The Shenzhen Autism Society (SAS) launched a week-long project in this southern city to call on the public to care for people with autism on Sunday.

It gained support from other non-governmental organizations devoted to helping children with autism in 12 Chinese provinces and cities including Hong Kong, Beijing and northeast China's Changchun.

During the week, Shenzhen Autism Society will host a series of forums to advise the teachers and parents to give proper guidance to autistic children.

Though the word was first used in the English language by Swiss psychiatrist Eugene Bleuler in 1912, autism, which comes from the Greek word for "self," remains a strange term for most Chinese.

Resulting from a neuron-developmental disorder, autistic persons usually have difficulty in verbal and non-verbal communication, social interaction, and leisure or play activities. Currently, it can not be cured but rehabilitation training improves living skills.

Liao Xin is the mother of a 26-year-old son with autism.

There is a Chinese saying, "Raise children as a safeguard against the insecurity of the old age."

But Liao prays she can live as long as possible to take care of her son.

Liao has to accompany her grown-up son all the time.

Besides his unexpected screaming and laughing on the street, her son sometimes runs toward strangers, men or women, and plays with their shirt buttons or bag zippers.

The frightened people, especially women, thinking they are being assaulted, shout at him and call the police despite his mother's apologies.

"I am nearly 60. I don't know how much time is left for me. When I die, who will take care of my son for me?" asked the desperate mother with grey hair and deep wrinkles. Her husband passed away a couple years ago. She and her son now live on her meagre retirement pension.

Currently there are not many government-funded programmes or infrastructures for people with autism in China though the group has been expanding.

The number has grown from one child in 15,000 in 1980s to one in 1,000, said SAS Chairman Fu Tengxiao.

The central government officially listed autism as a mental disability early this year and pledged to allocate more resources to this group.

"Thirty mainland cities have been selected as pilot cities to study effective ways to help rehabilitate people with autism," Fu told China Daily. "Since it's a new policy, we hope the group can enjoy more free training starting from next year."

Liao Yanhui, secretary-general of SAS, who has an 11-year-old boy with autism, said it is also important for families to gain understanding and sympathy from the community

"It will be good for children with autism to meet different people and for the community to understand and tolerate their abnormal behaviours," Liao said.

But she is still always blamed for not curbing her son's outbursts, and kindergartens and schools refuse to enrol the boy.

"It's a life-long war for mothers like me. The government should do more to provide quality rehabilitation when they are young and provide employment opportunities or caring homes when they are growing up," Liao said.

(China Daily October 16, 2006)