Dubai
Gulf News spoke to the owner of one of the many centres in the UAE that provides therapy sessions to children with special needs. Evelyn Barretto has over 16 years of teaching experience in the Gulf region and has been running the Al Rashidiya Children’s Skill Development Centre in Sharjah for the past six years.
Barretto focuses on development skills such as language training and hand coordination.
“Conditions like dyslexia and autism are on the rise and researchers have not found the root cause behind this. I tell parents that no medication but remedial therapy will help their children,” she said.
Barretto explains that most parents with special children start looking for schools when their child turns four years of age. Getting them in school right away is not easy and by the time a school is ready to admit their child from the waiting list, the child is no longer four years old, which is the age as per rules to be admitted at KG (kindergarten) level.
The schools then want to admit the child in a higher class, but the child is not able to cope, hence many children are overruled this way.
Schools let children with special needs have a shadow teacher with them to guide them through any difficulties they face academically. Cost for a shadow teacher is Dh2,000 in Sharjah and Dh3,000 in Dubai.
— The writer is an intern at the Readers Desk of Gulf News.
