Sino-US join hands in autism education
- By Elizabeth Rabe and Jiao Meng
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E-mail China.org.cn, June 21, 2012
A seminar of autism rehabilitation and education was launched in Beijing Normal University on Wednesday, attracting over 150 autism social workers and NGO staff across the country.
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The opening ceremony of CCAFC Sino-US senior seminar of autism rehabilitation & education was held in Beijing Normal University on Wednesday. [CnDG by Jiao Meng] |
The five-day project was sponsored by China Charities Aid Foundation for Children (CCAFC) and organized by Beijing Stars & Rain Education Institute for Autism, the earliest NGO in this field in China.
Several Heartspring specialists attended the lecture series as guest speakers. Heartspring has shared a partnership with Stars and Reign Education Institute for Autism since 2005.
Heartspring, a US NGO dedicated to special education since the 1930s, serves to teach the life skills that autistic children need to succeed at the activities of daily life, to increase individual independence, quality of life, and to reduce the burden of care.
Its professionals shared their expertise with teachers and parents of autistic children as the fourth year Heartspring has sent experts to China. The audience was able to receive evidence-based insights according to personal experiences.
"Each child with autism is different," said Heartspring psychologist and behavioral specialist, Megan Swett. "The characteristics that they display can be similar. The research focuses on those characteristics so those can be generalized to other kids in other countries."
CEO of Stars & Rain, Sun Zhongkai, explained the major idea changes brought by US counterparts. "We tend to teach autistic children in a normal way in China, trying to make them act as normal,” said Sun. "However, we should make a shift. We should meet every kid’s special needs."
According to information provided by Stars and Rain, over 130 new programs aimed to care for children with autism have opened in China.
Heartspring has developed similar partnerships with other countries, including, Ghana, Uganda, and India.
Heartspring hopes to maintain and grow their support for countries across the world. They stress the importance of international outreach, as other countries ought to "implement [aid for autism] in the best way they can, with the resources available to them," said Swett.
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