Beijing Music School Helps Autistic Students
2022-12-13
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1Zu Wenbao is a 23-year-old Chinese villager with autism.
2He grew up in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang.
3Autism is a developmental disability that makes it hard for some people to talk with others or learn social skills.
4That means it can be hard for a person with autism to find a job or make friends.
5There are about 14 million people in China with the disorder.
6But it is not well known and there is not much support for people like Zu.
7He is nonverbal, which means he does not speak.
8For Zu, the recent years of COVID-19 restrictions have been difficult.
9But he is doing better now that he is learning music and spending time with other young people at a school called Chen's Studio in Beijing.
10Chen's Studio started offering music lessons for people with autism when the pandemic started.
11Zu's mother, Zhao Guorong, brings her son to the music school every Sunday so he can study with the teacher, Chen Shensi.
12It takes them two hours on three different buses to get to the classroom from their home outside of Beijing.
13At the Beijing studio, Zu learned how to play the keyboards and sing in a band called "Star Kids."
14"Without music, without these lessons, he wouldn't have anything," Zhao said.
15The children he grew up with, she said, all have jobs or go to school.
16She said her son would not have any people to socialize with if it were not for the music school.
17Although Zu is older than the other young people at Chen's Studio, "they all take care of him like he's their brother," Zhao said.
18China is making progress in teaching people about autism and offering more support for people like Zu.
19But experts say there are still millions of children who do not get social or educational support.
20Chen knows the young people with autism will have trouble getting jobs, so he hopes music will help them make a living.
21The Star Kids band has already played some concerts.
22He did not know much about autism before he started teaching a bass player with the disorder in 2020.
23So, when China put restrictions in place in the early days of the pandemic, and Chen could not teach his regular students anymore, he offered free lessons to those with autism.
24"COVID has been hard, and I wanted to do as much as I can to give them joy through music," he said.
25At the start, it was hard. Chen became frustrated when he had trouble communicating with his students.
26However, it eventually became easier.
27He said he knows it is hard for them to communicate.
28But "to some degree, I think music might be their language."
29I'm Dan Friedell.
1Zu Wenbao is a 23-year-old Chinese villager with autism. He grew up in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang. 2Autism is a developmental disability that makes it hard for some people to talk with others or learn social skills. 3That means it can be hard for a person with autism to find a job or make friends. There are about 14 million people in China with the disorder. But it is not well known and there is not much support for people like Zu. He is nonverbal, which means he does not speak. 4For Zu, the recent years of COVID-19 restrictions have been difficult. 5But he is doing better now that he is learning music and spending time with other young people at a school called Chen's Studio in Beijing. 6Chen's Studio started offering music lessons for people with autism when the pandemic started. 7Zu's mother, Zhao Guorong, brings her son to the music school every Sunday so he can study with the teacher, Chen Shensi. 8It takes them two hours on three different buses to get to the classroom from their home outside of Beijing. 9At the Beijing studio, Zu learned how to play the keyboards and sing in a band called "Star Kids." 10"Without music, without these lessons, he wouldn't have anything," Zhao said. The children he grew up with, she said, all have jobs or go to school. She said her son would not have any people to socialize with if it were not for the music school. 11Although Zu is older than the other young people at Chen's Studio, "they all take care of him like he's their brother," Zhao said. 12China is making progress in teaching people about autism and offering more support for people like Zu. But experts say there are still millions of children who do not get social or educational support. 13Chen knows the young people with autism will have trouble getting jobs, so he hopes music will help them make a living. The Star Kids band has already played some concerts. 14He did not know much about autism before he started teaching a bass player with the disorder in 2020. So, when China put restrictions in place in the early days of the pandemic, and Chen could not teach his regular students anymore, he offered free lessons to those with autism. 15"COVID has been hard, and I wanted to do as much as I can to give them joy through music," he said. 16At the start, it was hard. Chen became frustrated when he had trouble communicating with his students. However, it eventually became easier. He said he knows it is hard for them to communicate. 17But "to some degree, I think music might be their language." 18I'm Dan Friedell. 19Dan Friedell adapted this story for VOA Learning English based on a report by Reuters. 20____________________________________________________________ 21Words in This Story 22disability -n. a condition that limits a person's physical or mental abilities 23keyboard -n. the part of some instruments, like a piano, that has keys that are pushed to play musical notes 24band -n. a group of musicians who play together 25concert -n. a public musical performance 26bass -n. a stringed instrument that plays low notes 27joy -n. great happiness 28frustrated -adj. being upset that you cannot do or complete something 29____________________________________________________________ 30We want to hear from you. How is the support for people with autism where you liv 31We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 32Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.