6th disability conference held

A three-day conference on the need and improvement of quality services for disabled children, with 20 speakers from around the Kingdom and Gulf region, was organized by King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center at Park Hyatt Hotel Jeddah on Sunday.
Apart from improving the services for disabled children, the program was organized with the aim to develop international standard quality services and educational programs for disabled children with the cooperation of the Ministry of Education.
The discussion of the symposium was about the importance of the quality of the services, early diagnosis and interventions, and educational programs for the disabled children in rehabilitation centers, hospitals, schools and at home. Doctors, experts, pathologists, psychologists, teachers, authorities of the Ministry of Education and parents participated in the conference.
“Nothing can be done without quality services; we have to do the things in the right way. A lot of programs have been established for evaluation and revaluation of the services, which will help in the development of quality services in hospitals, rehabilitation centers and the educational system,” said Dr. Heeba Atiya, chairman of the Sixth Children Disability Conference and speech pathologist at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center.
“We need to provide quality services to the disabled children that are equal to international World Health Organization standards. Today we are talking about the norms, their application, and how to train the people and teachers to help in achieving such standards. The role of the parents is equally important,” she added.
King Faisal Specialist Hospital is doing a seven-year educational and training program with cooperation of the Ministry of Education at the early diagnose and intervention center. “We are working with NGOs and the ministry to train teachers to help children with disabilities,” she said.
Dr. Amal Auwida, consultant at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center and keynote speaker, said that early diagnosis and intervention were very important, especially in hearing problems.
“For communication, it is important that hearing of the child is proper and is related to the development programs of the disabled children. The hearing problem can create many problems in the life of a child, such as speech problem, psychological problems, and behavioral problems, so it’s very important to give attention to the children from an early age,” she said.
She further said that new technology and programs were available that could help in finding out the problems at an early age. It is the responsibility of the hospital and teachers to provide quality services and early diagnosis and intervention.
“If we intervene in the first six month, the results will be excellent. We insist that the parents diagnose their child early; it is a must to do hearing screening before the discharge of the baby after birth,” she said.
She also said it was must that all hospitals have up-to-date screening equipment. Getting support from the primary care physician and the family is very important for such children.
“We must give these children a chance to become part of the development of the country and for that, we need to work hard and help them at an early age.
Parents are the key points in the help of children, so they should know when and how they can help their children.