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This open access book commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Special Olympics (1968-2018). This is the fourth volume of the first oral history about people with intellectual disabilities in the world and the first oral history of persons with disabilities in China. This book also includes stories from teachers, coaches, school principals, parent leaders, coworkers, and volunteers. They share their personal views on people with intellectual disabilities. The book also includes observations and records of what people with intellectual disabilities and others do on a certain day. It uses sociology and oral history to give an objective, neutral account of the lives of people with intellectual disabilities in China. It helps readers understand how the Special Olympics movement, public policies, social environment, and self-cognition affect people with intellectual disabilities.
List of contents
Preface.- About Special Olympics Athletes.- A Family Needs to Stay Together Told by Miss Song Shuang and Her Parents.- Light Lifting the Fog Told by Xiao Kun's Father Xiao Zhonglin.- About Special Olympics Athletes Leaders.- I belong to Xicheng District Central Special School Told by Miss Jia Sirui.- A New Chapter through Roller Skating.- About Special Olympics Family Leaders.- Running a Rehabilitation Base with a Big Heart Told by Ms Han Rongfang.- Returning to Simple Life after Embracing Trials.- About Assisted Living Recipients.- Everyone can escape, except for the Mom Told by Mr. Huang Xiao's Mother Xue Yan.-Not Giving Up As Long As the Child Is Still Alive Told by Z's Grandmother.- About Special Olympics Coaches.- A Happy Teacher Told by Mr Dai Jianrong.- Living with Dignity Told by Mr He Yi.- About Principals of Special Schools.- Do What I want and Do it Well Told by Principal Lu Yanyun.- My Students Are My Children Told by Principal Yu Wen.- About Special Olympics Volunteers.- Twenty Years' Deep Attachment Told by Ms Su Lili.- Delivering Education to Households in Need Told by Mr Zhou Xiaoli.
About the author
William Alford is Jerome A. and Joan L. Cohen Professor of East Asian Legal Studies at Harvard Law School where he also serves as Director of East Asian Legal Studies and Chair of the Harvard Law School Project on Disability. A scholar of Chinese law and society, his books include To Steal a Book is an Elegant Offense: Intellectual Property Law in Chinese Civilization (Stanford 1995); Raising the Bar: The Emerging Legal Profession in East Asia (Harvard 2007), Can ji ren fa lu bao zhang ji zhi yan jiu (A Study of Legal Mechanisms to Protect Persons with Disabilities) (Huaxia 2008, with Wang Liming and Ma Yu'er, in Chinese), Prospects for the Professions in China (Routledge 2011, with William Kirby and Kenneth Winston) and Taiwan and International Human Rights: A Story of Transformation (Springer 2019, with Jerome A. Cohen and Chang-Fa Lo). In addition, he has published dozens of articles concerning China, law and international affairs.
Mei Liao is an independent scholar at present. From 1996 to 2004, she taught as an assistant professor and associate professor in the History Department of Fudan University in Shanghai. Her research interests include Chinese intellectual history and history of late Qing dynasty. She has published the book Wang Kang-nian: From the Civil Rights Theory to Cultural Conservatism (Shanghai Classics Publishing House, 2001); the novel Under the Tower of Ivory (Jiangsu Literature and Art Publishing House, 2012); and a number of papers. She received her bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in history from Fudan University.
Fengming Cui serves as the director of China Program at Harvard Law School Project on Disability. She is a senior fellow at the Renmin University of China Disability Law Clinic and also served as an adjunct professor of Renmin University of China Law School and honorary professor at Nanjing Normal University of Special Education. Her main scholarly interests, academic, and public interest work focus on issues of comparative disability studies; disability law and policy in China; rights in inclusive education, employment, and community for persons with disabilities; the development of family support system; and the development of civil society for equal participation and general social development. She is an editor for Legal Rights for Persons with Disabilities in China: A Guide Book (Chinese Renmin University Press, 2016, both in Chinese and English, with JianFei Li, et al.). She was also the guest editor for the special issue "Disability and China" of Review of Disability Studies: In International Journal (2024).
