Shine
28th August 2020
The 'expressway' to employment dignity for the hearing-impaired
By Ke Jiayun
After being unemployed for more than a year, former graphic designer Xu Shengliang took a job as a deliveryman for Shanghai YTO Express (Logistics) Co. It suits him perfectly. Xu, 27, is a deaf-mute who speaks only through sign language.
The university graduate in computer systems said, through a sign-language interpreter, that he never felt comfortable at other jobs because his disability made it difficult to relate to other workers.
Xu found the delivery job through an organization called Wu Shen Kuai Di, which translates as “Our Voice Express” and has the same pronunciation in Chinese as “no sound.” It was founded by Gu Zhong, a sign-language news anchor on Dragon TV, whose parents are both hearing-impaired.
Gu is also founder of Xin Gong Fang, or Heart Workshop, a social organization committed to helping disabled people.