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Giving hope to autistic children in China.

Seven years ago Mrs. Wang, a nurse from Jilin in north-eastern China gave birth to a son. She noticed that he was not developing in the same way as other children, and after numerous visits to hospitals, she learned that he had autism. At that time, there were very few who were knowledgeable in this field in China, and there were no rehabilitation centres available for autistic children. With the support from China Charity Federation and the Scandinavian development organization, Star of Hope, Mrs Wang was able to attend courses on autism in Beijing and Shenyang. With two other mothers and next to no resources, she rented a space to start a rehabilitation centre for autistic children.

Today, Star of Jilin rehabilitation centre is well known for the outstanding results of its three month long intensive program. Her six year old son is now able to speak, read and write and attends normal school. In many cases, the children are not able to communicate before they arrive, but through training, they learn to speak, sing, and interact with others. Unfortunately, Star of Jilin has limited funds and capacity, and many parents can not afford to pay for their children’s’ stay. The kind hearted Mrs. Wang takes in as many as possible and receives calls every day from desperate parents asking if there is room for them in her centre. Mrs. Wang says: ”My dream is to have more room and resources, so that more children can come to the centre. I also want to start a primary school, and teach the children practical skills like sowing and cooking.”

Star of Hope is a Scandinavian humanitarian organization with 150 projects on four continents, providing education, community development, rehabilitation and disaster relief to improve the lives of disadvantaged children. Since 1998, Star of Hope International has supported a number of projects in China and has successfully implemented a number of CBR projects with the support of Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) with the aim: “To give children with disabilities a better life today and hope for tomorrow, and equip them for the future so they can be useful citizens”