popu specail FINAL

Course Learning Outcomes

  • By the end of this course, students will demonstrate an understanding of different kinds of disabilities among affected groups and the experience of disability by these special needs' groups.

  • Upon completion of this course, it is expected that students will be able to:

    • Describe the prevalence, incidence, and origin (causes) of common disabilities throughout the life span.

    • Describe currently used interventions in the treatment of children with developmental disorders.

    • Analyze social welfare services for people with disability in the UAE and how these services are structured and delivered in the UAE.

    • Demonstrate the use of an ecosystems perspective as the theoretical model for engaging with special needs clients and their families.

Recap: Developmental Surveillance

  • Key to early identification and treatment.

  • Includes:

    • Developmental monitoring: Professionals, parents, and significant others observe the child over time to make informed judgments.

    • Developmental screening: Professionals (teachers, healthcare providers) use standardized screening tools.

    • Developmental evaluation: Professionals (pediatricians, clinical psychologists, language therapists) identify developmental delays and conditions.

    • Childhood Development Disorder

Focus for the week: Childhood Developmental Disorders

  • Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

  • Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

ADHD Prevalence (UAE)

  • Estimated paediatric prevalence of 4-5% in the UAE.

ADHD Overview

  • Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a childhood disorder characterized by a repeated pattern of:

    • Inattention (difficulty sustaining attention)

    • Hyperactivity (constant motion without goal)

    • Impulsivity (interrupts others)

  • Defined by two symptom dimensions:

    • Inattentive

    • Hyperactive-impulsive

    • Each consisting of nine symptoms

  • Symptoms are usually noticeable before age 6, sometimes as early as 3.

  • More often diagnosed in boys than girls.

  • Girls are more likely to have inattentiveness symptoms and less disruptive behavior.

Causes of ADHD

  • Genetic influences (ranging from 60% to 90%)

  • Neurobiological condition.

  • Other reasons: environmental risk, substance abuse during pregnancy.

  • Complex to determine.

  • People more at risk include those:

    • Born prematurely (before the 37th week of pregnancy) or with a low birthweight

    • With epilepsy

    • With brain damage (in the womb or after a severe head injury later in life)

Symptoms of ADHD: Inattentive (DSM 5)

  • Present for at least 6 months

    • Often does not give close attention to details or makes careless mistakes in schoolwork, work, or other activities.

    • Often has trouble keeping attention on tasks or play activities.

    • Often does not seem to listen when spoken to directly.

    • Often does not follow instructions and fails to finish schoolwork, chores, or duties in the workplace (not due to oppositional behavior or failure to understand instructions).

    • Often has trouble organizing activities.

    • Often avoids, dislikes, or does not want to do things that take a lot of mental effort for a long period of time (such as schoolwork or homework).

    • Often loses things needed for tasks and activities (e.g., toys, school assignments, pencils, books, or tools).

    • Is often easily distracted.

    • Is often forgetful in daily activities.

Symptoms of ADHD: Hyperactive and Impulsive (DSM 5)

  • Present for at least 6 months

    • Being unable to sit still, especially in calm or quiet surroundings

    • Constantly fidgeting (make movements of hands and feet, show impatience or nervousness)

    • Being unable to concentrate on tasks

    • Excessive physical movement

    • Excessive talking

    • Being unable to wait their turn

    • Acting without thinking

    • Interrupting conversations

    • Little or no sense of danger

ADHD Diagnosis

  • Refer to DSM 5 for diagnostic criteria:

    • Six or more symptoms of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity for children up to age 16 years, OR

    • Five or more symptoms of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity for adolescents ages 17 years and older and adults.

  • Several symptoms present in two or more settings, such as at home, school, with friends and relatives or at work.

  • An expert will do the formal diagnosis based on the symptoms, the onset of symptoms, where it occurs, the frequency, the variation of frequency in recent time, how it affects everyday life, family history of ADHD, any significant life events or health related problems that happened in recent time, and any other symptoms or problems co-related to ADHD…

ADHD Management

  • For children with ADHD, although there's no cure, it can be managed with:

    • Appropriate educational support

    • Behavior therapy

    • Advice and support for parents and affected children

    • Medicine, if necessary

    • Early intervention is key

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Overview

  • Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is the term used to describe the broad range of pervasive developmental disorders, including:

    • Autistic disorder

    • Asperger Syndrome

    • Rett disorder

    • Childhood Disintegrative Disorder

    • Pervasive Developmental Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS).

  • People with ASD may behave, communicate, interact, and learn in ways that are different from most other people.
    *Note: Rett disorder and Childhood disintegrative disorder were included in DSM 4, but removed from DSM 5.

ASD Characteristics

  • People with ASD often have problems with social communication and interaction, and restricted or repetitive behaviors or interests.

  • The symptoms of ASD can be noticeable at the age of 2 years and can last throughout a person’s life, although symptoms may improve over time.

Causes of ASD

  • ASD is a developmental disability caused by differences in the brain – a neurological and developmental disorder.

  • Individuals diagnosed with ASD are characterized by heterogeneity in terms of their symptom profiles – genetic as well as environmental – and severity of impairments.

Symptoms of ASD: Social Interaction

  • Impairments in social interaction can include a general lack of interest in others, a lack of affective sharing, and poor peer relationships, among others.

  • Some children with ASD may appear disinterested or disconnected from their peers or their caregivers, whereas others may seek others out for interaction but do so in an odd or awkward manner.

  • Specific signs of social impairment include lack of eye contact with others, restricted range of facial expressions or facial expressions that are not appropriate to the situation, lack of seeking to share enjoyment with others, lack of showing and directing attention to things that are of interest (also referred to as ‘joint attention’), and difficulty initiating social interactions and establishing peer relationships…

Symptoms of ASD: Communication

  • Communication impairments include delay in language without use of gestures or other nonverbal forms of communication to compensate.

  • Unlike children with autism and those with PDD-NOS, children with Asperger Syndrome do not show significant delays in spoken language, although significant impairments in social use of language are present.

  • Although many children with ASD (about 70%) do develop at least some spoken language, the quality of their speech is often atypical.

  • For example, some children with ASD demonstrate stereotyped use of language, such as repeating lines from videos, repeating phrases they have heard others say, or using odd phrases.

  • The rate, rhythm, or volume can also be atypical…

Symptoms of ASD: Behaviors and Interests

  • The third category of impairments includes restrictive, repetitive, and stereotyped behaviors and interests.

  • These can be motor stereotypies, such as hand and finger mannerisms and complicated whole-body movements, such as rocking back and forth and spinning in circles.

  • Symptoms in this domain also include preoccupations, a restricted range of interests, and sensory interests.

  • For example, some children with ASD may engage in prolonged visual examination (e.g., of themselves in the mirror or of objects near them), peering at things out of the corner of their eyes, repetitive feeling of textures, touching, sniffing, biting, and sensitivity to sounds or lights.

  • Other children may use objects in a repetitive manner (e.g., lining toys up, spinning the wheels of a toy car), rather than using the objects or toys flexibly or as they are intended to be used.

  • Some individuals with ASD also engage in specific rituals in routines, which can include exact placement of objects or arrangement of items, as well as following a certain sequence of actions that must be performed in a particular order or will result in anxiety (e.g., touching the doorknob every time he or she leaves a room).

  • Also, many individuals with ASD have intense interests that can take up much of their time… For example, a child with ASD may have a particular interest in trains or cameras and spend a large proportion of time playing with these items, talking about them, and possess a high degree of factual knowledge about them.

  • Such interests can interfere with engaging in other more functional or prosocial behaviors.

DSM 5 Diagnostic Criteria For ASD

  • All four criteria, A, B, C, and D must be met for a diagnosis of ASD to be made.

A. Persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts, as manifested by all three of the following, currently or by history:
1.  Deficits in social-emotional reciprocity, ranging, for example, from abnormal social approach and failure of normal back-and-forth conversation, to reduced sharing of interests, emotions or affect, to failure to initiate or respond to social interactions.
2.  Deficits in nonverbal communicative behaviors used for social interaction, ranging, for example, from poorly integrated verbal and nonverbal communication; to abnormalities in eye contact and body language or deficits in understanding and use of gestures; to a total lack of facial expressions and nonverbal communication.
3.  Deficits in developing, maintaining, and understanding relationships, ranging, for example, from difficulties adjusting behavior to suit various social contexts; to difficulties in sharing imaginative play or in making friends; to absence of interest in peers.
B. Restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities as manifested by at least two of the following:
1.  Stereotyped or repetitive speech, motor movements, or use of objects (such as simple motor stereotypies, echolalia, repetitive use of objects, or idiosyncratic phrases).
2.  Excessive adherence to routines, ritualized patterns of verbal or nonverbal behavior, or excessive resistance to change (such as motoric rituals, insistence on same route or food, repetitive questioning or extreme distress at small changes).
3.  Highly restricted, fixated interests that are abnormal in intensity or focus (such as strong attachment to or preoccupation with unusual objects, excessively circumscribed or perseverative interests).
4.  Hyper- or hypo-reactivity to sensory input or unusual interest in sensory aspects of environment (such as apparent indifference to pain/heat/cold, adverse response to specific sounds or textures, excessive smelling or touching of objects, fascination with lights or spinning objects).
C. Symptoms must be present in early childhood (but may not become fully manifest until social demands exceed limited capacities).
D. Symptoms together limit and impair everyday functioning.

ASD Diagnosis and Intervention

  • As the age of diagnosis becomes increasingly younger, children with ASD will have the opportunity to receive effective behavioral and psychosocial intervention in the early years of life, hopefully leading to improvement in functioning and preventative methods for the development of the disorder…
    *There is no ‘cure’ for autism…
    *behavioral intervention can improve a child’s level of functioning, quality of life, and prognosis.
    *Understanding the strengths and needs of the child is crucial for support and treatment…

Focus for the week: Childhood Developmental Disorders

  • Down’s Syndrome

  • Dyslexia

Down Syndrome (DS)

  • Down Syndrome is a Genetic Condition in which a Person has an Extra Chromosome.

  • People with Down Syndrome commonly have 47 Chromosomes in their Cells instead of 46
    *Down Syndrome (DS) or Trisomy 21 is characterized by the presence of an extra full or partial copy of chromosome 21.
    *But the reason is still unknown to the researchers.
    *Children with DS experience delays in achieving the developmental milestones – cognitive, social and emotional, physical and motor, language and communication and deficit in adaptive functioning…. People with DS are traditionally characterised by a diagnosis with an intellectual disability and demonstrate a developmental delay…

Types of Down Syndrome

  • Trisomy 21 (95% of cases) – Each cell has 47 cells.

  • Translocation (4% of cases) – An extra or division of chromosome 21 attaches to other chromosome, especially with 14.

  • Mosaic (1% of cases) – Some cells have the extra chromosome, while others do not.

Effects of Down Syndrome

  • Most will have mild to moderate learning disabilities, and some may have more complex needs.

  • Symptoms of DS include mental retardation, short stature and obese, distinctive facial characteristics….

  • People with DS can experience a number of health issues such as increased risk for heart defects, thyroid gland growth, and digestive problems, which can range from mild to severe… so they need regular health monitoring in the formative years…

  • In most cases, children with DS will continue to show a delayed or deviant pathway of development between their chronological and developmental ages throughout their lives, in terms of play, attachment, problem solving, processing information, language acquisition and so on…

IQ and Life Expectancy

  • The great majority of individuals with DS show intellectual disability ranging from mild to severe, with a mean Intelligence Quotient (IQ) of 50 and a mental age that rarely exceeds 8 years of age.

  • Down's syndrome is not a life-limiting condition.
    *People with the condition can lead active, healthy and fairly independent lives into their 60's, 70's and beyond.
    *The society and government will have to increase opportunities and support in education, work and housing for people with Down’s Syndrome.
    *So that people with Down’s Syndrome can live healthy and fulfilling lives as part of their families and communities.

Dyslexia Definition

  • The word dyslexia comes from the Greek ‘dys’ meaning difficulty with and ‘lexia’ meaning words or language.

  • An unexpected, or surprising difficulty in learning to read, write and spell – A Framework for Understanding Dyslexia, (DfES, 2004)

  • Dyslexia is a learning difficulty that primarily affects the skills involved in accurate and fluent word reading and spelling."

Dyslexia Explained…

  • Dyslexia is a specific learning difficulty that mainly affects reading and spelling but can also affect other skills such as writing, spoken language and numeracy.

  • Learners might have normal or good skills in most areas of thinking, learning and problem- solving, but specific weaknesses in other areas.

  • Dyslexia affects information-processing (receiving, holding, retrieving and structuring information) and the speed of information-processing which affects all types of processing (visual, auditory and motor) and thus learning.
    *Dyslexia is not related to intelligence and can occur across the ability range; it is sometimes more difficult to detect in learners with additional learning difficulties.

Signs of Dyslexia

A person with dyslexia may:

  • Read and write very slowly

  • Confuse the order of letters in words

  • Be confused by letters that look similar and write letters the wrong way round (such as "b" and "d")

  • Have poor or inconsistent spelling

  • Understand information when told verbally, but have difficulty with information that's written down

  • Find it hard to carry out a sequence of directions

  • Struggle with planning and organization

Dyslexia Diagnosis

  • Dyslexia is life-long, and it can occur in severe, moderate or mild forms.

  • Some people with dyslexia can feel undervalued and unfulfilled if they can’t access the same opportunities as those who are not dyslexic.
    First Step: To speak to the teacher or the school's special educational needs coordinator.
    Next Step: If the child continues to have problems despite extra support, it is better to consider requesting an in- depth assessment from a specialist in assessing specific learning difficulties…

The Professional Understanding

  • Living with disability appears consistent with certain experiences that are grounded in the concepts of attachment, resilience, and change….
    *Remember that living with a disabled child creates an identity with disability for all family members…

Attachment (of the child)

  • The child will develop ‘attachment’ towards a caring individual, in most cases, it is the ‘mother’ in the early years…

  • Influenced by John Bowlby, Mary Ainsworth further developed different attachment styles of children in ‘strange situation’.
    *Various scholars later developed work on attachment in the adult life.

Attachment and Disability

*Consider how disability can affect attachment, events such as hospitalization, the burden of caregiving, difficulties with establishing or maintaining relationships, communication barriers, lack of understanding and assistive service, stigma and so on…
*A child with good attachment experiences would be good at forming relationships… it is also linked with the ability to cope with changing situations, ability to manage difficulties, and the ability to overcome adversity… it will produce the coping mechanism needed to deal with difficulties in life…
*On the other hand, people with lack of attachment may develop defense mechanisms such as high anxiety, poor impulse control, a lack of positive self-esteem, low levels of trust, confused thought and expressive problems…

Defence Mechanisms

  • Defence mechanisms are a form of avoidance, an unconscious handling of the stressful event that undesired change bring about… defence mechanism enable us to have time to readjust to a difficult reality…

  • The varying form include the following:

    • Denial – an avoidance of the reality that any change has taken place or that any difficulties exist…

    • Displacement – finding another outlet for an intense emotion by redirecting that emotional energy into a different activity…

    • Reaction formation – acting in a manner that is opposite of the emotion felt…

    • Projection – a way of shifting blame onto others….

    • Rationalization – finding an explanation or justification for an event (which may or may not be logical). It is about explaining an event in a way that seems more acceptable or reasonable…

Resilience

  • The capacity to deal with uncertainty is assisted by resilience… resilience is a ‘normal development under difficult conditions’… it is the ability or capacity to manage adversity – ability to thrive in challenging situations…

  • All people have the capacity to adapt to different circumstances although individual differences in vulnerability and resilience influence the degree of adaptation that is possible…
    A combination of difficult and supportive experiences develops resilience…
    *Resilience can be learned, but it requires an earlier experiences of attachment, if the child is to develop the capacity to deal with difficulties and finds some form of resolution to such difficulties…

Change

  • Research shows that major changes induce stress because new experiences are often associated with challenge, uncertainty, and fear of the unknown…
    *It is normal to experience an increase in stress when unexpected events are encountered…
    *At times, change can bring about positive (adaptative) identity – feeling good about oneself – an identity acquired as a disabled person should involve an acceptance and public affirmation of self – think of the social model – integration and acceptance of people within the community…
    *Change enables the process of adjustment to be accomplished: Resilience is the capacity to make such an adjustment a positive experience…

A Child-Centered Practice Framework

*A framework focused on children with disabilities places them at the heart of decision- making and service provision.
*This framework emphasizes children’s rights, needs, preferences, and well-being, acknowledging their strengths, uniqueness, and potential.
*This ensures that children have a say in decisions that impact them, highlighting empowerment, inclusion, and tailored support to help them flourish.
*Identifying the location of the child in the needs framework or biopsychosocial model should help the professional to identify a way forward for appropriate intervention…
*Note: children with disabilities are more likely to be abused than the normal children due to additional stress on families and a tendency to over-react, so we need to be mindful of the child protection issues too (Burke, 2008).

Possible Needs of the Child:

1.  Self-advocacy – developing coping mechanisms, adaptative identity and recognition from society…
2.  Support – may seek help and guidance to overcome the adverse situation…
3.  Prevent strategy – the child to be removed from the abusive environment…
4.  Empowerment – over protected child yet vulnerable, so reduce the vulnerability and enable greater freedom, choice and new experiences…

The Biopsychosocial Model of Disability

  • It combines the medical and social models, recognizing the importance of both biological (medical) and social (environmental) factors in disability.

  • Disability and its social context – locating the individual and his/her interdependence with other systems in the environment which exist as both sources of trouble and sources of strength….

The Ecosystems Approach

  • Microsystem: The person with disability and the family – beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours as well as the family’s socio-economic conditions…

  • Mesosystem: The individuals, groups, and organisations with which the individual/family must deal directly….

  • Exosystem: The system with which the person with disability may never have to deal directly but which nevertheless can influence his/her wellbeing (e.g., parents’ friends, parent’s workplace, mass media, local government)….

  • Macrosystem: The socio-economic-cultural and the religious-political contexts of everyday life and how they may affect the wellbeing (e.g. social norms, welfare services, policy and programmes, legal framework and so on)….

The Use of Eco-Map and Genogram

  • Eco-map is useful to identify the relationships and resources for social work intervention…
    *It is also useful to understand the person/family in a wider context and how it affects (support/limit) their everyday functioning and wellbeing…
    *Similarly, the genogram is used to map an individual's relationships in the family to gain a deeper understanding of the family dynamics, struggles, and patterns of behavior in order to work out a possible social work intervention… It is also useful to get insights about major events and timelines…

Support for Early Life Transition

  • Parental/family support is vital for children with disabilities

  • Understanding the needs of a disabled child is significant

  • Remember: every disabled child’s needs and experiences can be different

  • Remember: every family’s resources and support system can be different too

Support Services

  • Child sitter service (with a specialist knowledge)

  • Disability fostering (looking after a child in a new family/fostering setting)

  • Respite care (away from the family home)

  • Palliative and Hospice care (care and support for serious illness and life-shortening condition)

Assistive Technology

  • Physical devices and technology that helps an individual’s functioning, thus enabling their health, wellbeing, inclusion and participation (WHO)…

Why Diagnosis?

  • To determine the nature of the problem

  • For appropriate education and intervention

  • Help parents to make sense of the problem

  • Guide parents’ hope and expectations for their child

  • Share problems and learn from others

  • Reduce misunderstanding from others (e.g. rude, weird)

  • Reduce frustration and stress resulting from misinterpretation

  • For welfare services, special treatment, and reasonable accommodation

  • For further research and professional intervention (e.g. double empathy problem in autism)

Diagnostic Criteria

  • Refer to week 4 and 5 (also DSM 5 for diagnostic criteria, description, specifiers and corelates).

Current Treatment/Intervention

  • Evidence-based Comprehensive Treatment Models (CTM)

  • Physical (medical)

  • Non-evidence based

  • Focused Intervention Practices (FIPs)

  • Non-physical treatment (psycho-social and educational interventions)

  • Should consider the appropriateness of treatment for the age group (early years, young children, teens, adults)…

  • Where, by whom, and how the treatment is carried out…

  • The cost of treatment…

Current Interventions in Practice

  • Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) – based on the principles of behaviourist learning theory, especially for Autism

    1. Accurate observation of behaviour

    2. Understanding of immediate cause(s) of behaviour

    3. Replace maladaptive behaviour with adaptive behaviour (with rewards and manipulations)

  • Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) – a highly structured, focused intervention practice – its effective for managing emotions, anxiety and problem-solving…

  • Functional Communication Training (FCT) – mainly to treat problem behaviours in non- verbal individuals…

  • Sensory Therapies – different types such as hydro, physio, light, sound, music, rebound and so on

  • Speech, Art, Play Therapies – for communication, emotional expression, and social skills…

Current Interventions in Practice

  • Occupation Therapy – For self-care, fine-motor skills and sensory integration.

  • Behavioural Parent Training (BPT) – Teaches parents more systematic and effective of coping with their child’s ADHD symptoms associated disruptive behaviour problems , such as building a positive parent-child relationship, encouraging appropriate child behaviour with incentive systems (positive reinforcement to increase desired behaviours), and implementing appropriate and consistent consequences for child misbaviour…
    *Skills Training - Daily routines, motivation and focus – organize the environment, positivity, active ignorance, labelled praise, special parent-child time, and social coaching for ADHD…

What are Wraparound Services?

  • It is a comprehensive, team-based approach to provide individualized support for children with disabilities and their families with complex needs…

  • Unlike other models of care, the wraparound service model embraces each client’s unique strengths, needs, and natural support systems….

  • It is strengths-based…
    *It creates a customized, intensive, and individualized care plans that are delivered in a structured team-based framework.
    *Wraparound services include diagnostic and treatment services, personal support services and other supports necessary for the client.

More on Wraparound Services

The professionals and the people having a strong bond with the client work together to give a ‘voice and choice’ to the client and his/her family…
It is important to make connections across different systems to build an effective plan.
Every child and family is different, and have unique strengths…
Outcomes improve when the families and individuals are involved in the process…

Four Phases of Wraparound

  1. Engagement & Team Preparation

  2. Initial Plan Development

  3. Implementation

  4. Transition

Core Principles of Wraparound Services

  • Family voice and choice

  • Team-based planning

  • Use of natural supports

  • Community- based

  • Culturally competent

  • Strengths based
    *Collaboration
    *Individualized
    *Unconditional care
    *Outcomes based

The Role of Social Worker

  • Involve the persons in Person-Centered Plans (planned change process)…

  • Maximise the person’s involvement in exploring and expanding the range of options and choices…

  • Identifying the gaps in current service provision, mobalising resources, and developing new services, if required…

  • Prepares the person to be more effective in dealings with professionals and agencies that often do not understand nor appreciate their need for self-determination…

The Role of Social Worker

*Facilitating access to service provision and encouraging independent living…
*Different therapeutic methods can be used based on the needs of the person with disabilities…
*Develop strong networks of family, friends and community, as well as the tools to be self-reliant and prepared to meet life’s challenges.

School Social Workers

*School Social Workers are trained mental health professionals with a degree in social work who provide services related to a person's social, emotional and life adjustment to school and/or society.
*School Social Workers are the link between the home, school and community in providing direct as well as indirect services to students, families and school personnel to promote and support students' academic and social success.
*As part of an interdisciplinary team to help students succeed, school social workers also facilitate community involvement in the schools while advocating for student success.

Disability Social Worker’s Role

Knowledge about disability and developmental disorders (working knowledge of various types of disability and assessments for diagnosis – developmental screening, IQ test, achievement test, and so on)
*Informal assessment can be done by frontline service providers, including social workers and teachers, or parents by looking at the checklists or characteristics associated with developmental disorders… But the formal assessment must be done by a pediatrician/psychiatrist/child psychologist by using standardized tools and tests in order to accurately diagnose the problem…

Understanding Special Educational Needs

Key events at the global level…

  • The United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC, 1989), especially articles 12 and 13, which says that children’s opinion should be considered according to their age, maturity and capabilities in decision making…

  • The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol (CRPD, 2006) which focusses on the social model of disability, removal of stigma, social inclusion, development, and recognition.

Key events at the national level (UAE)

  • UAE ratified CRPD in November 2006 to reaffirm its commitment to strongly support people of determination in education and learning services.

  • Federal Law No. 29 of 2006 is the first law in the UAE to protect the rights of people of determination.

  • The National Policy for Empowering People of Determination which aims to create inclusive society with its focus on six pillars.

  • National Strategy for Empowering People with Disabilities (2017) / Strategic Plan for the Rights of Children with Disabilities 2017-2021.
    *Ministerial Resolution No. 647 for the year 2020 on the policy of inclusive education which directs government schools to provide best education services to PoD.

Interventions at School

  • Assist with the creation of Individualised Education Program (IEP) with the help of other professionals for Special Needs
    *Other Support (assess the client’s needs and strengths, identify and provide suitable resources, and make sure the needs are met)
    *Other Support (connect different subsystems such as school, family, service providers, and community for effective service provision)

Individualised Education Program (IEP)

  • An Individualized Education Program (IEP) is developed to ensure that a child with an identified disability who is attending a school receives specialized instruction and related services.
    *The IEP is developed by a team of individuals from various educational disciplines (experts), the child with a disability, family members, and/or designated advocates.

IEP Components

1. Special Educational Needs

  • How it is designed to suit the child’s needs, e.g., separate instruction time, one-on-one assistance, and training for teachers for effective support.

2. Current Skill Level

  • Assessing the child's present levels of educational performance and skills in all areas of concern.

3. Annual Goals

  • Measurable annual goals and objectives for the child's education. Depending on what challenges the child faces, goals can relate to academic performance, behavior, improving their physical mobility in navigating between classes, and more.

IEP Additional Components

1. Progress tracking

  • How the child’s progress is measured, by testing or feedback – the way the evaluation is carried out and informed to the parents.

2. Duration and frequency of services

  • All related services for which the child qualifies must be clearly mentioned.

3. Appropriate Accommodation

  • Appropriate educational accommodations necessary for the child to be successful. E.g., wheelchair access, extra time during the test, distraction-free rooms and so on.

IEP Final Components

1. Inclusion in mainstream classroom

  • The IEP must specify the involvement and progress of the child with a disability in the mainstream classroom, whenever it is appropriate (creating a least restrictive environment).

2. Transitional goals

  • Transitional goals and services, if possible (from school to job or another programme)

National Policies, Services, and Federal Laws

  • Federal Law No. 2 of 2001 for financial assistance

  • The National Policy for Empowering People of Determination
    *Federal Law No. 29 of 2006 Concerning the Rights of People with Disabilities (amended in 2009, Law No. 14) – the right to live with dignity
    *The Policy to Protect People of Determination from Abuse (2019)
    *Note: There are initiatives at the Emirates level too. For example, Dubai Disability Strategy (2020) to make the city disability-friendly, and Dubai Inclusive Education Policy Framework (2017) with its focus on quality inclusive services.

The National Policy for Empowering People of Determination

*The policy aims to create an inclusive society for them and their families, through services and facilities that accommodate their needs.
*Referring to people with special needs or disabilities as ‘the people of determination’
*Assigning an official (the Service Officer for People of Determination ) at every government institution that will be responsible for facilitating services for people with special needs.
*Setting up an advisory council which will consist of federal and local government entities and members of society who will provide their advice for achieving the goals of the national policy .

Pillars and Vision

*An integrated community, free from barriers, which empowers people of determination and guarantees their right to a dignified life… Vision
*Empowering people of determination and their families through setting policies and innovating services that allow them to enjoy a high quality of life Mission
*Achieving Social Inclusion
*Active Participation
*Enhancing Equal Opportunities
*Supporting individuals and their families to perform their roles Objectives Six Pillars of the National Policy…

  • Healthcare and rehabilitation

  • Education

  • Vocational rehabilitation and employability

  • Outreach and accessibility

  • Social protection and family empowerment

  • Public, cultural and sports Life

Medical vs Social Model Directive

The UAE National Policy Adopts the
The Social Model of Disability…
Directive is to Transform the
*The Medical Model

  • Patient

  • An unchanged community

  • The disability is the problem of an individual

  • Based on a charity method

  • Focusing on the disability

  • Exclusion

  • Differences in abilities perceived as a weakness
    *Selection process does not pass through people of determination

  • The foundation is the director

  • Specialists are more knowledgeable

  • Treating people of determination.

to a Social Model

  • Member of the community

  • Developing community

  • A disability is the problem of the community

  • Based on rights

  • Focusing on strengths

  • Recognition and integration

  • Differences in abilities perceived as a strength

  • The right to choose and decision making in the hands of people of determination

  • Society is the director

  • Respect the diverse knowledge amongst people
    *Overcoming barriers in the community, amending policies, and modifying behaviors …

Federal Laws

*Federal Law No. 29 of 2006 Concerning the Rights of People with Disabilities, protects the rights of people of determination and guarantees them the right to live with dignity.
*The law defines