Abu Dhabi: Five-year-old Yousef’s mother was at her wits’ end until last year, trying to find a good inclusive programme for her autistic son. None satisfied her until she enrolled him at the Center for Special Needs Children Abu Dhabi which conducts a volunteering programme in partnership with Goals UAE.
“It is a great programme with a variety of activities. Yousef struck a rapport with others especially in the painting class. It gave him the feeling of being in a normal school which he has missed,” she said, grateful to the support provided by Goals UAE volunteers.
Goals UAE is a community based volunteering initiative founded by two mothers. They had children on the autistic spectrum and struggled to find ways to keep their active young boys busy. “In spite of being healthy and bright they did not fit into the multitude of classes and lessons offered in and around Abu Dhabi. This needed to change,” says Khawla Barley, co-founder and director of Goals UAE.
The duo started with a pilot project in 2014 and rolled out community programmes in 2015. They partnered with sports and activity providers to come up with autism-friendly programmes. Most importantly, it includes providing children with a ‘buddy’ to help them fully participate in the activity. To date, Goals UAE has engaged over 500 autistic children with no budget or staff and it is the first and only model of its kind in the GCC.
“When I see my son participate in these programmes, it makes me happy that he has an activity he can feel a part of,” says Michele Ziolkowski, the other co-founder.
The programmes include sports and arts courses besides community events. They recently launched an initiative to help empower and support parents who are on the lookout for social opportunities for their children.
The initiative provides support in 3 ways:
1. A Facebook Community (Goals UAE Connections) has been created to serve as a platform for families to connect, create play dates and hold meet-ups
2. Providing families the opportunity to engage their children in the activities supported by Goals UAE volunteers.
3. Organising lectures aimed at educating parents and caregivers on topics related to the development of their children’s social skills.
Goal buddies
Goals UAE is working with schools, universities and local businesses to facilitate programmes of providing one on one volunteer buddies to special needs children in order to help them develop various skills. Volunteers mostly comprise students from local high schools and universities. So far Goals UAE has worked with students from American Community School, Shaikh Zayed Private Academy for Girls, Al Raha International School, Zayed University, Emirates College for Advanced Education and New York University, Abu Dhabi. All student volunteers are given orientation and training.
Linda Bailey, a behaviour analyst with the New England Centre for Children and a volunteer, simply loves the Goals UAE initiative. “For students with special needs there’s not enough fun out there. The Goals UAE programme gives them something exciting to do after school,” she said.
Rohith, 16, looks forward to playing basketball every week. “With a dedicated person to give him instructions, he feels he is like anyone else in the team,” said his mother.
Future plans
Goals UAE plans to expand its sports activities in the next academic year. In addition to the ongoing basketball programme with New York University Abu Dhabi, it will introduce golf in partnership with the Abu Dhabi Future Falcons Junior Golf Programme and renew the football tie-up with PASS Abu Dhabi.
In the field of arts, Goals UAE runs a workshop for children in partnership with Emirates College for Advanced Education.
“Ultimately we want to create a year-round calendar of sports, arts and community activities to help the children develop talents and interests which will help lead them to a happier, healthier and more fulfilling life,” said Barley.
For more information please contact GoalsUAE@gmail.com.
