Zhou Zhou, whose full name is Hu Yizhou, is a patient with Down syndrome and autism who was once hailed as a "genius conductor."
“Down’s Trisomy + Autism”
Zhou Zhou was born in Wuhan in 1978. He was told that he had congenital idiocy when he was just one month old. In May 1981, he was diagnosed with Down's trisomy.
In addition to the typical appearance of Down syndrome children: flat nose, wide eyes, small tongue, Zhou Zhou's IQ is only over 30, about the level of 7 or 8-year-old children.
Zhou Zhou's autism is mainly manifested in his strict adherence to daily habits and rules. When something interferes with or disrupts his usual plans, he will become anxious and uneasy.
For example, Zhou Zhou must take a lunch break at noon every day, but sometimes the afternoon performance schedule prevents Zhou Zhou from taking a lunch break, which will seriously affect his afternoon performance. He will also become sensitive and irritable and unwilling to talk to others.
For example, many of his habits must be followed. Zhou Zhou must drink a can of Red Bull before the performance. After drinking it, no one can talk to him until the performance. Zhou Zhou's original words were "I want to get into the state."
Or Zhou Zhou's performance stage must be free of interference from anyone. But in some of the people-friendly rural performances, there will be children walking around in front of Zhou Zhou. Zhou Zhou will use gestures to drive these children away during the performance, or put his hand next to his ear to remind the person who is talking to concentrate on watching his performance.
“Writing Myths and Falling from God”
In 1983, Zhou Zhou was discovered to have musical talent when he was performing in a band with his father. At the age of 17, he was discovered by director Zhang Yiqing by chance, who spent a year following him and filming a 50-minute documentary "Zhou Zhou's World". He became an instant hit and a household name as a "genius conductor". He was also a representative of the strong will despite physical disabilities at that time.
Andy Lau held him on stage, Schwarzenegger gave him gifts, Cui Yongyuan bought him a pager, and national leaders also met with him and signed autographs for him...
However, 20 years later, Zhou Zhou's father confessed that Zhou Zhou actually did not understand music or conducting. As the original words in the documentary said, "The fact is that Zhou Zhou is not a real musician." The myth of "a genius conductor with Down syndrome" was completely broken. People began to pay attention to Zhou Zhou, who had fallen from the altar, again, but the headlines of various news became "Once earned 48,000 yuan a month, now living on a minimum living allowance of 600 yuan a month."
In the eyes of social media and the public, Zhou Zhou and his family seemed to be a topic of conversation after dinner. Their ups and downs made people talk about them with relish, but in fact, they were just an ordinary family. In the more than ten years of being forgotten, they still worked hard to live, hard but ordinary.
“Ordinary family and noisy society”
In 2006, Zhou Zhou's mother worked despite the pain of pancreatic cancer, insisted on treatment, and finally passed away after fighting for a long time. His father was left to take care of Zhou Zhou alone. Zhou Zhou was very sensible and cared about his father. He would watch the news broadcast every day to pay attention to the weather in Wuhan. Once he saw that the weather was bad, he would call his father to ask him to be careful when going out. He also cared about the people around him and would remind others to wear more clothes to avoid catching a cold and drink more water.
The halo of "genius conductor", the praise and applause from the public, were all given to Zhou Zhou by the public and the media from all walks of life. The adjectives that make people sigh, such as "falling from the altar" and "exposing lies", were also imposed on this child and this family to cater to the curiosity and gossip of the audience.
For me, I feel more helpless. I am more concerned about the living conditions of special children and their families. Although people say that Zhou Zhou has fallen from the altar, compared with thousands of special children and their families, Zhou Zhou is undoubtedly lucky. At least he has had moments of glory and has had the opportunity to change the fate of himself and his family.
Let's look at Zhou Zhou's family. After learning about Zhou Zhou's legendary and ups and downs, many people think that Zhou Zhou was packaged by his father and director, but now that he has been exposed, he has fallen from the altar. But in fact, Zhou Zhou's father said, "I never thought about making him brilliant, as long as he is happy." Director Zhang Yiqing has been emphasizing in the year when the documentary became popular that the essence of the documentary is to let the public see a mentally retarded child feel happy and warm under the care of kind people in the orchestra.
Faced with the sudden and overwhelming attention and praise, both the director and Zhou Zhou's father were just one of the people pushed forward by the torrent. Zhou Zhou's father was just happy that more people paid attention to Down syndrome and autism, and at the same time he was also making arrangements for Zhou Zhou to live a stable life in the second half of his life. Whether Zhou Zhou really knows how to conduct and understand music is like "The Emperor's New Clothes", no one cares and no one is ignorant enough to expose it.
After consulting a lot of information, the editor admires and appreciates Zhou Zhou's father. From the beginning, when everyone around them advised the couple to abandon Zhou Zhou, they resolutely kept the child, and faced with the obvious difficult future, they were determined to protect and take care of Zhou Zhou for a lifetime.
As for Zhou Zhou's social activities (showing up), his mother was opposed at first, but his father Hu Houpei said, "It is an indisputable fact that he is such a child. Now he likes to follow the orchestra activities, he is very happy, let him do it." Don't feel ashamed of the child's "specialness" and pay the most attention to "happiness" in the child's growth. These two points alone are what many parents of special children, and even parents of normal children, cannot do.
At the same time, over the years, whether it was a highlight moment or a "lie exposed", whether in the public eye or not, Zhou Zhou and his father have been working hard to live. His father has always been working hard for Zhou Zhou's life after his death. Rather than using this family's life as a topic of conversation, we should pay more attention to the difficulties of life in families with special children, and learn from Zhou Zhou's father's optimistic and hardworking attitude, the courage to face reality, and the selfless and regretless love for his son.
"Parents' consciousness determines their children's life"
Parents of special children should not be ashamed to seek help from others. Accepting the reality, actively seeking help and learning more about the relevant knowledge are what parents should do. "Hiding" will not solve any problems, but will make life more difficult.
Zhou Zhou's father never gave his son the title of "genius conductor". He once said to all those who helped Zhou Zhou realize his dream of conducting on stage: "Thank you for playing with Zhou Zhou."
Secondly, the support of all sectors of society for special children and their families needs to be improved, such as the popularization and dissemination of professional knowledge, and the professional guidance and help of professionals and professional teams to individuals and families. The most difficult and most important point is the tolerance and understanding of the general public for special people. I hope that in the near future, we can realize these one by one, hope that more special children and families will no longer fight alone, and hope that all children will have a happy childhood and a bright future.
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