Takamul issues recommendations to empower people with special needs

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Recommendations

New Born Screening and Early Intervention

o Consolidate efforts and pursue research collaboration in the areas of newborn screening and early intervention in the region with a clear dissemination plan.
o Engage in effective training and education opportunities in order to build local capacity due to the tremendous HR needs in the disability field, such as Speech and language therapy/pathology and special education specialists
o Enable long-term strategic planning and database development for newborn screening in the Arab region.
o Establish follow-up systems for the non-treatable cases identified by newborn screening.
o Establish professional intervention centers in rural communities.
o Establish support services for slow learners.
o Remove cultural barriers and stigma associated with special needs in order to promote inclusion.

Accessibility
• Educate decision makers on the need for universal design and urge them to adapt it all areas of design.
• Engage civil society, people with special needs, and decision makers in the process of promoting accessibility issues and creating an inclusive design.
• Bureaucracy and institutional barriers need to be overcome to place appropriate accessibility guidelines according to international best practices.

Transition and Employment
• Organise a task force to examine different models of transition and employment services for people with special needs.
• Select and utilize specific models for transition with a small set of participating centers or other service providers to understand the dynamics that operate within the UAE.
• Assess individual's interests and match those considerations to potential employers and then support the person while engaging in actual working environments.
• Vocational training should be considered only as a short-term measure to prepare the person to be able to enter employment where certain conditions are essential for entry.
• It is as vital to support the individual with special needs in a social context in addition to job coaching within the working situation.
• Employers will need guidance and assistance as they accept individuals with special needs in their working environments.

Inclusive Education:
• Specific policies and associated practices need to be developed that clarify the development and operation of inclusive education within both public and private schools.
• Rules and other procedures in the Ministry need to be revised in order to ensure private schools can easily include students with special needs into their programs.
• Including individuals with special needs within public and private schools necessitates changes to teaching, learning and assessment practices.
• Specific training will need to be provided to all educators to understand how inclusive education operates and how to change the learning environment to accommodate a variety of learning needs.
• Inclusive education requires specialized support from administrators. All administrators will need to be provided with training and assistance in supporting inclusive education in their schools.
• Physical access to schools is an issue. The Ministry of Education will need to examine each school to determine modifications that are needed to ensure the school is fully accessible.