It was eight months of the school year in 2013, and frustration became an overwhelming sense of inevitability for Jane *,...
It was eight months of the school year in 2013, and frustration became an overwhelming sense of inevitability for Jane *, a special education teacher at an international school in Beijing, after another unsuccessful contact attempt The parents of one of his students over the past six months He made six calls and sent two dozen e-mails to try and contact the parents of a 14-year-old Chinese student.
Students had to pass the SEN exam before the next exam or they did not receive any special waivers during the exam. But without the consent of the parents, Jane's hands were tied. This was one of the many struggles he had over communicating with parents of Chinese students about learning disability, social stigma in the country. But his fight in itself was an indicator of a change in attitude, initially slow, gaining momentum in China .
As with any stigma, a new approach to recognition begins and universities are increasingly focusing on children's development and special educational needs, especially in the areas of hyperactivity with impaired learning. Attention and dyslexia. , A report from the Institute of Psychology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences shows that more than 10 million elementary students across the country are dyslexics. A separate report from Peking University's 6th Hospital estimates that at least 5% of children in China suffer from ADHD, with only a small proportion being diagnosed.
Schools are experiencing difficulties in classrooms ... and they are beginning to ask for help.
Rebecca Dow, director, LIH Olivia's place
An increasing number of organizations and professionals are trying to better public understanding of the difficulties of learning and ways to solve them. LIH Olivia's Place provides pediatric psychiatric services in Beijing and Shanghai and operates a school for children requiring special study programs; Their experts visit local schools and train staff to better serve children with additional educational needs. The China Dyslexia Foundation, a charity, trains social workers and teachers in Beijing to better understand reading disorders and support dyslexic children. The Shanghai-based ELG, founded more than a decade ago to provide education for children with developmental disabilities in the city, has expanded to provide a range of services to the community as a whole. Train local educators at SEN and organize seminars and workshops for parents. And the schools answer. The programs of LIH Olivias Place, for example, So far they have concentrated on experimental schools, but in all areas applications for the evaluation of children have increased.
"In general, schools will find difficulty in finding halls of class of course , especially if there is a behavioral problem, and start seeking support," said Rebecca Dow, a clinical psychologist and director of the LIH Olivia square in Shanghai.
Special Needs Education is the latest stigma China has started over the last decade. In 2007, the government signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, with growing awareness of physical disabilities and the emergence of the home Olympics; In 2013, the Chinese mental health law was adopted.
But a change beyond the small steps that individual organizations, schools and universities have taken towards a holistic approach at national level faces challenges. In a results-based education system with little understanding of the differentiation and size of classes that exceed 60 children in some areas, the environment is not necessarily conducive to a special needs education. The lack of a government-supported approach to tailor-made learning is reflected in research by Xin Zhou, a professor at the Department of Early Childhood Education at East China Normal University. Through his work on children in early education with difficulties in mathematics, Xin found that additional support for students with special needs is not provided at school level. "It mainly depends on a single teacher's decision to acquire and use knowledge," he says.
For a possible model, the continental government does not need to look further to Hong Kong, where the understanding of learning disabilities is much more established. According to Minna Chau, a clinical child psychologist and director of the Sprout in Motion clinic, state initiatives for children in need of additional formal education support include early intervention programs and the introduction of SEN coordinators. in elementary and secondary schools. , This complements the specialized schools and a large number of private organizations that provide assistance.
This state system is far from perfect and some parts are just a facade, says Chau, and private sector support remains vital. But the address is correct. "In recent years, the government has introduced a pilot program of special educational programs on the site and halved the waiting list of 8,000 people for the assessment," she says.
And a state support system that needs to be improved is better than no system. "In China, the lack of support is even deeper and some families will have to learn to teach their own children or move to another city or country to find support for their children," says Chau.
Nonetheless, the growth of private and academic initiatives that address the particular educational needs of the continent is bringing your message to the ground. Some universities, such as East China Normal University, want to train mentors to support students, says Dow of LIH Olivia's Place. Although the motivation of these programs is likely to reduce student academic pressure, it believes that more attention can be given to children with additional learning needs.
Orientation changes take time in a country with 1.3 billion people. But China is on the way.
* The name was changed at the request of the teacher.
