Hope was not in the prognosis that doctors gave to Chie Myo, after examining her first son, Shunsuke, at the age of 3 months. They diagnosed the baby as having been born with Mongolism, a derogatory term previously used for Down syndrome, and predicted that he would not live long, saying a mere cold could take his life. Even if he survived, they said, he would suffer severe mental retardation and never live a "normal" life.

"Shun won't live to the age of 10. He might walk but he won't run. He won't understand what you say. That's what I was told by doctors," Myo says.

Shunsuke, however, has proved them wrong. At age 10, he was a cheerful boy, full of curiosity. On his way to and from special education classes at the local elementary school, he often took detours past neighborhood shops and made friends with people he met. He learned how to speak, read and write, albeit at a much slower rate than other children his age.