A Place in the Sun

Yang Yang, Chairman of the China Association of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, lost her hearing at 4. This year, as a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the country’s top political advisory body, Yang put forward a proposal on inclusive education of children with disabilities. Specifically, her proposal suggests more children with hearing problems should be learning in mainstream classrooms. Yang has benefited from inclusive education, though she faced many difficulties. For instance, she initially had trouble understanding the teacher during class but later she gradually developed the ability to lip-read, which has helped her a lot in her life. Nowadays, most students with hearing impairment receive inclusive education in regular schools, Yang told Beijing Review. “The number of schools for hearing-impaired…