REHAB 2008

I have been, VERY LUCKILY, selected by the Ministry of Social Affairs to attend REHAB 2008--Dubai International Rehabilitation Forum, under the title: Beyond Inclusion & Partnership.

At the beginning I was informed that the Ministry is supposedly paying 5 thousand Dhs for us to attend. Exaggeration. A very usual thing that I see every single day at the center AND ministry. Ofcourse we were not allowed to attend the conference at the beginning since no one has yet paid that GREAT amount of money. Again, a very expected thing. It turned out to be an amount of 370 Dhs only. Too much to pay for knowledge.

Anyways, it was somehow good. Some of the speakers were interesting. The organisation of the whole thing was perfect. I expected more of the exhibition, but I found an amazing assistive device that could help H to live a more productive life. The ministry's booth was very boring..not that interesting..poor quality. They spoke of things that were mostly only written on papers. They kept on talking and talking about the so-called law. Their powerpoint slides were OVERLOADED with words and letters.

What I really found interesting was the Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Humanitarian City booth and the KSA guest speakers in general. The booth was FULL of professionals from the field who actually work at special needs centers. Saudi teachers, Saudi therapists, Saudi administrators. Their presentations were so perfect. I've also met the first Art Therapist in the Arab World who is also from the KSA which was interesting. Maybe I should type a post about Creative Art Therapies that are being used elsewhere since a long time, but no one has spoken about such therapies yet in our region.

Overall, I concluded the whole thing in few points:
1. the ministry should stop blabbing and start taking actions
2. we REALLY need more professionals in the field who are U.A.E. nationals
3. people should appreciate and encourage the U.A.E.'s "baby steps" towards a better integration of people with special needs, instead of only mentioning the negatives
4. maryam noor must be banned from entering Dubai ever again for her whole entire pathetic life
5. we have a number of organisations and centers for special needs in the U.A.E. (private & government). if we all stick together, we will certainly be the change. unfortunately, what i have only seen between us is negative competition over fundings, donations, and different projects.
6. i would certainly encourage exchanging knowledge and experiences amongst professionals in the field through trips, more conferences, and perhaps create a forum for us to be a part of.