JEDDAH, 2 May 2006 — The Jeddah Institute for Speech and Hearing (JISH) is holding a symposium on communication disorders starting today. Its title is “Pervasive Developmental Disorders in Children.”
About 500 professionals and employees in the field as well as members of the public are expected to attend the three-day event. Speakers include experts from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the UAE and the US.
The first day is for parents and features lectures on treating autism and developmental disorders, occupational therapy and sensory integration, applied behavior analysis and specific speech and language disorders encountered in autism and developmental delays.
The second day offers lectures and workshops on intervention, preparation services for children with special needs and their parents and on attention deficit disorder.
There will also be a workshop on a program developed by JISH called Jaras. The first of its kind in the region, it is concerned with intervention for speech and hearing for Arabic speakers based on programs originally for English speakers.
The third day will be a conference to meet and ask the specialists. In the afternoon, an exhibition will be held presenting the program Jaras, which is offered free at JISH for parents to get an early diagnosis and intervention for their children which is the key to positive skill development for children with hearing and speech disorders.
JISH is a non-profit organization founded to provide diagnostic and therapeutic services for all people with communication disorders in the region. Its programs are commensurate with the standards set by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA).
