‘His father was holding a stick to discipline him’: autism in China and the groups helping children and adults lead better lives
- Support organisations say many parents in China do not know how to help their autistic children, while government subsidies and legal protection are lacking
- About one in 143 children in China is autistic, higher than the one in 160 children worldwide estimated by the WHO, according to a 2019 report
A brochure from Taiwan on a hospital counter in Beijing that offered ideas on how to teach autistic children was the catalyst for Tian Huiping to open the Beijing Stars and Rain Education Institute for Autism in 1993, the first social organisation of its kind in China.
Tian’s son had been diagnosed with autism, a developmental disability that significantly affects verbal and non-verbal communication and social interaction from early childhood. With no group providing assistance to autistic children, Tian decided to open her own school.
The school’s focus is on helping parents learn how to teach their children at home, and on helping its students learn to take care of themselves, including social skills, motor coordination skills and work skills.
Wu Liangsheng, the school’s director for education research, says that to his knowledge, Stars and Rain was the first body in China to serve children with autism.
Most groups that serve those with physical or mental challenges like to cite examples of clients who have been successfully rehabilitated. To highlight the challenges the school faces, however, Wu prefers to point out a case that failed: that of a now 27-year-old native of Guangxi who was educated at Stars and Rain in 1998.
