Inclusive art education brings love, care for lone autistic children
Half an hour before class, art teacher Dong Fangyi started to prepare for the day, putting out brushes and canvas with the help of his 14-year-old student Dazhi (pseudonym).
The scene in the class was a little out of the ordinary as some students were silent and concentrating while others were restless and excited, banging on their desks.
All of the children in the class have been diagnosed with autism, romantically known as "children like the stars" in China.
The painting studio was founded by a public welfare service center in Xi'an, the capital city of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, which mainly involves parents of children with mental disabilities from more than 600 households.
With an operation model of mutual assistance, the parents are not forcing their children to rehabilitate but allowing them to develop their abilities through proper social interaction.
"Through painting, they can improve their artistic creativity and concentration while gaining some confidence," said Chen Ao, founder of the center, also a mother of her autistic child.
http://www.news.cn/english/20220402/e89eaff3645d4ee9b45fd0bd181045db/c.html