A groundbreaking artificial intelligence (AI) tool is replacing outdated methods with more tailored teaching practices and play-based therapy for children with autism in China, empowering local teachers to deliver better care for their students and giving marginalized children a new chance to thrive.
In a quiet corner of Pingdingshan City in central China's Henan Province, it is class time for four-year-old Lingling. While most children her age can be already quite chatty, Lingling still struggles to form basic syllables.
Difficulty with speech is just one of many challenges for Lingling, who is one of the millions of young people in China with autism spectrum disorder. Like so many others, the condition is deeply frustrating, and often leaves her on the margins of society.
Now, Lingling is taking lessons at a local autism rehabilitation center called the Pingdingshan Sunflower Children's Development Center. The exact cause of autism, not to mention a so-called cure remains a mystery, but the more considered therapies offered at the center have proven helpful to Lingling, whose family has noticed a significant change.
"She used to hate these classes. She would cry all the time. But since she started taking this new class here, I've noticed she really enjoys it. She's happy," said Lingling's mother.
The new class is called 'RICE AI' and named after the software the school recently adopted. Lingling's teacher Ren Xiaojuan uses it to plan lessons, track progress, and generate new ideas best suited to the individual learner.
Even with 20 years of teaching experience, Ren is amazed by the guidance offered by the AI system and the advantages it brings to enhance her classroom interactions.
One AI suggestion put forward was to include a toy bubble blower as part of a teaching exercise, with Ren noting how these approaches have opened her mind to what is possible.
"The curriculum designed by RICE AI has a clear focus. That is, we shouldn't teach children the way we may train a pet, especially, children with autism. They should be treated as people. The teaching happens through games and activities, and children make rapid progress," said Ren.
Even in the digital age, the knowledge gap between some of China's smaller cities and top-tier cities can still be stark.
The team behind the RICE AI software are located more than 1,000 kilometers away in the southern tech hub of Shenzhen, in an area often referred to as China's "Silicon Valley".
Called 'Dami and Xiaomi' and founded back in 2014, the company has dedicated itself to becoming a one-stop service platform in China focusing on children's development and ability enhancement. It has long wanted to capture and scale the expertise of people across the country but lacked the technology to pool together such resources until the arrival of the AI boom.
"After DeepSeek came out, that is, as soon as DeepSeek emerged, people found that we could indeed obtain a very excellent open-source model," said Cui Qian, chief technology officer at Dami and Xiaomi.
The company also operates a nationwide network of autism intervention centers, with specialists such as Zheng Tian, the firm's chief training supervisor, traveling to train its teachers at cities all over the country.
Zheng is one of just three senior supervisors at the company who holds the credential of a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst, but across China specialists at this level are even more rare, compared to the millions who are in need.
However, the advent of AI and the application of data accumulated over a decade which included real-world records involving some 30,000 students, was to deliver a big breakthrough.
With parents' consent, this invaluable data was fed to the AI, which learned to make decisions and offer suggestions just like a human supervisor. As the company hoped, all that expertise is now finally reaching those who once had no access to it.
Back in Pingdingshan, teacher Ren is hosting a weekly meeting as she instructs other peers on how to get the most out of using the tool. The AI system does represent a significant investment but for the school's manager, it has been proving worthwhile.
"First, it has completely revolutionized our thoughts toward traditional rehabilitation. Secondly, it is effectively raising the standard of care across our entire institution," said Song Wentao, director of the Pingdingshan Sunflower Children's Development Center.
For Ren, this job is personal, as she draws on her own childhood experiences to ensure that the young people in her care receive all the help they need in the best possible manner. She recalled that when she had fever as a child, her mother tried an unproven treatment that caused her only pain.
She is determined to make sure other young children get the correct support they need.
"Rehabilitation is a slow process. So parents turn to all the methods they think they can try [for faster results], like acupuncture, medication. Some of my current students are still receiving these treatments, and no matter what I [tell their parents, they won't listen], especially in third-tier and fourth-tier cities like ours," she said.
Ren's empathy for the young students is what drives her, with these AI tech tools helping her to carry out her role and share this experience with others more effectively.
Thursday marks the United Nations' World Autism Awareness Day (WAAD), with the organization designating April 2 as the annual date to draw attention to related issues surrounding autism and promote the full realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms for autistic individuals, ensuring their equal participation in society. It was first marked back in 2007.
AI tools helping offer more tailored teaching programs for autistic children in China
