Overcoming autism through art

Provided to China Daily

In four years, the organization has grown quickly. It had only seven kids in 2010. Today it has 48 students.

Last year, the organization refunded 120,000 yuan to families with autistic children. One child received 15,000 yuan, Zhang says.

"All the money I make through the children, I spend on them," Zhang says.

Golden Wings is not the first school of its kind.

Since 2008, Love under the Sky Painting Exhibition has taken place on World Autism Day, which falls on April 2.

The exhibition is organized by the Beijing Association for Rehabilitation of Autistic Children, and all the paintings displayed and auctioned are the works of autistic children from all over the country.

This year, the organizers have selected 1,500 pieces out of 6,000 works to exhibit on April 2 in nine cities across the country, including Beijing, Shanghai, Qingdao, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

The annual exhibition is the first of its kind in Beijing that distributes money made from the exhibition among the autistic painters, according to Aika Ishihara from the association. She runs a studio in 798 art zone where autistic children can study art and music.

The teachers are volunteers from universities and companies, and the courses are free, but a child needs to book a class two weeks in advance and have two interviews.

They have had to raise the admission requirements because there were too many applicants.