Al-Watan newspaper publishes a report entitled “People of Determination” in the time of “Corona” virus: Our dreams are growing

Al-Watan newspaper published an investigation entitled “People of Determination” in the time of the “Corona” virus: Our dreams are growing. Specialists, each according to the nature of the therapeutic unit in which he works, receives “people of determination”, whether those who suffer from many problems with movement, speech, autism, or other disabilities that prevent their integration with healthy people, which is the role of the first specialized center at the university level, to take care of People with Needs, Faculty of Postgraduate Studies for Childhood, Ain Shams University.

Dr. Howaida Al-Gebali, Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies for Childhood, and chairperson of the center’s board of directors, explains the mechanism of work in it: “The child of people of determination comes from the age of one month until the age of 18 years, and is subject to a medical examination explaining the type of disability he or she was born with, and on the basis of this examination It is handed over to the appropriate unit for this, especially since the center includes 33 units specialized in speech, movement, reading and psychological aspects. Before the Corona pandemic, the center used to receive 600 children, but the pandemic imposed a reduction in numbers, such as various government and private institutions, and it now includes 150 children.

The main objective of the center is to provide all treatment services for people of determination in one place, so it includes 33 treatment units in various specialties, according to “Howaida” talk to “Al-Watan”, saying that the center aims to provide an integrated treatment service for people of determination in one place, considering their conditions. In the beginning, the guardian intends the center, and is subject to a medical examination to determine the type of his child’s disability, whether mental, motor, or neurological, as the center includes all these units.

Dr. Howaida added: The neurology clinic, for example, includes a set of rehabilitation sessions that the child undergoes after a medical examination, and in the event of an intellectual disability, he is transferred to psychiatry and given a program for him and his family for a period of 3 months, as well as clinics specialized in speech and audiology. Behavior modification and skill development, all of which help the child to integrate with others in a normal life.

In addition to other new units, the most prominent of which was a specialized unit under the name “Sensory Integration”, which is the first room at the university level: “It works to follow up the child’s developmental motor growth, where we teach the child dimensions, directions and balance.”

Difficult cases that were difficult to treat abroad, and the center received them, trying to integrate them into society, refusing to stand idly by, especially the cases that did not improve over 10 years: “We receive cases with severe disabilities that did not improve over 10 years, so a specialized unit was established to receive them, It is called (Vocational Rehabilitation for Children), for those who have overstayed, and this unit works to teach them a specific industry such as soap making and printing on mugs and T-shirts,” pointing out that the unit provides conversation sessions for 20 pounds, as the goal is to serve the neediest groups in society.

The center, at the Faculty of Postgraduate Studies for Childhood at Ain Shams University, did not overlook the importance of "psychiatry", but dedicated to it an entire unit that includes a number of specialized units, most notably the units of social skills, psychoanalytic therapy, sensory integration, treatment of dyslexia, social skills and enrichment activities, which was explained by Dr. Manal Omar, Head of Psychiatric Units: “All of these units are called outpatient clinics and include all treatment stages that the child goes through. After the initial examination he undergoes, he is transferred to the clinic that suits his disability and a file is opened that includes all the accurate data about him in terms of the date of his entry. The center and the date of pregnancy and identifying the change that occurred to him, whether during pregnancy or after birth. The file also provides accurate details about the child’s condition, any clinic he should be referred to, and any type of treatment he needs, whether physical therapy or sensory and kinetic compatibility, also includes measuring intelligence test and knowledge The child’s mental abilities, pointing out that after 6 months of entering these units, and a remarkable development in the child’s life, he is integrated into schools to obtain an educational opportunity like others.”

Manal adds: “We succeeded in preparing a large, detailed report on the children of these units, which helped in the approval of the Ministry of Education to hold a special committee in the exams for these students, in which students do not know how to hold the pen, but their memory is good.”

One of the units most intertwined with children was the “self-care” unit, which is the unit related to children’s life skills, especially regarding food, drink and clothing, according to Amira Omar, head of the unit: “The child is 3 years old and suffers from problems eating, drinking, and dressing. It means independent life matters, and an intelligence assessment is done for him, then more details about his family are known. Based on all these steps, sessions are started, in which the guardian is a primary partner, and the guardian is directed on how to deal with the child and complete the treatment program with him in home, because his presence in the unit is once a week for half an hour.”

The most difficult cases frequented by this unit are the cases of hyperactive children, and “Omar” confirms to “Al-Watan” that these cases require more effort from the guardian and the specialist in charge of the session, who must always be patient, explaining that the unit teaches the child how to Self-reliance in holding the spoon and combing the hair until he is qualified to join a school, pointing out that the session is once a week and some children need a session every two weeks or every month, it depends on the nature of the situation itself.

Dr. Hayam Azzam, a mental health and special education consultant, says that the Psychological and Family Counseling Unit is one of the most important units in the center, because it deals with the family in general and the child as well, especially since it depends in diagnosing the child on the nature of the relationship between the spouses and the understandings between them to overcome what he suffers from the child, especially behavioral problems, where the nature of the disability and how to deal with it and how to develop aspects of the child's growth are explained.