Not long ago, such so-called special-needs children would have lived out their lives in places like Goldwater Memorial, a city-run hospital on Roosevelt Island that is a last stop for indigent New Yorkers who can-not care for themselves.

• 不久以前，这些被称作需要特别照顾的儿童还只能在像金水纪念堂那样的地方度过他们的一生，那是位于罗斯福岛的一所市立医院，那里是生活不能自理的贫困的纽约人走完他们生命最后一站的地方。