Autism centre to help Libya with expertise in special education

Dubai: Aiming to support Libya in the field of special education, the Dubai Autism Centre has invited a Libyan delegation to experience first-hand the services provided by the centre and discuss future cooperation between the centre and Libyan autism centres.

"We can help them through our expertise in developing strategies, curriculum, policies and also offer training programmes for families as well as caregivers. One of the main advantages is that we can help them through the experience we have in providing special education that caters to students of multiple nationalities. Additionally, knowledge of Arabic would be of great advantage," Mohammad Al Emmadi, board member and director-general of Dubai Autism Centre, told Gulf News.

Al Emmadi was part of the delegation from the UAE, headed by Anwar Mohammad Gargash, minister of state for foreign affairs, that visited Libya recently.

The delegation included representatives from different sectors and organisations from the UAE, including the Dubai Autism Centre, and focused on bilateral cooperation.

"The aim is to help them and support them with scientific strategies, policies and findings as well as providing appropriate training on assessment and diagnosis, early intervention educational programmes for those involved in this sector. During the visit we observed that they have one school but a lot more development is required. They need a lot of training and awareness. We also invited them to experience the services that we are providing," Al Emmadi said.

"We will soon be submitting our recommendations, based on the visit, on how we can extend our support to them," he said. "Every child with autism has different requirements. With us, we have children from several nationalities studying with us. For every child we follow an Individual Education Plan which is carefully framed after an in-depth research and analysis. Our experience of ten years would be of great advantage to help Libya in this field. Another advantage with us is the availability of Arab special educators."