Nice news article: Chinese man with cerebral palsy achieves Harvard dream

[Arcadia]

"A 29-year-old from the city of Wuhan in central China has shown that fierce dedication is indeed the path to the Ivy League. Ding Zheng, who was born with cerebral palsy, worked hard and studied at top Chinese university Peking University, and is now studying at Harvard Law School.

...

Cerebral palsy causes a lack of coordination and difficulty with movement, but does not usually affect one's mental capacity. Ding’s development pace was much slower than his peers as he suffered motor neuron damage in the cerebellum. He learned to stand at the age of two, walk at three, and jump at six. Ding's mother made sure he never gave up, instilling the sense to always persevere."

https://news.cgtn.com/news/3d55544e35677a4d/share.html

Edited May 19, 2017 by Arcadia in CA

[nansk]

Admirable.

 

We need positive news stories like these.

[Laura Corin]

"A 29-year-old from the city of Wuhan in central China has shown that fierce dedication is indeed the path to the Ivy League. Ding Zheng, who was born with cerebral palsy, worked hard and studied at top Chinese university Peking University, and is now studying at Harvard Law School.

...

Cerebral palsy causes a lack of coordination and difficulty with movement, but does not usually affect one's mental capacity. Ding’s development pace was much slower than his peers as he suffered motor neuron damage in the cerebellum. He learned to stand at the age of two, walk at three, and jump at six. Ding's mother made sure he never gave up, instilling the sense to always persevere."

https://news.cgtn.com/news/3d55544e35677a4d/share.htm

 

That's so good to hear.  When I first was in China, in 1985, I was told that disabled people were automatically excluded from university because the country needed to target its limited resources at people to who could go anywhere and do anything.  Given the country's poverty at the time one can see the rationale - even if one might not agree - but I'm glad that some measure of disability rights has resulted from the country's increasing wealth.

 

ETA: the link doesn't seem to be working.

Edited May 19, 2017 by Laura Corin

[Arcadia]

Given the country's poverty at the time one can see the rationale - even if one might not agree - but I'm glad that some measure of disability rights has resulted from the country's increasing wealth.

 

ETA: the link doesn't seem to be working.

The link now works, the htm should be html instead.

 

From the same article,

"In China, disabled people often face discrimination and difficulties in areas such as education and employment - but the culture is improving. According to the China Disabled Person’s Federation, the country has 85 million disabled folk, accounting for more than six percent of the total population.

China has been improving the infrastructure for disabled children to receive compulsory education, with the aim to increase the rate to 90 percent by this year from 73 percent in 2014. In 2014, about 10,000 people with disabilities entered universities or institutions of higher education, and the number is on the rise."

 

ETA:

More details in another article

 

"But her child was in a life-threatening situation after suffering intrauterine hypoxia due to the medical negligence in Jingzhou City of Hubei Province on July 18, 1988, leaving her with the choices of either taking the baby off life support or keeping him on it, but probably ending up living a difficult life taking care of the physically-handicapped or even paralyzed boy.

...

Ding needed massage treatment three times a week, costing five yuan (about 0.7 U.S. dollars) for each session. But Zou's salary as a teacher was just over 100 yuan (about 14.5 dollars) in the 1990s. There was no insurance covering Ding's rehabilitation.

...

Ding had difficulty holding a pen. So, Zou taught him to draw some shapes with thick-bodied pens by holding his hand, and then gradually changing to thin pens. Even though Ding was weak in his physical movements, he started learning how to read from his mother at the tender age of one, and he knew more than 100 Chinese characters before he was two years old."

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-05/18/c_136295580.htm

Edited May 19, 2017 by Arcadia