Pittsburgh, PA – Four educators from China will be undergoing an autism training program at Riverview Junior Jr./Sr. High school this spring.
The primary school teachers who arrived from Beijing in March, are seeking to learn about and subsequently adopt methods that are currently being utilized in special education curriculums in the US in hopes of eventually implementing them in China.
Because China lacks a comprehensive autism education program, the teachers agreed to receive training in order to more effectively meet the needs of students on the spectrum. China’s current special education programming is relatively new and with a high incidence of the disorder being reported, the need for a new system has become apparent in recent years.
Ultimately their visit, which involves training at Duquesne University in addition to classroom observation in Pittsburgh’s school system, is occurring in conjunction with the development of a partnership between the SEAPC (South East Asia Prayer Center) and the Beijing Autism Association. Both of the aforementioned bodies have signed a decade-long agreement recently geared towards training the families and teachers of children on the spectrum.
The teachers will be returning to China by the end of the month.
Source: Jodi Weigand on the TribLive website: Teachers from China observe autism training at Riverview Jr./Sr. High School