奇速英语

“无声”世界的欢与泣——特教老师刘玲琍感动中国

Liu Lingli was born in Hengyang, Hunan province, in 1973. Her first interaction with people with disability was with one of her neighbors, surnamed Wang. Liu was a child then.

One day in the winter, when Liu was playing in her house, Wang used sign language to communicate with her. But Liu could not understand what she was trying to say. It was Wang’s husband who told Liu that she wanted to make her a scarf.

“Even as a child, I was moved by her kind gesture, and thought it would be great if she could speak,” Liu said. The incident left an unforgettable mark on Liu. At the age of 14, she decided to major in teaching hearing-impaired (听力受损的) students, and later enrolled in Nanjing Normal University of Special Education. After four years, she graduated with a secondary vocational (职业的) degree and became a teacher at Hengyang Normal School of Special Education, and taught Chinese language to first graders.

Although she was only 18 at the time, she treated the students as her children, and practiced sign language in front of the mirror for one to two hours every day till she mastered it. With great care and patience, she also taught the students how to wash their face and clothes, and cut their nails, gradually becoming the “mother” of the students.

In 2005, at the age of 32, Liu gave birth to her own child. But the child, a boy, was diagnosed with congenital (先天性的) hearing impairment when he was seven months old. Concerned that she would need time to overcome the shock, Liu’s colleagues requested her to take a break from teaching and take her son to Changsha, capital of Hunan province, for treatment. But she refused to do so, partly because such treatments are a long-term process.

Instead, she began teaching a new class, because she didn’t want to leave the students alone, and decided to provide therapy for the child herself after work. Thanks to Liu’s tireless efforts, her son could make some sound after several months of training, and her students showed great improvement. “Whenever they managed to say ‘mom’ or ‘dad’ for the first time, I felt it was the sweetest sound in the world,” Liu Lingli said.