Despite the permanent damage to her cerebral cortex, it took a while for people to cotton on that something was wrong. The kids in her class used to call her an idiot. So did some of her teachers.

As a young girl growing up in China with brain damage, life was a fuzzy picture where not everything made sense.

"She could write the numbers one and two, but not three," said her mother, who soon removed her from class for home schooling.

"I almost couldn't bear to watch her struggling so hard just to try and write the number three."

Realizing they couldn't do much good on her father's meager salary, her family sent her to Pudong New Area's Special Needs Education in 2000, closed their eyes, and prayed.

Now that girl is just a memory.

In her place stands a beaming example of what is possible when the human spirit gets the chance it needs to shine.

"Do you want to interview me?"

This isn't the proud boast of an over-hyped movie star, but a confident Qiao, now 18 and serving as an ambassador of sorts for the Special Olympics, warmly greeting reporters.

She has flashed the same smile at former US President Bill Clinton, equally disarmed former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and done as much good in dispelling misconceptions of people with intellectual disabilities among the general public as she has among foreign dignitaries.

People expecting a slow or dim-witted teenager are in for a big surprise. Qiao is as outgoing, eloquent and aggressive as any modern-day city girl.

Unlike them, however, she is also a champion gymnast, and was in 2005 elected as a global leader for Special Olympics athletes.

But for her family, the most significant change is her renewed self-confidence.

"All hardships can be overcome," said Qiao. "We want to live like normal people, taking responsibility for ourselves and living happily."

At the UN headquarters in New York last November, Qiao found herself facing Special Olympics founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver, representatives of Shanghai's municipal government, members of the committee organizing the 2007 Special Olympics and officials from China's permanent mission to the UN.

As chants of "I know I can" filled the halls, she turned to face the audience.

"My name means beautiful," she said. "I have a beautiful life in spite of all the difficulties I face."

Later, Kofi Annan commented on the significance of the event.

"That is why the Special Olympics are such a seminal celebration; they provide a platform for gifted athletes like Qiao Meili to excel; and to show to others as well as themselves their tremendous potential."

Given the discrimination they face, "they are not just athletes, but real heroes," he said.