A character study in China
by Patricia
You might remember me telling you in a blog post last month that I’d been working in China. I was In Anshan with the Five Project, a non-profit that has been promoting autism awareness and professional skill development in China since 1992. We spent two weeks providing professional development to an autism program providing service to children.
On a previous trip to Nanjing last summer I was introduced to Zhan Ge, a woman living with autism. I was so pleased to learn that Zhan Ge would be traveling to Anshan with us for a few days on this second trip. Zhan Ge is someone who has many skills and many challenges. She struggles with communication and her family offers her lots of support to ensure her quality of life is very high.
One of Zhan Ge’s areas of special interests is Chinese Characters. I had bought a matching game here in the States to take with me to China, but the game had English words. I covered over the words with stickers and hoped that somebody in China might be able to help me write the Chinese Characters for the game. The picture here is of Zhan Ge writing those characters for me.
So, like I explained in my previous blog post, Nothing About Us Without Us — even in China. And as I’ve learned time and time again, people with autism often exceed at skills in which I am lacking. Working together — especially when it comes to service providers and individuals with autism — promotes the best outcomes.