One NGO is involving people of all ages to help bust myths and share the real lives of autistic people and their families, Chen Xue reports.
有一家非政府组织正在号召各个年龄段的人来帮助打破成见，分享孤独症患者及其家庭的真实生活。
The first modern Olympic Games was held in Athens, Greece, in 1896.The first Paralympic Games took place in Rome, Italy, in 1960.What about the first Special Olympics?
首届现代奥运会于1896年在希腊雅典举行。首届残疾人奥林匹克运动会于1960年在意大利罗马举行。那么，首届世界特殊奥林匹克运动会（特奥会）又是怎样的情况?
"When our volunteers took to the streets to ask people about the Special Olympics, hardly anyone had heard of it," said Zheng Xingkui, 43, founder of Green House, an NGO based in Shanghai. "And among the few who did know about it, they couldn't really say the difference between the Special Olympics and Paralympics. That was frustrating."
“当我们的志愿者走上街头向人们询问有关特奥会的问题时，几乎没有人听说过它”，总部位于上海的非政府组织“绿房子公益”创始人、43岁的郑兴魁表示，“而在少数知晓特奥会的人中，他们说不出特奥会和残奥会的区别。这一点令人颇为失望啊。”
As an organization dedicated to providing support to autistic people and their families, Green House is one of the East Asia partners of the 2023 Special Olympics World Summer Games, which is currently taking place in Berlin, Germany, from June 17 to 25.
作为致力于帮助孤独症患者及其家庭的公益组织，“绿房子公益”是目前在德国柏林举行的2023年世界夏季特殊奥林匹克运动会（6月17日至25日）的东亚合作伙伴之一。
A group of 89 Chinese athletes with an average age of 21 — the youngest being 14 — are now in Berlin, competing in 11 disciplines, including badminton, basketball, gymnastics and swimming. This is the 10th time that China has taken part in the Special Olympics — an international sporting event for athletes with intellectual disabilities that was first held in Chicago, US, in 1968.
89位平均年龄为21岁的中国特奥运动员(最小的14岁)眼下正在柏林参加包括羽毛球、篮球、体操和游泳在内的11个项目的比赛。这是中国第十次参加特奥会。特奥会是一项面向全世界智力障碍运动员的国际体育赛事，于1968年首次在美国芝加哥举行。
In 2007, Shanghai hosted the Special Olympics, making China the first Asian country to host the event. And yet still, few people in China even know about its existence.
2007年，在上海举办了特奥会，使中国成为亚洲第一个举办特奥会的国家。然而，在中国，甚至很少有人知道它的存在。
This is why, ever since Green House became a partner organization of this year's Special Olympics, its volunteers started working hard to help promote the event, with the aforementioned street interview just one component of their campaign. Other activities also include a virtual torch-lighting relay, and training sessions with previous Chinese Special Olympics medalists.
这就是为什么自从绿房子公益成为2023年特奥会的合作伙伴机构以来，它的志愿者们就开始努力帮助推广这项赛事的原因所在。而前文提及的街头采访只是他们各项活动的一部分。其他活动还包括虚拟火炬接力，以及邀请往届中国特奥会奖牌得主现身说法的一系列培训课程。
In fact, Green House's volunteers have long been organizing different activities on a daily basis to raise public awareness of the lives of autistic people and their families.
事实上，绿房子公益的志愿者们每天都在组织不同的活动，以提高广大公众对孤独症患者及其家庭的真实生活的认识。
Ni Aishan, 19, a student at Shanghai International Studies University and Green House volunteer, once supervised the production of a graduation song project in her high school and proposed to create a song for autistic children and post it online so that more people could learn about the children's stories and the challenges they face.
19岁的倪爱珊(音译)是来自上海外国语大学的一名大学生，也是绿房子公益的志愿者。她曾在中学阶段指导过一首毕业歌曲的制作，提议为孤独症儿童创作一首歌，并将其发布到网上。这样一来，更多的人就可以了解孩子们的故事和他们面临的挑战。
"We're a social-media-savvy generation. We're sensitive to what's trending and familiar with how the internet works, which means we are best at spreading information online and helping public welfare projects reach more people," said Ni.
“我们是玩转社交媒体的一代。我们对流行趋势很敏感，又对互联网的运作方式熟稔于心。这意味着我们最擅长在网上传播信息，帮助公益项目惠及更多的人。”
Lu Yajie, 22, an industrial design major at Tongji University in Shanghai, is working on a class project to design a futuristic device that helps shield autistic children from excessive stimuli from the outside world. After she joined Green House earlier this year, she proposed the idea of organizing a jogging event for autistic kids and their parents so that they could get out of the house and get closer to nature and society.
22岁的陆雅洁(音译)是在上海同济大学攻读工业设计专业的一名大学生。她正在参与的一个课堂项目旨在设计一个未来感十足的设备，帮助孤独症儿童免受外界过度刺激。在今年年初加入绿房子公益后，她提出了为孤独症儿童及其父母安排一次慢跑活动的想法，以便帮助他们走出家门，拥抱大自然和社会。
"Doing my class project, I realized how little people know about autism. Many of my peers and even my professors believe that autism is a mental illness, but in fact, it's a developmental disability," said Lu. "When it comes to raising people's awareness, no efforts are too small."
“在完成我的课堂项目的过程中，我意识到人们对孤独症知之甚少。我的许多同龄人甚至我的教授都认为孤独症是一种精神疾病。但实际上，它是一种发育障碍。”陆雅洁指出：“在提高人们的正确认知方面，付出多大的努力都不为过。”
Xia Xiuyuan is about to start college this fall. Last month, the 18-year-old was part of the volunteer group doing the street interview for the Special Olympics. Instead of being discouraged by the fact that most of the passersby didn't know about it, Xia would actively introduce the event to them and share general knowledge about autism.
夏秀媛(音译)今年秋天就要上大学了。上个月，这位18岁的小年轻还是特奥会街头采访志愿者小组的一员。夏秀媛并没有因为大多数受访路人不知道特奥会而感到气馁，而是积极地向人们介绍这项赛事，并与他们分享有关孤独症的常识。
"The media tends to portray autistic people as a group of geniuses, which is one-sided and misleading," said Xia, making her determined to share with people the other side of the story.
“媒体倾向于把孤独症患者描绘成一群天才。但是，这种看法带有片面性和误导性，” 夏秀媛说，这促使她下定决心，与人们分享故事的另一面。
Zhang Bopei, 13, a student at Shanghai Xiangming Junior High School, took part in a volunteer activity with Green House playing flag football with autistic kids. His job was to explain the rules and help the children play the game. And although he was roughly the same age as most of the autistic kids taking part, it wasn't an issue for Zhang.
13岁的张伯培(音译)是上海向明初级中学的一名中学生。他曾经参加绿房子公益组织的与孤独症儿童一起玩腰旗橄榄球的志愿者活动，其中他负责解释比赛规则并帮助孩子们享受游戏快乐。虽然他和大多数孤独症儿童的年龄相仿，但这些志愿者任务对他来说不是问题。
"I don't think only grown-ups can participate in public welfare projects. Students of all ages — from college right down to primary school — should all get involved," he said. "Only this way can we include and influence more people."
“我不认为只有成年人才能参与公益项目。所有年龄段的学生，从小学生到大学生都应该投身公益”， 张伯培说，“只有这样，我们才能包容和影响到更多的人。”
We keep saying that people should have more understanding and tolerance of autistic people, said Green House's founder Zheng, "but that's probably too far a goal for now. People need to see them first."
“我们一直呼吁，公众应该对孤独症患者抱有更多的理解和宽容，”绿房子创始人郑兴魁表示，“但现在来看，这个目标可能是遥不可及了。孤独症患者首先需要的就是被人们看到。”