An Oral History of the Special Olympics in China Volume 2 the Movement Economy and Social Inclusion
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Economy and Social Inclusion Creating a Society for All William P. Alford Mei Liao Fengming Cui Editors An Oral History of the Special Olympics in China Volume 2 The Movement Economy and Social Inclusion Creating a Society for All Series Editor Akihiko Matsui, Tokyo, Japan This series provides a forum for theoretical, empirical, historical, and experimental analysis of issues related to economy and social inclusion and exclusion. Included are the interconnected problems of alienation, deprivation, discrimination, economic inequality, polarization, and prejudices caused by or related to abusive behavior, aging, depopulation, disability, the educational gap, the gender gap, natural disaster, poverty, rare diseases, war, and various other economic and social factors. The common theme of the series is to examine how we can create an inclusive society that accommodates as many people as possible and promotes their welfare. We believe this should be the main goal of economics as a discipline. Society need not passively observe its inequality, social exclusion, and decline. Policy, institutions, and our actions matter. The series aims to enrich academic discourse, influence economic and social policy, and enlighten a global readership. Methodologies adopted in this series are mainly economic theory, game theory, econometrics, statistical analysis, economic experiments, and disability studies. Psychology, sociology, legal studies, and medical sciences, among other disci- plines, are also considered important related fields of study. The interdisciplinary research taken up in the series utilizes these existing methodologies for the common goal of creating a society for all. Furthermore, progress in such interdisciplinary studies will contribute new insights to the development of economic studies. The major geographical targets of the series are Japan and other Asian countries but are not restricted to those areas. At the same time, however, the goal is to amplify the findings therein to universally applicable insights and knowledge. Editorial Board: William P. Alford (Vice Dean for the Graduate Program and International Legal Studies, Jerome A. and Joan L. Cohen Professor of East Asian Legal Studies, Harvard Law School) In-Koo Cho (Professor, University of Illinois, USA) Partha Sarathi Dasgupta (Frank Ramsey Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Cambridge, UK) Hidehiko Ichimura (Professor, The University of Tokyo, Japan) Daiji Kawaguchi (Professor, The University of Tokyo, Japan) Osamu Nagase (Visiting Professor, Ritsumeikan Univesity, Japan) Yasuyuki Sawada (Chief Economist, Asian Development Bank, Philippines; Professor, The University of Tokyo, Japan) Tomomi Tanaka (Senior Economist, The World Bank) More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/13899 William P. Alford • Mei Liao • Fengming Cui Editors An Oral History of the Special Olympics in China Volume 2 The Movement Editors William P. Alford Mei Liao Harvard Law School Shanghai, China Harvard University Cambridge, MA, USA Fengming Cui Harvard Law School Harvard University Cambridge, MA, USA ISSN 2509-4270 ISSN 2509-4289 (electronic) Economy and Social Inclusion ISBN 978-981-15-5127-7 ISBN 978-981-15-5128-4 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-5128-4 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2020. This book is an open access publication. Open Access This book is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc- nd/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if you modified the licensed material. 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The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore The publication of this book is sponsored by the Linshi Comfort Home and the Shanghai Shida Public Welfare Foundation. This book and its sequel, An Oral History of the Special Olympics in China Vol 3—Finding and Keeping a Job, together with the summary volume, An Oral History of the Special Olympics in China Vol 1—Overview, commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Special Olympics 1968–2018. The three volumes are Open Access books. To the people and organizations dedicated to promoting the dignity and the social inclusion of persons with intellectual disabilities and a better world for all. Preface This volume is a collection of interviews with the families of 18 people with an intellectual disability (ID) in Shanghai who have participated in the Special Olympics movement. Special Olympics East Asia contacted a number of families and 4 of them agreed to be interviewed. Ms. Meizhen Zhou, from 1 of the 4 families, a Special Olympics family leader, successfully recruited another 13 families, the majority of which have sons or daughters on the drumming team of the Shanghai Hongkou District Disabled Persons’ Federation.1 The remaining family belongs to a Papa John’s employee with ID. Because the family has participated in the Special Olympics movement, interviews with this family are included in this volume. The 18 subjects of this volume, each with ID, participated in the Special Olympics World Games, Special Olympics National Games, or community-level Special Olympics activities. Their experiences reflect the different levels of Special Olympics and its profound impact on people with ID. At the meeting for parents whereat the oral history project was introduced, I was deeply impressed with the families of the drumming team of the Shanghai Hongkou District DPF. They treated each other like family and were open and optimistic. Sons and daughters from these families have varying degrees of disabilities, and have had different experiences. Some of them have had no schooling, some are attending special education schools, some have been to regular schools, and some have earned an associate degree. Earlier on in life, the parents struggled desperately and shed tears every day. Sports brought these families together, and by encour- aging and comforting each other, they have established a small-scale symbiosis. Now the parents have the courage to embrace reality and embrace life, and many of them were willing to use their real names for the interviews. 1This is the district level’s branch of China Disabled Persons’ Federation. China Disabled Persons’ Federation is a national umbrella organization for persons with diverse disabilities. More information is available on the link: http://www.cdpf.org.cn/english/About/overview_1793/. Disabled Person’s Federation abbreviated as DPF. xi xii Preface Without support from friends and groups, individual families of people with ID are lone boats on a vast ocean. They are entirely on their own, navigating over choppy waters and towering waves. They are lonely, helpless, and despairing about tomorrow. If they can be brought together by the Special Olympics movement to form a community or group, people with ID can become more capable in sports and in life. The pain of each family can be alleviated to a significant extent and the quality of life of everyone involved can be enhanced. Official or semi-official organizations provide the skeleton whereas private organizations established by families of people with ID are the flesh and blood. Without the skeleton, the flesh and blood won’t have support, but without the flesh and blood, the skeleton has no purpose and no life force. This is my takeaway message from my interaction with the drumming team. Four others with ID covered by this volume have participated in world-level Special Olympics activities. They are now married with kids, or working in a stable job, or studying for an associate degree. They share two apparent traits. The first one is not being deterred by hard work. The young man who climbed the “Great Wall” at the Special Olympics opening ceremony fell in training from heat stroke; the young women who won multiple Special Olympics gold medals started training at 7 a.m. every day; and the child selected as the Special Olympics Global Ambassador walked 40 minutes to school and built a runner’s body as a result.