Group photo of 2020 The International Conference on Special Education

To foster the connection between special education and the world, from November 2 to 4, the Ministry of Education (MOE) held ‘2020 The International Conference on Special Education: Inclusive Education and Career Development in the Asia-Pacific Region’. In this conference, the Political Deputy Minister, MOE, Ching-Hwa Tsai, expected that experts and scholars from a variety of countries could share practical experiences and innovative concepts, and propose forward-looking arrangements for special education policies from international perspectives.

Instead, due to the impact of the epidemic, foreign scholars were unable to visit the Republic of China (ROC) (Taiwan) to participate in this international conference smoothly. However, the organizer still utilized science and technology to overcome these difficulties, and changed the lectures by means of pre-recording and live-streaming, so that participants could conduct exchanges with foreign scholars through the Internet. This conference invited well-known special education scholars, including:
·Professor Pamela Heaton from Goldsmiths, University of London,
·Director Susan Baum from the Bridges Twice-Exceptional (2e) Center for Research and Professional Development of Bridges Academy (a college preparatory school specially providing education to twice-exceptional students), United States of America (USA),
·Sakai Haruna from Disability Resource Center of Ritsumeikan University, Japan
·Emeritus Professor Fou-Lai Lin from Shi-Da Institute for Mathematics Education from National Taiwan Normal University,
·Professor and Director Ming Hung Wang from Graduate Institute of Rehabilitation Counseling of National Changhua University of Education,
·Professor I-Tsun Chiang and Shin-Tzu Hu from the Department of Special Education of National Taiwan Normal University,
·and Professor Keh Nyit Chin from the Department of Physical Education of National Taiwan Normal University.

These scholars shared relevant important issues including twice-exceptional needs, counseling for gifted students, transfer and connection of careers for special education students, sports equality for people with disabilities, and integrated education. Through different opinions, sharing and discussion, the directions of important policies and practical experiences were provided, thereby obtaining familiarity with the developing trends in special education in the future.