Woman helps over 1,400 hearing-impaired children

Wu Xueling gives a boy rehabilitation training. Wei Wei

Over the past 20 years, Wu Xueling has been helping hearing-impaired children resume normal life through systemic and scientific speech and language therapy, becoming the “supermom” to over 1,400 children with hearing impairment, Shenzhen Economic Daily reported yesterday.

The story began when Wu’s daughter called Qingqing was diagnosed with very severe sensorineural deafness when she was about 1 year old in December 2000. With the support of a foundation from Hong Kong, Qingqing was implanted with an artificial cochlea at the age of 2.

Wu Xueling (R) and her daughter. File photos

“Although she could hear, it was still a long and difficult process for her to speak,” Wu told the Daily. According to Wu, she took pains teaching Qingqing to speak and even took two months teaching her to say the word “mom.” Wu burst into tears when she heard Qingqing say “mom.”

In order for Qingqing to get more professional treatment, Wu participated in a correspondence course for parents with hearing-impaired children organized by the Hong Kong Society for the Deaf. She applied professional rehabilitation treatment technology to Qingqing, hoping that she could keep up with her peers as soon as possible.

She used many activities and games suitable for Qingqing and trained her hearing and language abilities through some very real-life interactions. Under Wu’s care, Qingqing miraculously caught up with her peers, with her hearing and language development almost the same as normal school-age children.

“After two years studying rehabilitation treatment technology, I found the deficiencies in the rehabilitation treatment of hearing-impaired children in China. After I opened a rehabilitation center, I applied what I learned unreservedly to the rehabilitation training of these children,” Wu was quoted as saying.

Wu Xueling plays with children of Shenzhen Qingqing Rehabilitation Center.

In 2019, Wu opened Shenzhen Qingqing Rehabilitation Center, the first nonprofit rehabilitation institution for children with special needs in Luohu District.

“I’m proud to say that the children trained here can reach the hearing and language development level of normal children in as short as one year and can catch up in as long as three years,” Wu said.

Wu Xueling trains hearing-impaired children at her rehabilitation center.

With Wu’s unremitting efforts and the help of the government, society and many parents, the rehabilitation center’s teaching staff, facilities and teaching environment have become increasingly complete, and the center has developed into a large-scale and influential professional speech rehabilitation institution for hearing-impaired children in the Pearl River Delta region.

“I am very sad to see children missing the best treatment period and their parents look helpless after facing more rehabilitation difficulties. For parents, children will eventually grow up and need to live like normal people. Our mission is to help these children live like normal children through rehabilitation treatment,” Wu said.

Wu Xueling poses for a photo with a student at a graduation ceremony.

In Wu’s office, she still keeps many notebooks which record the “rehabilitation diary” of every child she has offered help. At present, Wu still keeps the habit of writing such diaries.

Wu Xueling congratulates a child who has finished his rehabilitation treatment.