Here to Help: Two Organisations' Special Mission for Inclusivity

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We say that every child is special and deserves our undivided attention. But modern education favors standardized curricula and tests that don’t necessarily allow every student’s needs to be considered. That’s why it’s so important that every society carve out a safe space for the truly special to excel at their own pace. We take a look at the organizations that support that mission right here in Beijing.

The Special Education Network and Inclusion Association (SENIA) is a network of educators, professionals, parents, and students who support and advocate for differently abled individuals. They work to advocate for and provide resources and support to individuals with disabilities in the hope that we can live in an inclusive world where every individual is supported, resources are accessible, potential is maximized, and action is inspired.

SENIA-Beijing Chairman Gerald Anthony, who is also Director of Scholarships and Awards for SENIA International, says: “We would like to thank the over 500 members that make up SENIA-Beijing and all those that partner with us to make our community one amazing place to live. SENIA-Beijing has been around for 20 years, and from that we know the difference a small network can make to a community.

“This year of 2022 has been one to remember for SENIA-Beijing. We had several memorable moments that have allowed our organization to influence our community at even greater levels. We were able to participate in a global conference focusing on topics under the umbrella of well-being, particularly from the context of schools in China. The TeachBetter Series was a partnering with Venture Education, SENIA-Beijing, and tertiary institutions to assist with developing families and professionals.

“There were also special moments with students. We now have two Beijing students that have received the SENIA World Changer Award, an international award for the great work individuals do toward promoting inclusivity in their communities. In general, our scholarship and award allowances have grown from the support of our conferences and local events.

“One of the highlights is our local community outreach. Partnering with Auesome Place, SENIA-Beijing held its first citywide inclusive art exhibition entitled ‘Autum’s Fairytale.’ We hope this will continue in the future.”

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Mr. Zhang Yuxiang is the founder of Auesome Place, an educational organization catering to special needs youths from Beijing’s expatriate families and the local community alike. We spoke to Mr. Zhang about the creation of Auesome Place.

“I studied special education at Minnesota State University as a graduate student, and I have been engaged in related work in international schools in China and abroad,” shares Mr. Zhang. “Over the years, I have met many parents and students who have additional learning needs. In many cases, the needs of these children are not well accommodated in mainstream schools and programs. These parents hope that there will be a place which is more targeted to help their children from the perspective of the curriculum. I managed to start Auesome Place with the help of a well-established foundation that reached out to us because they found that such a program is very meaningful, and wanted to fulfill this dream.

“Auesome Place hopes to build a ‘medical education platform’ to better help children with additional learning needs to improve their cognitive ability, language ability, social-emotional awareness, as well as their knowledge of mainstream subjects. The so-called ‘medical’ part here refers to various intervention methods, such as speech therapy and behavior analysis, etc. ‘Education’ is much easier to understand – we select the subject content that is suitable for our students’ current cognitive level and learning level, and combine them with their individual education plans through teaching with a high teacher-student ratio.”

Q

What challenges did you encounter in starting Auesome Place?

“Countless, countless challenges. The first is that many Chinese parents tend to avoid talking about special educational needs, or just completely deny its existence. In our culture, acknowledging that something is wrong is akin to losing face. Raising social awareness on special education is not easy. Another challenge is the lack of resources to provide high-quality special education. Chinese society only started to recognize autism in early 2000. Many local universities still do not offer majors related to special education, which leads to a shortage of practitioners. The government may also need to be more involved in the construction of special education. Of course, all these challenges are also opportunities and potential for future development.”

Q

So how does Auesome Place differ from other special education centers in Beijing?

“To answer this question, we need to talk more in-depth about the ‘combination of medical therapy and education.’ Currently in the Chinese Mainland, mainstream schools are in charge of ‘education’ and special education centers are responsible for the ‘medical therapy’ part. But the current practice has many drawbacks, such as the time it takes for students to transfer from school to the special education center for interventions. Furthermore, the individualized learning plans are designed by the special education centers, but need to be implemented by schools. Is their educational philosophy aligned? Who is going to evaluate the implementation of IEPs [Individualized Education Programs]?

At Auesome Place, students spend half of their day on subject-based knowledge learning: language, life-related mathematics, etc. They spend the other half on different interventions such as music therapy, physical therapy, as well as psychological intervention. We are still exploring this path, but we believe it is the right one.

Another thing that distinguishes Auesome from other education centers is our ‘environmental approach.’ We think many of the social obstacles that our students are facing are actually caused by the lack of social opportunities and low self-esteem. Therefore, we believe that the influence of the environment will have a very positive effect on their growth and the accumulation of self-confidence. After-all, inclusive education is not a specific program, it is not a classroom in our school and it is not a favor that we do for someone. Inclusion is who we are.”

Images: Courtesy of Auesome Place

Images: Pexels

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