Sector for disabled struggles to cope

Dubai: Organisations and professionals working in the special needs sector say that the lack of a support system in key institutions along with the absence of specialised human resources are the main obstacles to providing services to people with special needs in the UAE.

An apparent lack of support systems in schools and an absence of set criteria for identifying various types of disabilities are hindering the formation of early intervention strategies, according to professionals working in the field.

According to Takamul - a Dubai-based initiative to integrate people with special needs - there are around 37 private and public special needs centres in the country.

However, currently specialised special needs centres only cater to a fraction of the UAE's cases, and some people with severe disabilities are placed in hospital care.

According to Mariam Al Roumi, Minister of Social Affairs, around six to eight per cent of the UAE's population have some form of disability.

However, according to 2004-05 statistics issued by the Ministry of Social Affairs only around 3,129 people were enrolled in special needs centres.

Professionals working in the special needs sector cite a lack of qualified staff in the field as one of the main problems.

"The country needs to understand that centres struggle because of the shortage of specialists catering for a growing number of people with special needs," said Fatima Al Ka'abi, a Social Specialist in the Social Services Department at Manzil Centre for Challenged Individuals.

Abu Dhabi Autism Centre Principal Amwal Ahmad Abdul Karim stressed the problem of integration, saying that her centre has only managed to integrate four of the centre's pupils into public and private schools.

"The certificates issued at our centre are unfortunately not accredited by the Ministry of Education (MoE), thus making it difficult for us to integrate them," she said. September 2007 will witness the inclusion of special needs programmes in public schools.

However, this is not an easy task, said Dr Haider Al Yousuf, Executive Director of Takamul, given the need for specialised teacher-training, as well as for buildings to be customised to suit the needs of the new pupils.

Among the possible solutions is to hire teacher assistants, therapists and social and psychological counsellors in every school to facilitate the integration process, said Aysha Al Jalahima, Manager of the Special Needs Department at the Ministry of Education.

However, according to MoE statistics, around 90 per cent of private schools lack social and psychological counsellors.

As for public schools, the ministry is currently short of 90 school counsellors to respond to the growing behavioural and learning difficulties in public schools, said Sana Abdul Adim, a psychological welfare supervisor at the ministry.

Resources of many non-governmental centres are also being stretched, with some highlighting the limited number of special needs cases that they can handle.

The issue is not only about a lack of human resources, but the absence of a clear strategy among all centres and concerned ministries, said Nadia Al Sayegh, General Manager of Senses Residential and Day Care Centre for Special Needs.

Ghaida Al Naji, a supervisor at the centre, said Senses is the only centre in the Gulf region that has residential accommodation for people with severe disabilities.

Currently the centre accommodates 23 special needs patients, with at least 50 to 70 on the waiting list.

Where to turn, wonder parents

Emirati and expatriate parents share a concern over the lack of institutions to diagnose their disabled children and to find appropriate schools to accept them.

The parent of Hareb Al Badwi said: "For months I searched for schools to register my son who has autism, but all schools refused to accept him after learning of his illness and hearing the stutter in his voice. And most public schools I visited said they closed their private education classes."

Umm Aysha, a mother of a nine-year-old girl, also voiced her frustration over the inadequacy of schools in handling kids with special needs.

Her daughter has a learning disability and was shifted from one school to another because her situation failed to improve.

"I placed my child in different public schools and faced many difficulties in the past four years. Not a single school or centre would help in diagnosing my child. Only through my sole persistence and efforts in taking her from one medical and psychological counsellor to another was I able to learn how to understand her disability," she said.

One public school, she said, took pity on her child and gave her the examination paper to solve at home along with other class work.

"My daughter would come home from school saying ‘Why do teachers say that I am an excellent student when I'm not, I know I'm not'," the concerned mother said.

She said another public school had placed a specialised teacher in a special education class two months after the beginning of the academic year, leaving pupils with special needs far behind in their academic and skills development.

To make matters worse, she said, the teacher worked for only one month and then left the school for "unknown reasons".

At the present time, the girl attends a public school and takes classes with the rest of her classmates but also attends additional lessons at a special needs centre to help advance her academic performance.

Have your say
What level of success do you expect can be achieved in integrating people with special needs into mainstream? How can the lack of human resources to help people be overcome? Do you believe enough is being done? Tell us at letter2editor@gulfnews.com or send us your comments below.