Dear friends, ladies and gentlemen, It's my honor to attend this conference. I hope to tell you, with my own experience, how I benefit from the rapidly developing information technology. I injured my neck and became disabled in a diving accident in May 1997. I was desperate then and even thought of killing myself. During that time, however, I met Ms. Yatani, a Japanese specialist, who was carrying out a teaching task there. She encouraged me and gave me an English copy of JONI before she returned to Japan. The book is the autobiography  of Ms. Joni Earckson. Her experience was similar to mine. She injured her neck and became disabled in a diving accident in 1967. With a strong will, she tried very hard. Finally, she became a famous artist. From her story I found enlightenment  and felt hopeful.    My doctor, Dr. Guan, saw me reading the book. He suggested that I translate it into Chinese in order to benefit more disabled people in China. I agreed, and in one and a half months the translation was finished. Then I contacted Joni through the Internet for the copyright. It was then that I saw how useful modern information technology can be. Highly developed information technology brings me hope and makes my dreams come true. I am really lucky to live in the Age of Information. I could not imagine what my life would be like without it. It makes my life color1ful and more meaningful. I would like to give special thanks to Dr. Guan, and thanks to all of my friends who love and care for me. It is their love and efforts that helped to make my dreams come true. I hope to send my love and thanks to everyone in the world through the Internet. Thanks again! The speaker lost hope and even thought of   _   at first.
lying in bed all his life killing himself giving himself up wasting his life