An annual conference saluting the Top 10 Events About the Rights of the Physically Challenged in China was recently held in Beijing, attended by 25 representatives from self-help and family-members organizations of the physically challenged people.

The conference was first organized in 2013 by Youren, a magazine that aims to raise public awareness of the group's rights. The 2015 Annual Observation Report: Disability in China was also unveiled at the conference, which included details about the development of China’s physically challenged people's rights.

Attendees noted the importance of spreading their message and opinions via social media, and they discussed issues and news related to the physically challenged. For example, the female poet with cerebral palsy, Yu Xiuhua, who became an overnight celebrity because of her gifted poems. They also called for Chinese websites including 12306.cn, the official website that sells train tickets, to offer audio identifying codes for those who have hearing impairment.

"Some media reports still discriminate toward the physically challenged and rarely present the perspective of their rights. Some may cause the public's misunderstandings of the group because of stereotypes in the articles. The annual event can reinterpret such reports," said Bu Wei, a researcher from the Institute of Journalism and Communication Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. She is the adviser for the conference.

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