Each student will have an individual teaching plan because they vary significantly, said Lu Xiaoming, dean of the Visual Communication Department, adding that three of the students are autistic and three have mental health disabilities.

Hou, for example, is skilled at figuring the square roots of numbers, the day of the week of any given date and remembering license plate numbers.

"He is very sensitive to numbers," his mother said.

Chen Tianxing, another student with autism, paints well and his pictures were given to foreign athletes during the Asian Games in Guangzhou in 2010.

After three years, these students should be able to shop at a supermarket on their own, buy products online and process simple graphics on computers when they graduate, Lu said.

The school will work with the civil affairs bureau and disabled persons' federation in recommending the students for jobs after they graduate, said Yu Shibing, president of the school.

However, even after completing the three years at school, they may still need further vocational training provided by the bureau or the federation to progress into jobs, Qiu said.

A shortage of qualified teachers is the main difficulty in running special classes, Qiu said.

Lu said that since last month, three full-time teachers and some part-time teachers for the class have been receiving training from special education experts, including some from Taiwan.

Lu also sees potential difficulties from the different situations the students experience and their unpredictable emotions.