Dubai: An Irish autistic girl, who calls Dubai home, says she can’t thank the city enough for bringing out the best in her.
Una Reece, 16, a student of Gems Wellington Academy – Silicon Oasis, said, “When my family decided to return to where we come from – Belfast in Ireland – during the pandemic, I knew I wanted to be back home in Dubai.”
When the family complied with her wishes and landed here last August, the first thing Una told the airport taxi driver was to take her to her school.
“That’s where we belong,” she said.
Indeed, in what makes for a heartening story, the entire Reece family goes to the same school – either for work or study - by choice.
Inclusion teachers
While Una and her elder sister Erin are students in Year 11 and Year 13, their parents Eimear and Craig are inclusion teachers. In fact, Craig, who was a physical education teacher working with different schools earlier, chose to become an inclusion teacher to help Una and those like her.
He said theirs is a story of anxiety giving way to advocacy after Una was diagnosed with autism at the age of eight.
“Our lives flipped when the diagnosis came about,” Craig recalled. But far from buckling under the new discovery, he and his wife chose to empower themselves and their daughter to deal with the situation at hand.
Different points of struggle
Eimear said, “Una had shown different points of struggle even as a child – delayed speech, slow sensory and motor needs, for which she received therapy. She also suffered from visual stress and fussy eating. But it was not until she was eight, just a little before our relocation to Dubai in 2016, that it all added up to the diagnosis of autism.”
Wary of moving to a new city at the time, Eimear and Craig came here reluctantly. “But it was the best decision of our lives,” said Eimear, adding that Una is a star student, both in academics and sports.
“I do not have a shadow teacher and manage things on my own, with a lot of love and support from my teachers, parents and friends,” said Una.
“Dubai is incredible for someone like me who has to mask a lot, yet every detail is picked up. Today, thanks to the confidence I have been instilled with, I can lead public talks and do assemblies. I have given 36 speeches so far this year,” said Una with pride.
Although Una represented Ireland in netball, basketball and county football, she said she realised her full potential not only as an athlete, but also as an academic here in Dubai.
She said the gains she had made in Dubai from 2016 till the pandemic were regretfully lost when she went to Belfast during COVID-19. “She struggled to cope and felt very isolated. I remember sitting with her in a room during the lunch breaks at school as she had no company,” said Erin. “But look at her now, she is a completely different person.”
She recalled how Una only her grandparents over for her last birthday in Ireland. Whereas on April 8 this year, she shared her special day with a room full of understanding friends.
Lending a helping hand
Una’s journey as an empowered autistic girl has spurred her to counsel students of determination. Today, she plays a big role providing valuable inputs to an inclusive parenting group that meets over “coffee and care”.
Craig said, “There are a lot of high-functioning autistic kids out there but neither they nor their parents know how to tap their potential. We just wanted to share what we know and hope it can be of help.”
Emear said, “We will be eternally grateful to WSO and Dubai for enabling Una to thrive, as towards the end of her two years in the UK, she was clinically depressed, had no friends, was refusing school and her hair was falling out. Her future looked very uncertain as the response was that she wouldn’t complete any qualifications or be able to function in society without full time support.”
With emotional and academic support in place since returning to Dubai, Una has played on eight sports teams, made lots of friends, raised awareness for inclusion, has full attendance in school and is a straight A student with lots of amazing prospects for her future which she plans to spend in the UAE.
Eimear said she has joined with a fellow WSO inclusion student Philo Gereis who has Autism and ADHD to speak at events and trainings to share their stories, spread awareness and promote acceptance of neurodiversity in the UAE. They hope to work with other schools and businesses in Dubai too.
"As inclusion teachers at WSO, Craig and I hope to provide support to parents, siblings, nannies and families in their inclusion journeys through initiatives such as our ‘Coffee & Care’ groups and the WSO Parenting Academy which we are launching this year as having a neurodiverse child impacts the whole family," she added.
