h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Recently, I have learnt some passages about the disabled in China.

I see few disabled person during my life. There was only one time that I caught sight of three mutes chatting with their hands. I was impressed by the situation and couldn¡¯t forget the waving hands. In the passages the disabled girl called Xiaowen said:¡¯ I have learnt to live with my body as it is. Maybe it is the time for society to accept me and get used to the fact, while I may not be able to walk, there are still other great things I can do.¡¯
And I learnt the first time there is a magazine for the blind called 'literature of Chinese blind children' in China. But from the building¡¯s and circumstance¡¯s designs I can see the public care less about the disabled.

But I must say I even didn¡¯t talk to one disabled person. I just know them from the media. I wonder if they think the same thing as we are and what they care about.

I even contact with the deaf school in my city, but failed. I want to learn them. So do you know someone who is disabled?
What the situations in your countries? Could you tell me what exactly they think? And how can normal and ordinary people like me to help?

Here, I wanna talk about another familiar subject.

Despite the physically disabled, there is mentally disabled. I have something to say on this because my little cousin is the one. When he is sitting quietly, he just looks like the normal 12-year child. He is as tall as me. However, he has a low IQ and conducts himself like a 5-year-old child. I had tried my best to be patient and gentle to him, but it¡¯s really a difficult job as he always do the things he likes. I feel sorry for my uncle and aunt. It is said that the mentally disabled children is one out of ten thousand. Living with a mental disability is perhaps the most difficult challenge a human being can face in life.

Fortunately, while society failed to treat the mentally disabled with dignity and respect in the past, it has become to pay attention to the special group. The TV-station has made some program about them. But that¡¯s not enough to arouse the public.

Do you know the Special Olympics? It is taken place just like the regular one, and it will be held in Shanghai in 2007(I have an itch to watch).
Do you know Zhouzhou, the famous mentally disabled conductor in China? The report about Zhouzhou has inspired my aunt. So she employed a tutor to teach her son to play piano. As a result, it is a double-suffering, one for my cousin and the other for my poor aunt who pays all her heart and participations to cure him.
Sometimes I think the mentally disabled maybe the happiest one in the world. They know nothing and care nothing. However, I do not know what the future they may have. Where they would go in the steel-made rapidly developing world, may be the Wonderland.

What do you think? Have you contact these people and how you feel them?
What the situations in your countries?
Thank you

I am in England, just so you know

I have a cousin who has autism. This means he does not connect with the people around him. As a result, although he is very bright and, I am told, plays the piano like an angel, he is extremely non-verbal. He understands speech, and will follow instruction or respond physically to choices presented to him. Because he fails to connect with the people around him, his life skills are very limited. However, he does show love towards his sisters and parents, and all show love towards him. Life would not be the same without him in it. I hope this answers your question. I do not think it is fair to say that he knows or cares about nothing, he is very intelligent and there are parts of his life that he is passionate about.

The paralympics take place a few weeks after the olympics normally. I have watched parts of them when they have been televised and found them very interesting, although I do not enjoy sports normally.

BEG

Hi Hxq,
I think that in Britain the situation for those with physical disabilities and learning difficulties (what used to be called the mentally handicapped), is improving as time goes on.
There has been legislation recently to try to improve access for wheelchairs. Hopefully employment prospects are now better than in past, though things could always be improved.
As to people with learning disabilities, the large institutions are closing and smaller places in the community are openning, called care in the community. It was said it was for the benefit of those in the large institutions but I sometimes wonder if it was more for the benefit of the money saved by government, and the money raised by sale of often large areas of land!
In general, I would say those with learning difficulties are more often seen in every day life and out and about, but of course, there will always be people who are a little aprehensive of them but hopefully this will disapear in time.
.....you asked how you can help, I would imagine that somewhere in China there MUST be a voluntary group who would be thankful for your help! And by you asking like you did you will maybe start to make China more aware of the disabled, so keep up the good work!

Strangely, I am watching a programme on television called Vee TV about a deaf English photographer who visited China and a school for deaf children while she was there. The children showed her their photographs and talked about their school.
They showed a deaf man who said you are not allowed to drive in China if you are deaf, but he drives anyway so he can deliver flowers from his flower shop.
They said that until 20 years ago deaf people, like other people were not allowed to gather in groups in the street.
The photographer travelled around taking photographs of people in the streets. I didn't really listen to what they said on programme much as sound was down low and I was just looking at her good photographs!

hi,STRANGELY STRANGE (The snorkelling magpie)
Thank you for reading
However,I haven' watched the TV-show you referred to. But it is ture to say that the aid institution for the disabled in China needs completed.And I hope the government will be really concerned about it.For me, the time is not limited. Nevertheless, I will do some help.
I read the news today,find something interesting.A public film about the disabled will be made.It is a story about a little girl who has no body below the waist and walk around by a baskeball.
Here is the picture link:
http://image.baidu.com/i?ct=503316480&z=793519653&tn=baiduimagedetail&word=ÀºÇòÅ®º¢&in=15

hi,Brown Eyed Girl (tumbleweeder) B. Perv (Hons) (summa cum laude)
Thank you for reading
The same disease with my cousin.I'm glad your cousin has a good family.He is better than my cousin on some levels.I think the circumstance is better for your cousin.Because the condition here is rather poor.
so...that's it
Thanks,it feels better when understanding someone far away is struggling as we are.

I would say it is perhaps easier for Britain to be friendly to the disabled, since there's a lot of money floating around and everything is already expensive. I think public opinion is very much for spending a bit of money to help those with medical problems. How this manifests itself? Well, I see a lot of wheelchair ramps, but beyond that I don't know.

I have a friend on my course who is autistic, but I can't tell anything out of the ordinary about him, other than his grades which are consistently 10-20% higher than mine , and he records lectures instead of taking notes because he can't write legibly. Does his exams on computer instead. He got a free laptop, some blank cds, printer and consumables to help him out with his work, which is fair enough really.

A question back, if I may? From a brief visit to Xiamen, Fujian, I noticed that everyone got everywhere by bike. There were only a very few cars (lots of taxis) on the roads and motorways were empty for long stretches. How do disabled people get around there?

There are a lot of set-ups in the UK to help disabled people in work, study and in life in general. The equipment the person on your course got for studying is from money from the 'Disabled students allowance', a limited (but quite a lot of money in the fund), means of allowing disabled students to study at university by providing them with equipment, or a 'support assistant', or both, in order to allow them to study. Simularly, there are social security benifits for disabled people, the main one being the 'Disabled living allowance', which is graded in the value it is dependin on how disabled the invididual is, this is to help pay for the extra expenses a disabled person may encounter in normal every day life; weather for specialist equipment for the home, or in as is often the case increased travel expenses of having to use E.G., a taxi rahter than being able to use public transport, drive ones' own car etc., etc., WE've also got a fair bit of law covering discrimination now in the UK; the 'Special educational needs and disability act', which covers/covered provision of education to disabled individuals, and also the 'disability descrimination act', which now covers a lot of things asides education, such as provision of services. .. It should* in theory because of these and other laws be illegal to descriminate against an individual on the basis of their disability, weather in school, colege, university or in the work place... I think* this is now being extended to 'provision of services', so the commercial sectors can't discriminate on the basis of disability in the provision of their services; for example making sure their websites are accessable for blind/partially sighted individuals to use... Disabled toilets are now pretty common in the UK, I think most if not all train stations have them, as do other public buildings, and a lot now are also found in places such as pubs/bars etc. Most if not all Universitys have them too (all the Universitys I've been to have had em anyhow)

Fair bit of personal experience, plus I'm a governor of Special Needs school.

I'd say it's impossible to generalise - every person has things that they find it easier or harder to do than the next person, whether they are recognised as "disabled" or not. What we need is an understanding of what it is that will make life easier for each individual, whether that be a chair, or special reading equipment, or considerate access to buildings, or a teaching assistant in school, or signed TV and theatre performances...

One thing that does drive me mad is the blatant abuse of disabled parking bays - people who go, "Oh I'm only going to be 5 minutes, I'll just use this space here since I'm in a rush and it's nearest the door..."

I seem to remember hearing about a sign on a parking space, maybe in france. Roughly translated it said 'you can have my space when you take my disability too'.

BouncyBleepImZentrum
Thank you for replying
'A question back, if I may? From a brief visit to Xiamen, Fujian, I noticed that everyone got everywhere by bike. There were only a very few cars (lots of taxis) on the roads and motorways were empty for long stretches. How do disabled people get around there?'

I don't know clearly the situation in Xiamen or Fujian.But in my city(northwestern of inland China),we have lots of cars, buses, extremely the bikes which almost everyone has one).I and lots of my mates for instance ride to school.
I said the situation here for the disabled was rather bad.But the development are beening making somehow.here is the 'blind street',which seperated by covering some stripe-stones and different colours.

But I've not seen a blind man walking on the road himself with his stick yet.

I was once in a KFC run by deaf and mute people. It was a bit of an odd experience, so quiet in there. And you ordered your food by pointing and such.

,2legs - London summer meet: A10103662. It always seems to come back to my knickers in the end...
Thank you for reading.
I must say the disabled in your country are somehow quite convenient.
It is glad to hear that the situstion is better in your country.
And it is our duty,as wherever the people, to do some help.

Xanatic, adopt a brick!
Thank you for telling me such a place.
Could you tell me some more details about it? and Where is it? how can I get in touch with it?
As you can see, I am so curious about it.

Well, the one I saw was in Malaysia I think. Perhaps Borneo. But they might have a few more.

Lucky Star. You can lead a horse to water but a pencil must be lead.
Thank you for replying
'What we need is an understanding of what it is that will make life easier for each individual'
Yes,you are absolutely right.But somehow people who stay with the disabled may not feel comfortable.so am I.I don't know why and how to change the way I feel.Do you feel the same way? And how do you deal with it?
thank you

This is really strange as I ate in a small outdoor restaurant run by a deaf woman in Malaysia!
It was in one of the highlands, perhaps Genting (sp?), it was around 30 years ago and I think she can from China, there are a lot of people from China in Malaysia. If I remember correctly I ate chicken! I went in and someone eating there said she was deaf and I needed to point at menu.

hxq,
a lot of people are unsure what to do if they have no experience of disabled people, if the person is physically disabled should you open the door for their wheelchair or will they be angry for not being allowd to do it themselves?
I recently tried to help someone in a wheelchair who appeared to be struggling but actually the shop was shut, and I think they thought I was interferring a little.
The situation for those with learning difficulties (mentally handicapped) is worse as many people have no experience of them and can be unsure again, sometimes people talk to them like children or are afraid what the person will do. I think the way to go is to just talk to any disbled person like you would talk to a friend and go from there.

Xanatic, adopt a brick!
Oh,you are lucky.But I can promise there is no in my city.So maybe I must go out to search them in other parts of China after I graduate.
One more question,do them have some special signs to recognise? How can I find them in a big city?