Beijing Music School Helps Autistic Students

Beijing Music School Helps Autistic Students

Zu Wenbao is a 23-year-old Chinese villager with autism. He grew up in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang.

Autism is a developmental disability that makes it hard for some people to talk with others or learn social skills.

That means¹ 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 disorder². But it is not well known³ and there is not much support for people like Zu. He is nonverbal, which means he does not speak.

For Zu, the recent years of COVID-19 restrictions⁴ have been difficult.

But he is doing better now that he is learning⁵ music and spending time with other young people at a school called Chen's Studio⁶ in Beijing.

Chen's Studio started offering⁷ music lessons for people with autism when the pandemic started.

Zu's mother, Zhao Guorong, brings her son to the music school every Sunday so he can study with the teacher, Chen Shensi.

It takes them two hours on three different buses to get to the classroom from their home outside of Beijing.

At the Beijing studio, Zu learned⁸ how to play the keyboards and sing in a band called "Star Kids."

"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.

Although 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.

China is making progress in teaching⁹ 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.

Chen 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.

He did not know much about autism before he started teaching a bass¹⁰ 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.

"COVID has been hard, and I wanted to do as much as I can to give them joy through music," he said.

At the start, it was hard. Chen became frustrated¹¹ when he had trouble communicating with his students. However, it eventually became easier. He said he knows it is hard for them to communicate.

But "to some degree, I think music might be their language."

Words in This Story

disability –n. a condition that limits a person's physical or mental abilities

keyboard –n. the part of some instruments, like a piano, that has keys that are pushed to play musical notes

band –n. a group of musicians who play together

concert –n. a public musical performance

bass –n. a stringed instrument that plays low notes

joy –n. great happiness

frustrated –adj. being upset that you cannot do or complete something

1 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

2 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

3 known   

adj.大家知道的；知名的，已知的

参考例句：

• He is a known artist.他是一个知名的艺术家。
• He is known both as a painter and as a statesman.他是知名的画家及政治家。

4 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

5 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

6 studio   

n.摄影棚（场）；演播室；画室；工作室

参考例句：

• They are building a modern studio.他们正在修建一座现代化的摄影室。
• He had to spend long hours in the recording studio.他不得不花很长的时间在录音室里。

7 offering   

n.提供，奉献物，牲礼

参考例句：

• What is your competition offering?你的竞争者提出的条件是什么？
• The police are offering a big reward for information about the robbery.警方出大笔赏金要求提供那起抢劫案的破案线索。

8 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

9 teaching   

n.教学，执教，任教，讲授；(复数)教诲

参考例句：

• We all agree in adopting the new teaching method. 我们一致同意采取新的教学方法。
• He created a new system of teaching foreign languages.他创造了一种新的外语教学体系。

10 bass   

n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴

参考例句：

• He answered my question in a surprisingly deep bass.他用一种低得出奇的声音回答我的问题。
• The bass was to give a concert in the park.那位男低音歌唱家将在公园中举行音乐会。

11 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》