DUBAI // Educators from Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah gathered this week to share their experiences and expertise in teaching children with special needs and learning difficulties.
The Special Educational Needs Coordinators Network (Senco) aims to offer teachers a support network, and to bring the issue of special needs and inclusive education to the attention of policymakers.
Kathy Hoopman, who has a child with Asperger Syndrome and has written books on the topic, addressed a group of 75 teachers from 50 schools on Wednesday.
“For parents, it can be frustrating when they realise what is needed [to deal with such conditions], especially here in Dubai,” she said. “It has got better, but 10 years ago there just weren’t services people needed.”
Michael Clack, the head of Raffles International School, the event’s host, said: “I don’t think we have enough opportunity to come together with fellow professionals and share our experiences, so this is very welcome.” Of the 1,950 pupils at Raffles International, 29 had special needs and another about 60 pupils had learning difficulties.
Mr Clack said the school had three specialist teachers, whose job it was to help train the rest of the staff. “Every year we provide specialist training for all teachers,” he said.
He, however, said there was much to be done on the issue of inclusive education.
“We’re heading in the right direction, but there is a lot more that can be done here. A good first step is what is happening now, with groups like this providing the support, training to teachers. But the next thing is to educate the parents because they are crying out for support.”
Lara Alsasen, a special needs teacher from the newly-opened Ontario International Canadian School, and one of the founding members of Senco, said she felt isolated when she arrived in the UAE in August.
“I felt like a deer in the headlights,” she said. “I didn’t know what existed for students and I wanted to know what was going on here. And looking at how many people we have here, it is clear we really need this.
“When you’re in your own school it can be quite small, and you need to bounce ideas off each other.”
Rethah Al Mousawi, an Emirati whose six-year-old son Abdullah has Asperger syndrome, said there had been many challenges over the years to get the right kind of support as a parent, although things were changing.
“The Dubai Autism Centre really shows the government is putting its support behind this,” he said. “In the UAE in general, things have changed in the past 10 years. Before, when a child was diagnosed with autism, you would try to get a therapist to come and work with your child at home, but this has started to change.”
mswan@thenational.ae
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
Stree
Producer: Maddock Films, Jio Movies
Director: Amar Kaushik
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, Aparshakti Khurana, Abhishek Banerjee
Rating: 3.5
Volunteers offer workers a lifeline
Community volunteers have swung into action delivering food packages and toiletries to the men.
When provisions are distributed, the men line up in long queues for packets of rice, flour, sugar, salt, pulses, milk, biscuits, shaving kits, soap and telecom cards.
Volunteers from St Mary’s Catholic Church said some workers came to the church to pray for their families and ask for assistance.
Boxes packed with essential food items were distributed to workers in the Dubai Investments Park and Ras Al Khaimah camps last week. Workers at the Sonapur camp asked for Dh1,600 towards their gas bill.
“Especially in this year of tolerance we consider ourselves privileged to be able to lend a helping hand to our needy brothers in the Actco camp," Father Lennie Connully, parish priest of St Mary’s.
Workers spoke of their helplessness, seeing children’s marriages cancelled because of lack of money going home. Others told of their misery of being unable to return home when a parent died.
“More than daily food, they are worried about not sending money home for their family,” said Kusum Dutta, a volunteer who works with the Indian consulate.
Babumoshai Bandookbaaz
Director: Kushan Nandy
Starring: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Bidita Bag, Jatin Goswami
Three stars
MATCH INFO
Delhi Daredevils 174-4 (20 ovs)
Mumbai Indians 163 (19.3 ovs)
Delhi won the match by 11 runs
Test squad: Azhar Ali (captain), Abid Ali, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Haris Sohail, Imam-ul-Haq, Imran Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Kashif Bhatti, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan(wicketkeeper), Musa Khan, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Shan Masood, Yasir Shah
Twenty20 squad: Babar Azam (captain), Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Sohail, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Imam-ul-Haq, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Musa Khan, Shadab Khan, Usman Qadir, Wahab Riaz
Reading List
Practitioners of mindful eating recommend the following books to get you started:
Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life by Thich Nhat Hanh and Dr Lilian Cheung
How to Eat by Thich Nhat Hanh
The Mindful Diet by Dr Ruth Wolever
Mindful Eating by Dr Jan Bays
How to Raise a Mindful Eaterby Maryann Jacobsen
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