Occupational therapist Jojo Liang presents a session titled "Boost your brain, boost engagement: Brain Gym" in the workshop.
Special education teachers in Shanghai used new ideas, speech and occupational therapies to support students with learning disabilities.
More than 10 such teachers and parents dedicated to caring for students with mental disabilities attended the workshop named "Profession Development Day" held by ELG, one of the first special education training institutions in China established by foreigners.
As a partner of Shanghai Daily's charity project "iDEALCafe: Inclusive Space," ELG will bring more therapy classes to public education schools in Shanghai.
Dr Shari D. Rosen, one of ELG's founders, gives a keynote speech at the workshop.
"I often see special education teachers know there's something more they can do, but they haven't been trained. We would like to have a collaborative model in the future where those teachers can come and work in our full-time program and then bring ideas back to the school. Also, we can send our occupational therapists and speech therapists to their campus," says Dr Shari D. Rosen, one of ELG's founders.
Wang Chunfang, an attendee at the workshop who is a senior teacher at Putuo District Ganlin Junior Vocational and Technical School, considers practicality as the most significant difference between China and many Western countries in supporting the mentally challenged.
"We focus more on guiding mentally challenged children with educational theories. But here I learned a new idea that teaching can be assisted by some movements which can help children stabilize their emotions," said Wang.