Oriental Speech Therapy and Yilin Forge Strategic Partnership to Establish Industry Standards for Autism Intervention
Dongfang Qiyin has long been committed to enhancing the professionalism and authority of its services, providing comprehensive solutions in speech therapy, occupational therapy, and behavioral therapy to those in need, particularly families with children aged 2–6. It also offers a range of precise services based on the “Internet + Healthcare” model, including early screening, an online app, parent training, and speech therapist training. Its offline services cover 19 major cities across China, having served over 200,000 families to date.
Yilin (Qingdao Autism Research Association and Qingdao Yilin Kangjiao Zhaneng Center), founded in 2000, has a history of 20 years. As a renowned non-profit organization, Yilin has always been committed to rehabilitation training and teaching research for individuals with autism. Over the past two decades, Yilin has developed into one of the largest professional institutions in China specializing in rehabilitation, education, and research for children with autism and their parents. It operates two centers in Qingdao and Ninghai, with a total teaching building area of up to 25,000 square meters, currently serving more than 1,000 children with autism.
On October 28, Oriental Speech and Yilin announced a strategic partnership. Leveraging their extensive expertise in speech rehabilitation and autism care, the two organizations will combine their strengths to achieve complementary advantages, further benefiting more children with autism by providing them with more professional and high-quality rehabilitation training.
Left: Yao Qiuwu and Cui Guangli, signing representatives of Eastern Speech; Right: Fang Jing and Shi Ruoxi, signing representatives of Yilin
VCBeat has learned that the collaboration between Ostara and Yilin will focus on the following three aspects:
Cooperative Education Programs.Following the establishment of a strategic partnership, Eastern Speech will leverage Yilin’s strengths to identify suitable teaching centers in Qingdao and Ninghai, designating them as collaborative demonstration sites. Eastern Speech will deploy senior instructional teams to these demonstration sites to provide services to parents of children with autism.
The partnership will bolster Yi Lin’s previously underdeveloped speech rehabilitation programs and, by leveraging complementary strengths, address other reasonable needs of the autism community. The two parties plan to pilot their educational initiatives in Qingdao.
Establish a National Parent Joint Service System.Children with autism often live with the condition throughout their lives, making it particularly crucial to enhance parents’ awareness of rehabilitation training. To better improve parental awareness in this regard, Dongfang Qiyin plans to provide joint services to Yilin’s branch associations across 20 cities nationwide.
The collaboration primarily focuses on two aspects: First, Dongfang Qiyin and Yilin will jointly conduct regular lectures and promotional activities centered on parent training, services, and education on other aspects of autism. Second, Dongfang Qiyin will provide additional services, including speech therapy, to members of Yilin’s branch associations, thereby better supporting the rehabilitation training of children with autism.
Promote the establishment of industry standards.Oriental Speech and Yilin will collaborate on research into industry-standardized service systems, teacher training frameworks, and related areas. The two parties plan to conduct in-depth studies on standardized educational services for autism and intervention methods for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and intend to publish industry white papers in the future to further promote the establishment of industry standards.
Fang Jing, Chairperson of Yilin, stated, “Eastern Speech has established a comprehensive system in areas such as speech therapy and curriculum design. Yilin has also developed a complete framework for behavioral intervention and autism-specific curricula. Through this partnership, both parties will collaborate to build a robust system covering the full spectrum from speech rehabilitation to behavioral interventions for children with autism. Supported by dedicated research teams, we have the capability and confidence to drive the establishment of standardized treatment protocols for autism during the promotion of rehabilitative interventions for autistic children.”
Cui Guangli, founder of Open Speech, stated, “Open Speech will further explore how to provide more targeted and effective interventions for autism. Meanwhile, Open Speech will extend its autism intervention services to cover the period before children with autism enter preschool. Following the collaboration, tailored speech therapy or behavioral rehabilitation training will be provided based on the individual characteristics of each child with autism.”
During the localization of autism treatment, both parties will further strengthen collaboration with international experts to promote the standardization of autism intervention strategies and methods in China. Dongfang Qiyin has even stated that it aims to establish treatment standards and conduct longitudinal tracking of individual cases of children with autism, with the eventual goal of launching a comprehensive autism diagnosis and treatment system, as well as systematic training standards.
Why Did Oriental Speech and Yilin Reach a Cooperation Agreement?Fang Jing, Chairperson of Yilin, remarked with a smile that the collaboration stemmed from a timely opportunity. When Yilin was planning to provide more comprehensive rehabilitation training services for parents, one parent introduced her to Cui Guangli, founder of Oriental Speech (Dongfang Qiyin). Initially, Yilin only sought Teacher Cui’s assistance in conducting training. However, as the partnership deepened and mutual understanding grew, both parties recognized that they could leverage their respective strengths to better serve individuals with autism: Yilin’s unique behavioral interventions and curriculum design could be integrated with Oriental Speech’s expertise in speech therapy.
In fact, over the past 13 years, Oriental Speech has accumulated nearly 200,000 cases of speech therapy rehabilitation. Among these, a significant number of children with autism have benefited from the rehabilitation training methods provided by Yilin. This collaboration has fostered a win-win situation for all parties involved, enabling both sides to deliver personalized treatment plans tailored to each category of children.
Shi Ruoxi, the head of Yilin, stated, “Through this collaboration, Yilin can provide higher-quality oral-muscle therapy and training services for children with autism. We can make further improvements in speech rehabilitation. Additionally, by leveraging Dongfang Qiyin’s online platform, we can deliver remote online intervention and treatment, thereby extending our reach to a broader population.” He also emphasized that Yilin, adhering to its philosophy of “Greater Professionalism Driven by Love,” will remain true to its original mission and continue to deliver more professional services to individuals with autism.
The successful collaboration between the two parties is also inextricably linked to their dedicated exploration within the industry.During the treatment of autism, Yilin has adopted the ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) therapy, which is widely recognized externally. The speech rehabilitation therapy provided by Dongfang Qiyin for individuals with speech disorders is also a scientifically validated approach that has gained broad recognition. Yilin stated,“Adhering to scientific methods is the foundation for both parties to reach cooperation.”
For Dongfang Qiyin, the shift from speech-language therapy to autism treatment stemmed from “identifying its own gaps while deeply exploring the industry,” as most children with autism spectrum disorder experience speech and language impairments. Cui Guangli stated,To meet the needs of parents, Oriental Speech has continuously refined the classification of various patient groups and provided targeted treatment plans.How to provide targeted services for different groups will be the focus of future discussions between Oriental Speech and Yilin.
There is still a lack of public awareness and understanding of autism in today's society."To help society gain a better understanding of autism, Yao Qiuwu, founder of OTC (Oriental Tongue and Speech), stated that OTC has undertaken extensive social initiatives. For example,"Collaborate with the Population Welfare FoundationLong-term Partnership in the “Screening for 10,000 People, Training for 1,000” Public Welfare Project, donating free speech rehabilitation courses annually. To date, over 10,000 children with autism have participated in free screenings and received complimentary consultations and courses.
Meanwhile, Dongfang Qiyin has launched family training programs to educate parents on the proper care of children with autism. The organization is also establishing its own resource library, enabling parents who lack access to professional institutions to engage in self-directed learning about autism. By continuously sharing the latest therapeutic approaches, the library aims to further enhance societal awareness and understanding of autism. Following the collaboration with Yilin, both parties will expand these parent training programs to more regions, helping parents shift their perspectives in terms of both cognitive understanding and strategic methodologies.