Men outnumber women in China's 1.35 billion population making it no surprise that more than half of the people with disabilities are male.
Although this statistic is shockingly low, the one child policy contributes to much of the population decreases seen in recent history especially among school-aged children.
[2] Educational opportunities for disabled Chinese are lacking, causing elevated poverty and poor living conditions.
Due to the views held regarding Confucianism, people with disabilities have been respected and considered part of society throughout Chinese history.
Improvement in the education system for children with disabilities was close to nothing until the twentieth century during Mao's time of power.
"Under the Maoist philosophy, people with disabilities had been treated as equal members of society who could make contributions to the Socialist country.
[2] The most paramount change seen in this time period was in 1951, when the Chinese Political Council established The Decision to Reform the Education System, "which explicitly required governments at all levels to establish schools for individuals with visual and hearing impairments and to provide education for children, adolescents, and adults with physical disabilities.
This occurrence had a negative effect on special education growth based on political and economic insufficiencies of that time.
[citation needed] In China, students with disabilities are usually separated from typical classrooms and placed in schools dedicated to special education.
Some researchers report that more than 10% of the disabled people in China lack adequate food and clothing, about 40% have very little income and only 25% work on a full-time basis.