China.org.cn
6th January 2018
Act for autism: Online training helps special education teachers
By Cui Can
The two-year-old boy looked like any child his age, playing with plastic buckets and model trains in a baby-proofed room. The facility, however, serves to monitor children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Also in the room was 28-year-old Xu Ziwei, with pen and notebook in hand and carefully observing the child's every move. Throughout the day, Xu would use a wide variety of tests to assess the child's capabilities in behaviors as well as his verbal, learning, and social capabilities in order to design a treatment plan.
Xu is the first Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA-D, a widely recognized certification of behavior analysis) in China and chief technology officer at Ing Care, a Beijing-based online platform for educating teachers on how to interact with children with ASD. She said her company aims to close the gap between research and practice in treating children with autism.
Improving awareness and expertise
Xu went to the U.S. in 2012 to study special education. There, she saw the huge gap between China and the U.S. in the field of autism study and rehabilitation. After earning a doctorate degree in special education at Ohio State University in 2016, Xu decided to return to China and join Ing Care.
Xu said she was attracted by the company's mission to spread expertise and knowledge of autism via the internet, and that she was happy to see that Chinese companies are willing to apply advanced and scientific methods to this end.
Founded in July 2014, Ing Care provides online courses to both parents and teachers, as well as assessments for children with autism. This January, the company will launch a research and development lab in Beijing.
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