Newsweek Select, March 2007
This is an excerpt of some of the translation I did last month. This piece was originally written in the States’ version of the magazine. About 60 percent of our articles are done this way while the other 40 percent is local content. We supplement the articles from other international editions with Chinese examples and statistics. I won’t reprint the entire article here. Just some excerpts:

住在上海市的佳佳走入公共卫生间，把虚掩着的门依次打开，看着所有的门都整齐地靠在墙板后，才放心走开去做别的事情。上课时，教室的门原本是关着的，佳佳看到之后，旁若无人地走过去把门打开，同样地把门推靠在墙壁上，之后才回到自己的座位上坐好。像这样的小“习惯”还有很多，他经常会把桌子上的书本、杯子等东西按照他喜欢的顺序收拾整齐，平日还喜欢捡小垃圾。佳佳总是做些孩子事，如果他只是个孩子，那么他的行为就没什么不正常。但这个“孩子”今年已经 27 岁了。医生把这样的行为叫做“刻板行为”，是自闭症典型的行为表现。
Jiajia, from Shanghai, enters the bathroom and opens all the unlatched doors to line up against each stall’s wall. Only after inspecting his work does he relax and move on. In class, after Jiajia realizes the door is closed, he unselfconsciously walks over to open it, and, as with the bathroom doors, makes sure it lines up against the wall. Afterwards, he returns to his seat. Jiajia has many “habits” such as these. He often orders the books and cup on his desk in a tidy order of his liking, and he enjoys collecting small bits of garbage. If Jiajia were a child, his behavior wouldn’t be unusual. But this “child” is already 27 years old. Doctors call this “inflexible” behavior.
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佳佳 1980 年出生，但直到 1990 年才被确诊为“自闭症”，1996 年，他由特殊学校毕业，是中国最早一批被鉴定为自闭症的孩子之一。那个时候，“自闭症”这个词才刚刚传入中国，国内没有这方面的专业知识，更不可能有专业的康复机构。就这样，这批孩子虽然被确诊了，却没有机会在最佳康复年龄得到适当的治疗。
Jiajia was born in 1980, but he wasn’t diagnosed as being autistic until 1990. Among the first recognized autistic children in China, he graduated from a special school in 1996. At the time, the word “autistic” had just entered China and there were no specialized knowledge much less specialized recovery treatments available. Although the children had been diagnosed at the age when treatment is most effectively administered, there were no opportunity to do so.
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而据新华网报道，在中国，自闭症患儿约有 50 万，患病率达到万分之五，并有上升趋势。
According to a Xinhua Online report, 500,000 people suffer from autism in China. That’s one out of every 10,000 people, and there are indications the numbers are growing.
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让自闭症患者独立生活，是许多家庭的主要目标。在美国，数以千计的青少年经过治疗后，如今正进入大学，期待着过上有工作的正常生活。可是，其余更多的年轻人虽然已经取得很大进步，但仍要面对很多不确定性，就像佳佳一样。在北京的利智康复中心内，佳佳和其他患者每天要接受康复训练。训练分为沟通课、运动课和音乐课三个部分。沟通是导师以一问一答的方式和患者聊每天的生活，告诉他们对与错，以及生活上的一些问题该怎么处理；运动就是进行一些球类运动，目的是为了训练他们的注意力；音乐就是学唱歌，唱一些大家喜欢的歌曲，这有助稳定他们的情绪。另外，还会教他们叠被子、穿衣服，以提高他们的自理能力。
The goal of many families with autistic children is to allow them independent lives. In the United States, after being treated, thousands of young people enter university with the expectation that someday they will attain employment and lead normal lives. But most autistics, even with the great progress they have made, face an immense amount of uncertainty–as Jiajia does. Every day at the Beijing Favorable Wisdom Recovery Center, Jiajia and other autistics must work through recovery drills. Recovery drills are divided into three parts: communication class, physical education class and music class. In communication class the tutor leads a discussion where questions about daily life must immediately be answered by the students. The tutor will tell them what is right or wrong and ask them how to handle various life problems. Physical education class, which aims to improve the students’ability to pay attention, involves exercise with balls. Music class teaches the students how to sing popular songs, which stabilizes their emotions. Additionally, the center teaches the students how to fold quilts and dress themselves, among other independent skills.
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在提到佳佳未来的生活问题时，该康复中心的肖老师说：“目前，国内没有针对大龄自闭症孩子的专业医疗机构，我们也是在摸索着。自闭症孩子缺乏持久力。目前我们做的只是平时给他一些训练，这样能让他的情绪得到稳定。同时，我们让他参与一些他力所能及的事情，给他一个相对支持的自然环境。像佳佳这样的孩子，一辈子也离不开周围人的支持。”当然，家人的支持最为重要。佳佳的爸爸潘先生说：“像佳佳这样的成年人，很多都被送去福利院或者精神病医院，我舍不得。我正计划筹备一个类似非政府组织的机构，让专家人士管理，来帮助他们。对于自闭症的孩子，这是个终生的训练。”目前，他正为他的计划奔波，“如果能够得到企业的帮助，这个机构就有了造血功能，能够正常运行下去。”
When bringing up the question of Jiajia’s future, the recovery center’s Teacher Xiao says, “Currently, there is no professional domestic medical organization directed towards older autistic patients, and it’s something we’re grappling with. Autistic children lack patience. At present, we can only give them some training and hope to stabilize their mood. At the same time, we want to enable them to participate in things they are able to do and give them a relatively supportive, natural environment. Throughout their entire lives, autistic patients like Jiajia must rely on others for support.” Naturally, family support is of the utmost importance. Jiajia’s father Mr. Pan says: ‘A lot of adults like Jiajia are finally sent to welfare homes or mental hospitals, but I couldn’t bear to do that. I am currently planning to create a similar non-governmental organization that brings in experts to manage and take care of these patients. For autistic patients, this is lifelong training.” Currently, Mr. Pan is scurrying to tie up his plan. “If this organization could get the corporate support , then its lifeblood could flow, and we could really bring it to fruition.”