An Interview with Xueyi Deng, BCBA (China)

Interview conducted by Ximing Huang (Extern)
Association for Science in Autism Treatment

I had the honor of interviewing Xueyi Deng, BCBA, the Deputy Secretary-General of Central China Applied Behavior Analysis (CCABA). CCABA is an associate chapter of Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI) and a sub-organization under the China Association of Persons with Psychiatric Disability and their Relatives (CAPPDR). In this interview, Xueyi Deng presented us with a comprehensive and detailed image of autism and its treatments in China.

Ximing: Welcome, Mr. Xueyi Deng! Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions and discuss the challenges individuals with autism and their families face in China. Before we delve into those topics, could you share with us your current position and a little bit about CCABA?

Xueyi Deng, BCBA

Xueyi: I have worked successively in Beijing KangNaZhou Autism Family Support Center and Beijing FangPingGuo Education Center as the Teaching Director, and engaged explicitly in front-line teaching, supervision, and training-related work. Currently, CCABA provides membership development, training, certification, and continuing education courses. CCABA also helps train applied behavior analysis (ABA)-related teaching assistants, organizes academic conferences on ABA, and builds institutional alliances to empower institutions in providing necessary resources for better organization management and research opportunities.

Ximing: It’s inspiring to see your involvement in providing services to families and your participation in CCABA in disseminating ABA knowledge and supporting professionals. What led you to the field of autism treatment and applied behavior analysis in the first place?

Xueyi: I began to engage in psychological counseling in 2009. In 2012, I was exposed to the field of autism rehabilitation training for the first time. In 2017, I began to specialize in applied behavior analysis. I obtained the certification of Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analyst (BCaBA) in 2014 and became a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) in 2019. I am mainly engaged in research and teaching of ABA rehabilitation training, home-based teaching and guidance, and vocational skills training for autistic teenagers and adults.

Dr. Dehua Guo, Vice-Chairman of CAPPDR and Secretary-General of CCABA, is my professional mentor. Having been confused about my career due to the lack of standardization in China’s psychological counseling industry, in 2012, I was lucky enough to be introduced to the field of autism by Dr. Guo, and my focus shifted. Since 2013, Dr. Guo has assisted Hong Wen, Chair of CAPPDR, in establishing a localized ABA training system (CNABA) and introduced BACB’s system of the Verified Course Sequence in China. CAPPDR has become the first organization in China authorized to offer BCaBA and BCBA courses. I was fortunate to work as a teacher in charge of academic affairs for the training course. In the process of providing service to expert teachers and students, I was deeply moved by the charm of the ABA profession, which solved my confusion about the profession of psychological counseling. The complete knowledge and supervision systems of ABA enables practitioners to have a clear career plan and a life-long learning and growth path. Therefore, in 2014, I began to devote myself to the study and work of ABA. At present, my work requires me not only to continue to engage in ABA-related teaching and supervision but also to begin to use organizational behavior management (OBM)-related knowledge and skills to promote the development of the institutions and the entire industry.

Ximing: We appreciate your effort in consistently offering science-based treatments to different groups. We would also love to know how individuals with autism are viewed in China. What are some hardships they are facing?

Xueyi: Individuals with autism in China are viewed in a very diverse and complex way. It is my opinion that, ninety percent of the population does not understand autism at all. Some of them think that autism is depression, which is caused by acquired psychological problems; others believe that autism is schizophrenia and is something to keep away from. Ten percent of the population is aware of autism. They know that autism has its own medical diagnosis and what its core symptoms look like. But most of them still have unrealistic fantasies when it comes to supporting individuals with autism. They usually use the term “rehabilitation of rescuing.” They hope to make young individuals with autism become children that are completely normal through intervention. Yet when it comes to older people with autism, they are in a state of abandonment. These people are kept at home and have no contact with society. Finally, less than 1% of the population regard autism as a different form of life. Their support for autistic people is lifespan support, and they truly accept autism.

Ximing: Can you be a bit more specific about the current challenges?

Xueyi: The concept of the whole society needs to be further reformed. In fact, the current advocacy of autism-related information has made great progress compared to a decade ago, but we still have a long way to go. The challenges are as follows:

1. There are currently no clear official statistics on the specific number of autistic people in China, which will hinder the country from formulating relevant policies.
2. Most people with autism cannot speak for themselves and defend their rights, and their relatives have different interests or demands for various reasons. This makes it impossible for the country to hear the unified voice of this group to formulate a policy that is most in line with the interests of autistic people.
3. At the national level, the Disabled Persons’ Federation, the Ministry of Education, and the National Health Commission are all involved in the work related to autism, but there is no unified leading organization, and no linkage mechanism can be established, which affects the work efficiency, and the standardization of the industry cannot be guaranteed.
4. In China, government organizations at all levels have established funds and projects to support autism-related causes, but due to the lack of special relevant legal protection, these supports may not be sustainable, and there may be cases where the expected results cannot be achieved despite all this money spending in the industry. Furthermore, the lack of funds, especially the lack of financial support for older autistic people, is an urgent problem to be solved.
5. Like in other countries in the world, since the etiology of autism is unknown, there are various methods to intervene or support, and the industry chaos will bring the reputation of practitioners into question and ultimately prevent autistic people from obtaining the most effective and suitable supporting program.

Ximing: Thank you for helping us learn more about the challenges that individuals with autism are facing in China. We again appreciate CCABA for standing up for science-based treatments and speaking up for vulnerable groups. Meanwhile, what are some difficulties that people working closely with individuals with autism, such as parents, caregivers, and teachers, have regarding accessing resources and science-based treatments? What are some initiatives to address those challenges?

Xueyi: In terms of accessing resources and science-based treatments, there is currently no official unified platform in China, so parents and teachers can obtain information through various channels, such as personal and corporate WeChat official accounts, websites, and various training and professional materials (books or literature). Since there is no official unified information release, the main challenge is that parents and teachers may not be able to tell whether these various types of information are accurate and scientific and end up with wasting time and money due to information asymmetry.

At present, CCABA has built an official platform (website and WeChat official account); developed the CNABA certification system; and cooperated with many professionals both inside and outside the country through the continuing education system to promote the most advanced teaching concepts and techniques. We opened corresponding courses and majors in Chinese universities and cultivated many professional talents. University education should be the most efficient channel for accessing professional resources. Additionally, since most Chinese parents’ and teachers’ English level does not allow them to browse relevant resources directly on the official international website, CCABA is organizing translation talents to translate international information for Chinese parents and teachers, serving as a bridge between China and the world.

Ximing: We can’t agree more on how hard it is for the public to identify which information is reliable. Therefore, we have been publishing letters to respond to misconceptions of autism interventions through our media watch page. ASAT also has a built-in google translator on our website, hoping to support people who speak other languages. We know CCABA has been working in the field for around a decade. Could you share with us how ABA and autism interventions have changed in China?

Xueyi: ABA and autism intervention started in China around 1992, but in the twenty years between 1992 and 2012, ABA and autism intervention were still in a relatively low development stage. The advanced international teaching concepts and techniques were not being introduced, the professional competence and professionalism of practitioners were still relatively weak, and the concepts of parents and institutions were not sound enough. However, great changes have taken place since 2012. This is mainly because many institutions have begun to introduce the most advanced concepts and techniques from abroad directly, and many teachers who have returned from studying abroad have directly introduced advanced concepts and techniques into China, which has created a virtuous cycle. Those institutions and teachers who perhaps expected to rest on their laurels, feeling as though they had accomplished enough, instead feel pressure to improve from the rising industry standards. Interestingly, the real pressure comes from parents. Parents 10 years ago did not know what kind of intervention was most suitable for their children due to a lack of information. However, in the past 10 years, thanks to the continuous learning of parents, their understanding on the importance of science-based methods has forced the development of the industry.

Another gratifying change is that 10 years ago, all the human, material, and financial resources of the government, institutions, teachers, and parents were devoted to the intervention of young autistic children, and very few people paid attention to older autistic people. But in the past 10 years, support for older autistic people has made great progress, both in terms of funding and professional techniques. Of course, we still have a long way to go to build an adequate and complete support system.

Finally, with the efforts of Dr. Dehua Guo in recent years, we have started to offer ABA professional courses in universities and plan to publish university professional course textbooks. In the future, we will apply to the country to establish related majors and promote and support other universities to open ABA courses. In addition, the participation of the IT industry has helped the development of our industry, both in the development of teaching materials and teaching aids, as well as in data collection and big data integration.

Ximing: Thank you for sharing CCABA’s future with us! It’s exciting for both families and professionals to know that there will possibly be more accessible resources for them soon. What’s CCABA’s role in disseminating science-based treatments for autism in China? What are some areas for improvement?

Xueyi: CCABA is an associate chapter of ABAI under the supervision of the CAPPDR. The establishment of CCABA itself is the main position for the dissemination of ABA, which is of great significance in China. In 2013, CAPPDR invited BACA President Carl Sundberg, Ph.D., to China. CAPPDR has become the first mainland organization authorized to offer VCS courses in China and has contributed to the talent training of BCaBAs and BCBAs around the world. Besides, CCABA is also actively preparing to build a localized talent training system so that China’s ABA and autism fields can continue to develop scientifically. For the past 10 years, the CAPPDR and CCABA have always adhered to the concept of “dual talent” in talent training — the talents cultivated must have a solid knowledge of basic theory and excellent practical skills. We have brought practical teaching experience and professional ethics to the forefront. Only in this way can our children benefit ultimately. In addition, we have been promoting the development of ABA in university education while further disseminating scientific concepts and techniques by publishing professional literature and monographs.

What is worth improving is that we need to unite professionals at home and abroad in a wider range to promote and develop ABA and autism-related causes, and better integrate our training system with international standards. Under the background of the still existing global epidemics, we will actively build a platform for domestic and international experts to interact fully and exchange, and finally form an academic atmosphere that lets the various technical schools of behavior analysis fully communicate and exchange, thus promoting the development of autism treatment – an atmosphere in which a hundred schools of thought contend and a hundred flowers bloom.

We appreciate all the valuable information you have shared today. CCABA’s effort in supporting evidence-based treatments in China is remarkable. We look forward to witnessing the growth of ABA and science-based interventions in China.

Citation for this article:

Huang, X. (2022). An interview with Xueyi Deng, BCBA (China). Science in Autism Treatment, 19(11).

Other Related Interviews:

Related ASAT Reviews:

Related ASAT Articles:

Translated Flyers:

#International #BehaviorAnalysts