To explain why he liked his art teacher the best, 16-year-old Dainzin Tanam could not write more words than a simple sentence "Because he teaches me painting." In the eyes of his teachers at the Lhasa Special Education School, the deaf boy was a little painter. Five years ago, however, all Tanam could do was to stay in bed until noon, and then stare at the sky through the window, waiting for his parents' return. His mother Yangzom said she had no other choice but to lock him in the house every day as she and her husband had to work and they did not want to allow the boy to roam  the streets. "Every day when I came back home and saw my lonely poor son, I felt my heart hurt. But now I can finally feel a bit relieved," the mother said. She said it was the school that changed his son. "Without the school, I dared not imagine how my son would be now." With a governmental fund of 4.5 million yuan, the special education school was founded in 2000. The only government-run school for handicapped children in Tibet, it now has 28 teachers and 120 school children in nine classes of 5 grades. Eight classes in the school are for deaf kids and the other one is for blind kids. Students can enjoy free food, boarding, clothing and medical services in the school, which is open to deaf and blind children from all over the autonomous region. Tibetan sign language and Tibetan Braille are basic courses here. Children also have Tibetan, Chinese, mathematics, science, painting, dancing and sports lessons. A "black and white" textbook seemed appealing among the color1ful books in Tanam's schoolbag. The text was handwritten. It was the Tibetan language textbook compiled and written by teachers themselves. "As textbooks for students in ordinary schools sometimes are too abstract and hard for our kids to understand, two other Tibetan language teachers and I compiled the textbook to make things easier for them," said teacher Dawa.  Those books with the love of all the teachers, though not spoke out, will surely help children enjoy their life by supporting themselves after leaving the school. How old was the Dainzin Tanam when he began to go to the Lhasa Special Education School?
16 years old 11 years old 21 years old 5 years old