DOHA: Aiming to establish a national database on people with special needs a four day Doha Early Intervention Conference for Children with Visual or Multiple Impairments opened here on Wednesday.
The event which has brought-in international experts is organised by Al Noor Institute in collaboration with the International Agency for Prevention of Blindness- Eastern Mediterranean Region (IAPB- EMR) and Prevention of Blindness Union (PBUnion).
The conference is the first one of its kind in the Middle East, and is targeting professionals from Paediatrics, Paediatric Ophthalmology, Optometry, Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy, Psychology, Paediatric Neurology, Orientation and Mobility specialists, and all involved in Rehabilitation and special education (families, teachers, social work, and administrative staff) among others.
It also targets the educational, health and rehabilitation plan for children in the age group of six with Visual and Multiple Impairments in Qatar and the region.
Besides, it aims to detect the impairments at the very early age so that children's growth is not affected. The timely intervention will have massive impact on such children by 80- 90 percent as at this level, learning is routed through the visual aids.
Comprehensive plan
One of the purposes of the conference is to make an integrated comprehensive strategic plan for this social challenge involving all such organizations which deal with this section of population.
"We endeavour to have a national data-base enabling us to render our specialised services for children with these impairments. Plans are afoot for concerned local and regional researches to make us more vibrant covering all pertaining issues of visual and multiple impairments in children," said Dr Hayat Nazer, Al Noor Institute's Managing Director.
"The conference will pave the way to develop a unified strategy to deal with such problems in Middle East and the region. It will raise awareness in community and encourage researches in the area. The event will also ensure the professional development of the concerned professionals and experts. In addition to it, it will help to update national statistic for affected children, helping the decision- makers in drafting laws for Children with Visual and Multiple Impairments," she said.
She also urged families of affected children to get them registered with the institute for remedial solutions and future planning.
"The conference is another confirmation on Qatar's commitment to this section of the society. Early intervention has been proven to help a lot and spread the awareness among communities has helped detection of visual and multiple impairments in children. Through early interventions, we will be able to prepare the coming generations," said Saif Al Hajri, General Supervisor, Al Noor Institute.
"We rarely speak about early intervention, which has been prove to help curb the progress of disability. The event is first of its kind in the region and we hope it will help raise awareness as merely policies alone cannot help. The conference aims to have a database set up and it will help services providers a lot," said Sheikha Hessa bint Khalifa Al Thani, former UN Special Rapporteur on disability.
The participating experts will focus on visual and multiple impairments' challenges. Dr Abdul Aziz Al Rajhi, Dr Lea Hyvarinen, Dr Deborah Chen, Dr Tanni Anthony, Dr Peny Rosenblum, Brooke Clodfelter, Dr Mary Lang, Dr Barry Kran, Dr Muhammed Mansur and Dr Hatem El Shanti are the prominent speakers at the conference.
Speaking on the occasion, Fahad Al Mohannadi, General Manager of the Qatar Electricity & Water Company (QEWC) said that QEWC and all its sister companies are committed for the welfare of the community.
He said by sponsoring such events, the very purpose of corporate social responsibility programme is nicely implemented.
Qatar Electricity & Water Company (QEWC), Qatar Power (Q Power), Ras Girtas Power Company (RGPC), Mesaieed Power (MPower) and Ras Laffan Power Company (RLPC) are sponsoring the event.
© The Peninsula 2011
