From November 2-9, when the First Research Conference on Autism in the Asia Pacific Region was held in Shanghai, the Department of Special Education of our Faculty invited experts on special education from the United States, Japan and Vietnam to give a series of academic lectures on current hot-spot issues in the international autism education research. This series of lectures not only attracted active participation of our teachers and students, but also aroused enthusiastic responses from research institutions of special education as well as front-line teachers and parents of autistic children in our city.
On the morning of Nov. 2, a group of Japanese experts led by Mr. Kobayashi Shigexiong, an emeritus professor at University of Tsukuba, gave a lecture, which was presided by Professor Yang Guangxue, director of Autism Research Center. Professor Kobayashi Shigexiong is known as “the father of autism education in Japan” and “the founder of Japanese action therapy”. Named “Autistic Education and I,” the lecture focused on the application and function of his behavioral therapy in the study of autistic theory and practice, which provided a reference for the education of autism in China.
On Nov. 4, a panel of special education experts from Japan and Vietnam brought forth a series of lectures on “the current status and issues of children with autism spectrum disorders”. Firstly, Professor Araki Hosadumi, dean of Applied Human Sciences Research Institute of Ritsumeikan University in Japan, introduced issues related to diagnosis, early intervention and education in the support for children with autism spectrum disorders. Then, professors from Vietnam introduced the current status and progress of research on autism spectrum disorders in Vietnam and an effective intervention model, which provided a reference for the intervention research on autism in China.
On Nov.5, a panel of special education experts from Boston, USA, brought forth a series of reports on school education for autistic children. Experts introduced the developmental process of the Boston East School as an autistic school, especially the “life therapy model” it adopted. This is a kind of education model which emphasizes the cultivation of students’ personality through the establishment of emotional ties between students and teachers. Decades of practice has proved that this life therapy model, which is based on oriental philosophy, has achieved remarkable results in the education of autistic children.
On Nov. 9, Connie Sung, a professor of disability rehabilitation counseling at the Michigan State University, came to our department and gave a special introduction to the rehabilitation of disabled people in the United States and standards for related employees. Professor Sung also introduced occupational rehabilitation of autistic adults, the most popular research in the field of occupational rehabilitation for the disabled in the United States.
