Hunan woman devotes life to assisting disabled

After success with hearing-impaired son, Wang Xinan focuses on aiding others like him

Wang Xinan, who taught her hearing-impaired son the communication skills he needed to excel academically, is offering assistance to families with disabled children in Changsha, Hunan province.

Her life became more challenging soon after her son, nicknamed Chengcheng, was born in 2000.

At first, he looked and behaved just like any newborn, Wang said, gazing at the world around him with big, bright eyes and giggling when people played with him.

Twenty-two days after he was born, he was sent to the hospital to be treated for jaundice. After a 12-day stay, the baby boy seemed to have lost some of his vitality and didn't appear to respond normally to loud noises.

Wang was concerned, but her mother told her to give her son time to recover his energy.

A few months later, Wang recalled, a cup hit the ground next to Chengcheng while he slept. It didn't wake him.

In another incident that occurred during one of his naps, an iron plate fell outside, causing quite a bit of noise. Again, he remained asleep.

Wang eventually had a doctor examine Chengcheng further. When he was about a year old, he was diagnosed with severe hearing loss.

Wang was crestfallen. She remembers spending days crying and contemplating suicide.

"I didn't understand how my son had become hearing-impaired. I had undergone genetic screenings two or three times before giving birth, and there were no signs of my baby having a disability," said Wang, now 48.

"It was like doomsday. What could I do? I felt like I couldn't even breathe."