Hidden challenges

A film shows that society can do more to help children with autism and offer greater support to their parents, Fang Aiqing reports.

A film featuring the triumphs and tribulations of a single mother bringing up her son with autism was screened at the China Disabled Persons' Federation in Beijing on April 1, the day before World Autism Awareness Day.

Dream Forest presents not only the differences in behavior of Kangjian, 10, and the consequent misunderstandings of him by others, but also the financial, psychological and social pressure his mother Xiaobei faces.

Autism spectrum disorder covers a variety of conditions. Some are affected more than others. For example, some people with autism do not use spoken language, while others have excellent spoken language skills but may find it difficult to understand what other people mean.

People with autism usually lack social abilities and find it hard to communicate or interact with others. They also have difficulty empathizing with others and can behave rigidly like speaking to themselves in improper situations, repeatedly doing one movement or not looking at other people. The brain of a person with autism works in a different way.

Those that have the condition may have difficulty in doing the most basic things, such as taking care of themselves, and need to be looked after almost at all times and places.

In the movie, Kangjian can barely talk. His repetitive knocking on the walls disturbs their neighbors.

On one occasion, Kangjian is woken and frightened by a late-night thunderstorm when his mother has to lock him in and take a part-time job to earn much needed cash. The police and an ambulance are called to check on him and calm him down.

Later when Xiaobei goes to work in a kindergarten where Kangjian has a room to spend the day, the boy is found by other children. Misunderstandings occur and they reach their peak when the boy improperly reacts to an instinct.

China has more than 10 million people with autism. More than 2 million of them are children under 14. The number is growing at around 200,000 a year, according to a 2019 report on development of education and rehabilitation of people with autism.

Sun Menglin, in charge of the report and deputy director of the Autism Rehabilitation Professional Committee of the China Association of Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons, said on the launch of the report on April 2, 2019, the 12th World Autism Awareness Day that the number was a conservative estimate as the diagnosed have mainly moderate or severe cases. Many children with mild symptoms have yet to be diagnosed.

Yi Li from the school of psychological and cognitive sciences at Peking University estimates there's one child with autism in every 142 children in China, while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States estimated that in 2020 one child in 54 have autism in the US. Boys are four more times likely to have it than girls.

However, social awareness does not necessarily translate into a cohesive societal approach.

Having acquainted himself with a family dealing with autism, film director Fan Chao took up the topic in 2018.

Before shooting, he visited many public and private charity groups to speak to patients and families.

Just like Xiaobei who has just divorced and has to take care of Kangjian alone, many families split because of the pressure.

Moreover, a sense of stigma is often associated with such families and their appreciation of Fan's efforts to highlight their plight is clearly evident.

Cheng Kai, vice-president of the China Disabled Persons' Federation, says the movie is of great significance in promoting social understanding.

The movie pays particular attention to the benefits of encouragement of, and assistance to, parents of children with autism as they tackle with feelings of exhaustion and hopelessness.

Reacting to their common concern that their children might not get proper care after they pass away, the movie describes an ideal picture at the end where the public have knowledge of the condition and society can step in and help.

One small but important move has been a cafe where volunteers can meet and help parents.

While recognizing the movie plot as largely conforming to real life scenes, Zhang Rong, associate professor of neurobiology at Peking University Health Science Center, says the mother may be portrayed as "too perfect".

In reality, many parents are more emotionally sensitive and fragile in their behavior and communication with others. She calls for more toleration and support for such parents.

There's a lack of diagnosis and treatment resources and a scarcity of child psychiatrists in China, Zhang says, adding that not being able to identify subtypes of the disease can also affect rehabilitation.

Those with autism sometimes have surprising skills in programming, art or math and can make a valuable contribution to society. Exploring opportunities for these people would be a major step forward to help them integrate into society.

Contact the writer at fangaiqing@chinadaily.com.cn