“I’m very happy to be here. I get to spend time with people like me, and this gives me a sense of belonging. I feel like I’m achieving something, especially when I finish working on some handicrafts and see the final result,” Xu Guanghua told China Today.

The Heyi Disabled People’s home is a leading example of the community-based initiatives the Chinese government has been introducing over the past few years to better the lives of the nation’s lesser-abled population. In all schemes, financial assistance and subsidizing medical costs is key. In 2010 the Ministry of Civil Affairs spearheaded a project to offer free replacement of prostheses for disabled people living under state care in underdeveloped western provinces. Last year it was expanded to more disabled people, including those who suffer permanent physically injuries as a result of trying to help other people, as well as to disabled students and those simply unable to afford aiding apparatuses.

China has also introduced a wide range of rehabilitation projects for its poorer disabled citizens, including free rehabilitation treatment for disabled children aged 0-6 from struggling families, free medication for people with mental diseases, and free operations for those who have lost their eye sight to cataracts.

Education and Employment Guarantee Independence

In 1994 the State Council released the Regulation on the Education of Disabled Persons, which enshrines the right of the mentally and physically disadvantaged to receive an education. Recently, the government proposed to improve the compulsory education system for children and teenagers with special needs. Under the scheme, those with minor disabilities are enrolled in ordinary schools or special-needs classes, and others will have the opportunity to attend special education schools. The government plans to build more of these schools as well as special-purpose vocational colleges to cater to the unique requirements of special-needs children.

During the 11th Five-year Plan period, China carried out a program to construct special education schools in central and western China, with the goal of having at least one such facility in every county or city with a population of 300,000 or more.

But despite easier access to special education for disable children, parents have still professed to worrying about the future. A common concern is who will provide for their children when parents are too old to care for them properly. “We would feel relieved if some special institutions could be established that would take care of those with mentally disabilities by providing them with simple, suitable jobs after their education,” said the mother of an eight-year-old mentally retarded boy in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province.

The vocational rehabilitation centers in Beijing could become models for other regions. The capital’s centers have a good track record of providing mentally handicapped persons with a solid vocational platform.

But Beijing is not sitting back from further reform. The capital continues to tweak its disabled care system. “Recently I attended a meeting at the municipal government. I was informed that during the 12th Five-year Plan period, social insurance will provide disabled persons with training at Beijing’s vocational rehabilitation centers. You know, it is really hard for mentally handicapped persons to land a good job. So this new policy is one step toward enabling the disabled to stay in the centers longer-term and build the basis for a decent standard of living,” Xiao happily reported.

Transitioning the disabled from state-supported vocational centers to the workplace is a key imperative for policymakers. According to national legislation, disabled employees should account for at least 1.5 percent of an employer’s workforce. Those who recruit disabled employees are also entitled to preferential tax policies.

Currently, the national employment rate among deaf-mutes and those with limited mobility is fairly high. According to Xiao, in Heyi Subdistrict, 289 disabled persons with work-ready skill sets were searching for employment in 2012. With help from the Heyi Disabled Persons’ Federation, 288 found jobs.

Following the government’s lead, private business and the general public have begun to show more concern for the fate of the country’s disabled and their employment prospects. For instance, Huangshan Longyue Brass Products Co., Ltd. of Anhui Province has on its payroll over 100 disabled persons, accounting for 80 percent of its workforce. “Our products are not technology-intensive. Most of our disabled employees are deaf-mutes or have minor physical disabilities. They enjoy the same benefits package as able employees,” said Huang Sheguang, chief of the company’s management office.

Many local disabled persons’ federations have established online platforms through which disabled job hunters can find work posted by enterprises.

Local governments have also been responsible for carrying out various work-orientated training programs. According to data from the China Disabled Persons’ Federation, from 2006 to 2010 a total of 3.76 million disabled persons in both urban and rural areas received vocational training, and nearly half million obtained vocation-specific certificates.

Unfortunately, some disabled persons are not aware of, or even have no access to preferential treatment and welfare initiatives due to the inefficient work of a small minority of local government departments. “More high-quality personnel are especially needed in local disabled persons’ federations to ensure preferential treatment reaches those who need it,” Xiao indicated.

As director of a grassroots disabled persons’ federation herself, Xiao understands how difficult living with a severe disability can be. “Currently, China’s policies essentially guarantee disabled persons a basic standard of living. It’s OK, but there is still a long way to go before China catches up with developed countries in terms of this kind of welfare,” Xiao told China Today. She hopes the central government keeps pushing ahead with reform and new policies to help disabled persons.

Zhang Haidi, chairperson of the China Disabled Persons’ Federation, pointed out in a seminar in July that there is still a large gap between the living conditions of the disabled and the able-bodied in China. But as the government, businesses and citizens continue to look at new ways to improve the lives of the 85 million disabled in the country, this gap is closing.