Li Mei’s family just moved to America. They bought a small restaurant there.

The first few days at her new school, she found it hard to talk to people and felt very lonely. In order to get ready for the opening of the restaurant, her parents were too busy to care about her. On the day of the opening of the restaurant, Li Mei’s parents welcomed customers into the restaurant. Li Mei was busy helping in the restaurant. At one table sat a family with a tall girl. As Li Mei gave them the menu, she found that the girl was in her class. She turned away from the table quickly.

Later, Li Mei’s mother found her sitting in the kitchen alone. She asked her why she was there. Li Mei said she saw one of her classmates. She also told her mother about her troubles in the new school. Hearing that, Li Mei’s mother said sorry for not paying enough attention to her feelings these days and encouraged her to give the girl some handmade cookies. Li Mei thought for a while. Then she walked to the girl. She gave her some cookies and said, “Thank you so much for coming to our restaurant!” The girl looked closely at Li Mei and recognized（认出）her. She was happy to meet her and praised the food in the restaurant. She offered to have a walk out with Li Mei and help her make new friends at school.

“That would be great!” Li Mei smiled.

I’m a Grade 8 student from No.1 Middle School. I began to help out with chores when I was in primary school. I think it’s very important for teenagers to do so, because teenagers these days need all-round development. We can learn a lot of living skills by doing chores. I live in the dormitory (宿舍) at school now. Those skills help me take good care of myself. When I come back home on weekends, I always help my parents if they need my help. And I can not only cook the food I like, but also make a big meal for my parents.

I believe that doing chores helps to develop children’s independence.

Yours,

Nancy

Zhou, a 21-year-old man with autism（自闭症）, does the same things every day. After waking up, he washes his face, brushes his teeth and cleans his room. He has lunch at noon, takes a break after that and then starts painting. After dinner, he usually goes for a walk with his mother.

Zhou’s mother Zhao Weihua couldn’t accept the truth at first. But after she learned more about autism, she started to face it. She said, “With training, autistic children can develop their own life skills.”

However, there were few rehabilitation（康复）centers for autistic children in China before 2005. Zhao decided to give up her job as a teacher and set up a training center, the first of its kind in Ningxia. She hoped to help the kids learn to live normal lives.

But setting up the center was more difficult than Zhao thought. It took her about six months to get a qualification（资格）. And she didn’t have enough money, so she had to ask friends for help. Finding a proper place for the center was also difficult. The center moved six times. In 2015, it moved to a kindergarten（幼儿园）, and it is still there today.

So far, more than 1,500 children with autism have received training in Zhao’s training center. They learned life skills and communication skills.