Preparation Pack – Section 1
Overview of Stars and Rain:
If the following information does not answer all of your questions, please visit our website at www.autismchina.org
Or contact: Sun Zhongkai
Development Officer
Tel: 0086-10-85373236
Fax: 0086-10-85373486
The Situation in China:
There is a severe shortage of care for autistic children in China. While there are an estimated 2 million autistic children in China, nationally there are only 20 doctors qualified to diagnose the condition.
Beijing Stars and Rain is a pioneer in China, being the first centre in the whole country to provide care for children with autism and related disabilities.
Mission:
To help people with autism reach their full potential, improve their quality of life, and help them to enjoy equal opportunities. We strive to be a bridge between society and children with autism.
Objectives:
Through realising this mission we aim to help:
· Children with autism through a well developed, structured Individual Education Plan.
· Parents to understand autism and to learn the skills they need to improve their children’s daily life through an 11-week parent training program.
· Chinese society to recognize and accept people with autism and other disabilities.
Our work:
There are two different departments at Stars and Rain, one serving pre-school children and their parents, and one serving teenagers.
· Preschool
The preschool deals with children aged 3-12 using techniques based on ABA (Applied Behaviour Analysis). Because it would be impossible to serve all the autistic children in China, we focus on educating the parents in the skills and techniques required to ensure their own child’s development. We offer four courses of 12 weeks annually, and each course is attended by around 50 families from across China.
· Group home
The group home has been running since November 2006 and accommodates 6 teenagers with autism and related disabilities. The teenagers live in the home from Monday to Friday and are taught practical skills using the TEACCH methodology. The group home aims to be recognised as a successful model that can be replicated by other provinces in China in order to maximise the provision of care for autistic teenagers in the country.
For more information about the students in the group home, please go to their profiles on the website.
Why we need volunteers:
In order for Stars and Rain to function effectively, we rely on passionate volunteers from across the globe to contribute to the development and progress of the students. The majority of our volunteers are based in the group home department, where they assist our professional teachers in the learning process, providing the teenagers with educational opportunities as well as caring for them throughout the day.
Location:
Stars and Rain is situated one hour from the centre of Beijing, in a rural town called Dongxu. The town itself offers an authentic Chinese cultural experience, and is easily accessible to all transport links and the city life. Please see the ‘Practical Guide Section 3’ for more information.
History:
Beijing Stars and Rain was founded in 1992 by Ms Tian Huiping, who discovered her son was autistic at the age of two. It became the first centre in China to cater for autistic children. Initially the school ran as a boarding school, where 6 children would stay at the school from Monday morning to Friday evening. Parents were encouraged to attend classes with their children when possible and this parent-participation became the basis for the current parent-participation structure of the courses.
The real inspiration for the parent-participation model came when the organisation’s founder, Tian Huiping, noticed that the children were more difficult to work with after a weekend or holiday break, and realised that the child’s family life was incredibly important and that the parent’s participation would have a significant impact on the child’s process.
As the organisation became better known, we received more and more applications from parents of autistic children. Realising that the current service model was limiting the number of children who could be helped, we changed the program from an open-ended one to a finite term of three months and held four terms per year to lower the parent’s financial burden. During the three-month period, we require parents to attend the class with their children and focus our training on teaching parents to teach their children themselves.
Since 1998, Stars and Rain has applied professional standards of ABA (Advanced Behavioural Analysis) to give the parents the best possible training. Our teaching staff also receives ongoing training and development.
To date, Beijing Stars and Rain has helped over 2,200 children with autism from 32 provinces of China, trained more than 1,000 parents in the use of ABA, trained the first team of ABA professionals in China and started an outreach training courses for families living far from Beijing (which has since run over 30 courses in 20 provinces, helping over 300 families.
You can learn more about the history and development of Stars and Rain at the History page at www.autismchina.org.
Challenges in the Chinese environment:
· There is a lack of good professional resources in China, such as a certification system for teachers of autistic children, or higher education courses available within China.
· Weak financial support – due to a lack of government funding and a weak social philanthropy system.
· Lack of a government welfare system - families have to pay for their children’s education by themselves, including remedial services. Limited ability to pay means that Stars and Rain can not charge high tuition fees, which is our main source of revenue. Additionally, there is no compulsory education for people with disabilities – schools are not required to take disabled children. Consequently parents view Stars and Rain as their children’s only chance for improvement and perhaps even a cure (which it is not).
· Limited awareness about autism, its diagnosis and the need for educational treatment.
Biggest current challenges for Stars and Rain:
· A long waiting list for the parent-training programme. There is an urgent need to expand our provision of services.
· A need to develop continuing services for older children.
· A lack of volunteers at various points in the year to help our teachers with the students.
· A huge dependence on donations from a variety of sources to fund our Group Home and Preschool.