With a television camera trained on him, Taotao felt like a star.

On a Saturday morning earlier this month on the campus of Beijing City International School (BCIS), the 19-year-old, who has autism, was showered with love and gifts by children, parents and volunteers.

It truly was "spring in the city," as the special fair was called by the downtown school. "We could not have anticipated a better day," said Monique Engelaan, mother of Lian, a first-grader at BCIS.

It was sunny, and the sandstorm that had been sweeping across the city had abated.

The fair was organized by the Parent-Teacher-Community Association (PTCA) in conjunction with BCIS, and was the first charity event Engelaan, the PTCA treasurer, had organized since she arrived in the city eight months earlier.

It is common practice for international schools to have such charity events, she explained. "The purpose is to raise money for children and teenagers in need, and more importantly, to raise awareness about youngsters with learning disabilities."

It was not easy for her 6-year-old adopted daughter to understand the meaning of it all. "She is too young. She'll understand it when she grows up. It's important that kids like her know what's outside and are willing to help those less fortunate whenever they can," said Engelaan, who is from the Netherlands and works for Air France.

There were 24 booths along the front of the campus, selling food, knick-knacks and handicrafts. The profits went to The Stars and Rain Education Institute for Autism.

A corporate donor, who insisted on anonymity, made a large cash contribution.

Youngsters and parents played a variety of games on the sports ground. Others sat around on the grass and basked in the sun. "The important thing is for kids to participate in something like this and learn to be loving and caring," said Nancy Wickberg, president of the PTCA, and mother of 6-year-old Brandon and 8-year-old Aaron.

It was not the first time that children at BCIS have played alongside autistic youngsters from the institute. "We have already visited them twice," explained Wickberg.

It was hard for the multilingual children at the international school to play the same games, such as tossing hoopla onto bottles, as some of the youngsters from the institute have co-ordination difficulties. "But our kids are very patient. They want to interact and want to help," said Wickberg.

Unique talents

Taotao is one of 2,000 children and young people who have been beneficiaries of Stars and Rain, a grass-roots organization devoted to children with autism and their families across the country. Founded in 1993 by Tian Huiping, mother of an autistic child, the institute, which is mainly a special school for autistic children, provides four 11-week sessions a year for 270 children and their families.

"There is no effective cure for autism," said Sun Zhongkai, a development official for the school. "But early diagnosis and intervention are vital to an autistic child's development."

Autism is a developmental disability that impairs sensory input, causing problems in social behaviour, communication, and learning. An estimated 5 million people in China have autism. Most people get their knowledge of autism from the movie "Rain Man," starring Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise, said Sun.

"There are indeed a few people with autism who have a unique talent in some small area. But it is quite rare," explained Sun. At Stars and Rain, they have one child who has a photographic memory. Another youngster can do arithmetic like a calculator.

Some are obsessed with symbols or numbers.

There are different levels of autism. Every autistic person is different. Stars and Rain uses Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) techniques and tailors programmes to each individual child, said Sun. Moreover, the school teaches families the skills they need to improve their child's daily life. It also conducts workshops for hundreds of families living outside Beijing, reaching beyond the children the school directly serves.

Stars and Rain has teachers trained in pre-school education, but it is served by a much larger army of volunteers. "Our volunteers come from every segment of society, most notably from corporations that chip in donations and from college students who spend time with the children. They come to paint the walls, sweep floors, bring gifts to the kids and help them with games, singing and clapping with them," said Sun.

"The intelligence of autistic children is much lower than that of kids of similar age. When we have a goal in learning, we have to divide it into several smaller goals. So, patience is paramount," said Sun.

The volunteers reach out to the autistic children who are in a sense sealed in a cocoon of their own making. It is not easy to interact with them. You have to have patience, said Sun. Gradually some of the youngsters may show signs of response.

Sun cited an example about one mother who had given up hope on her child. But under the guidance of the staff and the encouragement of volunteers, the child's condition began to improve. Now he can have simple communication with his family members.

Education support

One of the volunteer groups that helps the Stars and Rain children is Letting Education Achieve Dreams (LEAD). It had a booth at the spring fair and its T-shirts sold briskly.

Hu Dandan, a young woman working at a Beijing advertising agency, has been with the group since its inception in 2003.

"A group of us used to hang out at the same online forum and discuss how to do something meaningful in our free time," she said. "If you have time to kill during the weekend, why don't you spend it to help others, for someone who needs help?"

LEAD has about 600 registered members. Active members account for one-sixth of that and, unlike most volunteer groups, it is mostly made up of white-collar workers. "Only about 20 per cent are college students," said Hu. Of all the Stars and Rain-related events, she has participated in 12 of them.

LEAD has its focus on education for the underprivileged. Its biggest and longest programme is with Huilei School in Changping, a Beijing suburb. Volunteers go there every weekend and teach them mathematics, English and Chinese. They also organize extracurricular activities, such as taking students to science museums.

"We don't have a budget. The cost incurred is paid for by ourselves," explained Hu.

A long-standing programme also tutors students in Beijing's Dongcheng District, helping those who cannot afford private tutors.

Two earlier projects were designed to help youth offenders and children whose parents were in prison.

"Besides coaching and teaching, we help translate documents and set up websites for those we help. I teach Chinese at Huilei, but some of my time is also spent at Stars and Rain," said Hu.

"To many of us, being a volunteer has become a way of life."

While Taotao is always likely to be unsure of new people at first, events such as the spring fair at BCIS are an important way to boost his confidence and improve his social skills.

And, just as importantly, it helps raise awareness of conditions such as autism among the public.

(China Daily 04/26/2006 page1)