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http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&sec...7&m=4&y=2006&pix=kingdom.jpg&category=Kingdom
JEDDAH, 27 April 2006 — Al-Amal Institute for Girls With Hearing Disabilities held a two-day meeting for teachers and education supervisors in contact with students with hearing disabilities with experts in the field of hearing impairment.
The annual meeting, titled “Together for a Better Future,” is held on the occasion of the Deaf Week. It aims at updating the educators’ information and coordinating their efforts with other institutions to help the students with hearing loss.
Supervisors from the Education Administration said that attending such meetings was very beneficial.
“Sometimes the teacher in the class does not see the signs of a disability in one student when there is a large class and assumes that the girl has psychological problems,” said Ghada Al-Keiti.
Ibtisam Shiba agreed and added that as supervisors they have to know the symptoms and guide the student toward appropriate care. However, although girls with hearing problems could graduate from high school, there are no further higher education opportunities yet that they can seek in college. Limited efforts to enroll them in universities in Riyadh and Makkah had some success, but in Jeddah they faced some difficulty due mainly to lack of preparations and facilities. Job opportunities are also rare but some charity organizations and private companies have in recent years provided them with vocational training and employment.
The first day of the meeting on Tuesday featured presentations by Dr. Safa Ibrahim, a hearing specialist at the primary health unit, and by Dr. Nahla Dashash, speech-language pathologist consultant at Jeddah Institute for Speech and Hearing (JISH). Ibrahim spoke about the importance of assistance instruments and media tools in serving the hearing impaired and helping them communicate.
Dr. Dashash talked about a new program developed by the JISH, the first of its kind in the region, for rehabilitating Arab-speaking individuals with hearing and speech disabilities based on auditory, verbal and speech-therapy programs for English speakers. This was followed by the sharing by two mothers of their experiences in handling children with hearing impairments.
Sultana Alireza, who founded JISH, and Dr. Fayza Al-Sini, a pediatrician consultant, spoke from their heart and with all honesty about their shock, denial, guilt, acceptance and coping with first knowing of their children’s disability and consequently trying to help them, especially at a time when there was lack of awareness and facilities. The message they gave is that early diagnosis and intervention is extremely important.
At the JISH there is now an early intervention program for free but the parents have to be involved in every step of the way, which is sometimes unfortunately not the case with some parents. The role of the media in raising awareness about the disabled and their needs was also emphasized.
On the second day yesterday, there were presentations on the medical treatments available for the deaf and the therapies for speech disorders. Foziya Bashatah from King Abdul Aziz University talked about the reality and future of deaf students. She emphasized the need for providing students with a variety of communication skills, especially writing, providing them with the right learning environment and making them independent to take care of themselves.
“We have passed the stage of putting programs and laws for the disabled. We should be in the stage of implementing those laws,” she said.
Discussions revealed frustrations on properly integrating the hearing impaired in society, especially in schools. Six years ago a program was launched to integrate students with limited visual or hearing impairment into regular schools. It is early to evaluate the failure or success of the program, but a presentation on the program showed some of the problems facing the administration in charge whether from the parents, the other children, the faculty or the lack of the needed facilities.
Finally there was an uplifting presentation by the director of the Deaf Ladies Club in Jeddah, Fayza Natto. The club offers women with hearing disabilities a variety of cultural and social programs as well as training in different skills such as hair and makeup, tailoring, art and computing. Some of these women were able to get jobs in hospitals and some private companies.
JEDDAH, 27 April 2006 — Al-Amal Institute for Girls With Hearing Disabilities held a two-day meeting for teachers and education supervisors in contact with students with hearing disabilities with experts in the field of hearing impairment.
The annual meeting, titled “Together for a Better Future,” is held on the occasion of the Deaf Week. It aims at updating the educators’ information and coordinating their efforts with other institutions to help the students with hearing loss.
Supervisors from the Education Administration said that attending such meetings was very beneficial.
“Sometimes the teacher in the class does not see the signs of a disability in one student when there is a large class and assumes that the girl has psychological problems,” said Ghada Al-Keiti.
Ibtisam Shiba agreed and added that as supervisors they have to know the symptoms and guide the student toward appropriate care. However, although girls with hearing problems could graduate from high school, there are no further higher education opportunities yet that they can seek in college. Limited efforts to enroll them in universities in Riyadh and Makkah had some success, but in Jeddah they faced some difficulty due mainly to lack of preparations and facilities. Job opportunities are also rare but some charity organizations and private companies have in recent years provided them with vocational training and employment.
The first day of the meeting on Tuesday featured presentations by Dr. Safa Ibrahim, a hearing specialist at the primary health unit, and by Dr. Nahla Dashash, speech-language pathologist consultant at Jeddah Institute for Speech and Hearing (JISH). Ibrahim spoke about the importance of assistance instruments and media tools in serving the hearing impaired and helping them communicate.
Dr. Dashash talked about a new program developed by the JISH, the first of its kind in the region, for rehabilitating Arab-speaking individuals with hearing and speech disabilities based on auditory, verbal and speech-therapy programs for English speakers. This was followed by the sharing by two mothers of their experiences in handling children with hearing impairments.
Sultana Alireza, who founded JISH, and Dr. Fayza Al-Sini, a pediatrician consultant, spoke from their heart and with all honesty about their shock, denial, guilt, acceptance and coping with first knowing of their children’s disability and consequently trying to help them, especially at a time when there was lack of awareness and facilities. The message they gave is that early diagnosis and intervention is extremely important.
At the JISH there is now an early intervention program for free but the parents have to be involved in every step of the way, which is sometimes unfortunately not the case with some parents. The role of the media in raising awareness about the disabled and their needs was also emphasized.
On the second day yesterday, there were presentations on the medical treatments available for the deaf and the therapies for speech disorders. Foziya Bashatah from King Abdul Aziz University talked about the reality and future of deaf students. She emphasized the need for providing students with a variety of communication skills, especially writing, providing them with the right learning environment and making them independent to take care of themselves.
“We have passed the stage of putting programs and laws for the disabled. We should be in the stage of implementing those laws,” she said.
Discussions revealed frustrations on properly integrating the hearing impaired in society, especially in schools. Six years ago a program was launched to integrate students with limited visual or hearing impairment into regular schools. It is early to evaluate the failure or success of the program, but a presentation on the program showed some of the problems facing the administration in charge whether from the parents, the other children, the faculty or the lack of the needed facilities.
Finally there was an uplifting presentation by the director of the Deaf Ladies Club in Jeddah, Fayza Natto. The club offers women with hearing disabilities a variety of cultural and social programs as well as training in different skills such as hair and makeup, tailoring, art and computing. Some of these women were able to get jobs in hospitals and some private companies.