Need for empathy

"It's not easy to shoot children and families. We must win their trust, and our shooting cannot interfere with their daily lives. Moreover, some children like Ruoxi were too young to express themselves when we started shooting. We had to wait for her to grow up a bit, so she could express her feelings," says Li Ruihua.

"It was a slow process, but that also gave us more time to understand and observe the children."

Fan says he was impressed by the parents' efforts to help their children.

"Xiaoxiao's mother often organized activities inviting Xiaoxiao's classmates and their parents to join. She clarifies Xiaoxiao's problems with such activities, so that those around him would not misunderstand or laugh at him," Fan says.

"Qunxiao's parents searched documents online about this problem, and found many of them were written by psychologist Shu Hua. They sent emails to Shu, asking for help, and Shu provided professional advice for Qunxiao. They did not just wait but tried every means to help their child."

Shu says: "The most difficult stage is when the children are in primary school. If we help them to get through this period smoothly, things will get much better when they grow up since they would find their own strategies to deal with the problem, and their strengths in other areas except reading will play roles in their later development."