Disability issues ‘must be tackled on social media sites'

Sharjah: Social media in the UAE has a long development process ahead of itself and needs to catch up with the West in order to efficiently raise awareness about people with disabilities, government authorities said yesterday.

Speaking at the inauguration of the three-day Al Manal Forum organised by the Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services, a panel of experts discussed the importance of Twitter and Facebook used among the public and media organisations.

"For social media to work properly, it is first important to accept that interaction is necessary with the public," said Marwan Al Sarkal, executive director of the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq).

Once media and non-governmental organisations understand the concept of how social media should be effectively used, it is then their responsibility to break down the cultural stereotypes of people with disabilities.

Osama Samra, director of Sharjah Media Centre, who has an eight-year-old daughter with cerebral palsy, pointed out there is not enough awareness within the social media in the Arab world.

"The mentality of Arab culture, most of the time, is to feel shame and embarrassment if they have a child with disabilities and the families do not think that there is any hope for them to be part of society," Samra said.

Samra's wife Jenan, stressed the importance of having social media that parents can use as a platform to interact with as a support group.

"I searched online and found a Facebook group…We have an online forum once a week, and when our children have seizures, we upload the videos and advise other parents on how to handle the seizures and also recommend each other's doctors," added Jenan. The National Association for Down Syndrome in the US has 88,000 members on its Facebook page while the UAE Down Syndrome Association has only 759, and the top 100 pages on facebook do not include any in Arabic.

Haider Taleb, general manager of Al Thiqah Employment and Rehabilitation for the Disabled Centre, pointed out as result of participating in the forum, he has already conjured up ideas on how to implement a variety of strategies through using social media that will boost employment in the country.