However, for 15-year-old Li Chuanyang, it was a slightly different story. She studied in a regular primary school and was switched to Nanyang School two months after going to a regular middle school. "She has normal social communication skills but a relatively low intelligence quotient, which leads to her poor academic performance," said Shi. Li said her classmates laughed at her underperformance and depression made her moody and introverted.

Now at Nanyang School, Li has become a star student and has developed particular interest in cooking and computer classes. She has joined the school's baseball team and has competed as part of it all over Shanghai. "I have become more brave and healthier due to the exercise of playing baseball," said Li. Teachers at the school have started to teach her courses at regular middle schools to prepare her for entrance exams for vocational colleges after graduation.

Teachers and pupils at Nanyang School will be paying special attention to the Special Olympics in Shanghai. The national team for the event will be mainly comprised of students and graduates of the school.

Sunshine

Two years after Shanghai won in its bid to host the 2007 Special Olympics, the Shanghai Disable Persons' Federation conducted a survey on living conditions for mentally disabled people aged from 16 to 35. The survey concluded that these young people were often indulged in self-isolation and the quality of life of their families was poor.

Cao Ziping, Party head of the Shanghai Disable Persons' Federation, explained that this age group of people mostly graduated from nine-year intelligence nurturing schools but could not find any job opportunities. He said most of them were shut off from society and their intelligence levels dropped sharply as a result of lack of communication, while in many cases melancholy or even despair tortured their families. In some families, at least one parent, usually in the prime of their career, had to quit their job to take care of the child. Out of Shanghai's 170,000 mentally handicapped population, over 10,000 were in such conditions, he said.

These 10,000 families were saved from despair when in 2005 the Shanghai Municipal Government started the Sunshine Home program, which intends to build a community rehabilitation center for mentally disabled people in every city block and suburb of Shanghai. In these Sunshine Homes, mentally disabled people can receive lessons on basic life skills, like reading signs and cooking simple dishes, receive Olympics-type sports training, do simple work which they are paid for and receive other rehabilitation exercises. So far, a total of 240 Sunshine Homes have been set up in Shanghai, which have altogether 11,500 registered members.

Nineteen-year-old Li Dongming, who has never attended a school or rehabilitation center before, is a happy member of Songnan Sunshine Home. As an only child, Li was a little spoiled by his grandparents, who insisted on him being home schooled out of the worry that their grandson might be bullied by other children at a mentally handicapped school. When Li's mother heard about Sunshine Homes and suggested sending her son for classes two months ago, her parents-in-law raised immediate opposition. However, Li's changes completely dismissed the worries of his grandparents as the boy has become a different person. Li, who was too shy to have dinner with a guest to his family, now often raises his hands to answer questions in the Sunshine Home's classes, answering using body language as he is mute.

"The teachers here are so kind and responsible," said Li's mother, 47, accompanying her son to a basketball session at the Sunshine Home. While Li practiced shooting a basket with his classmates, who cheered his every success, she said her son's life has been broadened since before his only entertainment was playing computer games and watching television. He has been trained at the Sunshine Home to make work permit cards, she added. Although teachers said Li's progress is slow due to difficulty concentrating, his mother has great hope for his future at the center.

"Learning a craft and supporting himself," said Li's mother, "I really cannot think of any better life for him."