch the movie Forrest Gump. "Forrest Gump also had intellectual disabilities with an IQ below 70, but he achieved successes in life through hard work. I want to become 'China's Forrest Gump,'" said Xu.

In March 2002, at China's Third National Special Olympics, Xu was invited to participate in a youth summit, while his mother was invited to the family forum to share her experience in training her child for the Special Olympics. In 2003, at the recommendation of his school, Xu participated in the East Asia Special Olympics Athlete Leadership Training Program and was chosen as one of the global Special Olympics Athlete Leaders.

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