Fifteen students with autism are taking an important step forward in their school journey, learning alongside their peers in regular classrooms after successfully completing a dedicated programme at Bait Al Hikma Primary Girls School.
The achievement follows the launch of ‘My senses are the key to my learning’, an initiative designed to make learning more engaging and accessible through sensory play.
“Combining exploration, enjoyment and skill development, the programme encourages special students to learn through touch, sight, hearing, smell and taste in a safe environment that recognises individual differences and gives each child room to experiment, participate and progress,” the school’s special education co-ordinator Noura Al Qassab said in a statement.
She commended the contributions of teachers Zainab Al Taif, Fatima Fardan and Al Anoud Al Khaldi for adopting engaging teaching methods tailored to the students’ individual needs and abilities, creating greater opportunities for interaction, discovery and learning.
For another five students, the journey towards mainstream education is now underway. They are currently studying in the school’s ‘Flowers of Hope’ classroom, which is dedicated to the initial integration phase for children with autism. “There, they receive the support needed to develop the skills that could eventually enable them to move into regular classrooms alongside their peers,” she added.
The school praised the Education Ministry’s ongoing efforts to provide appropriate support for students with special needs.
The GDN previously reported that the ministry follows two structured inclusion pathways for students with special needs.
Partial inclusion places students in specialised classes with customised curricula while giving them opportunities to join their peers for selected subjects, activities and school events.
Those who demonstrate sufficient academic and behavioural progress may subsequently move to full inclusion, where they study the general education curriculum in regular classrooms. A maximum of two fully integrated students are placed in each grade to maintain teaching quality.
Before entering an inclusion programme, students undergo a multi-stage diagnostic process involving educational assessments as well as specialised medical and psychological evaluations, carried out in co-ordination with accredited government health authorities and with parental consent.
Eligibility requirements differ according to the student’s needs. They include IQ thresholds for mild intellectual disabilities, communication and self-reliance abilities for students with autism, and field assessments to determine the physical or sensory readiness of students for classroom integration.
Ahead of the new academic year, the ministry has also conducted extensive preparations for the return of students with special needs to the classrooms. These included inspections of ramps, toilets, corridors and classrooms, placing pupils with mobility difficulties in ground-floor classrooms wherever possible, and reviewing emergency and evacuation plans.
According to ministry figures, 67 schools serve 382 students with mild intellectual disabilities and Down syndrome, supported by 125 teachers.
Meanwhile, 51 schools accommodate 286 students in specialised autism programmes while another 154 students with autism are fully integrated, under the supervision of 126 teachers.
A total of 264 students with physical disabilities, 321 with hearing impairments and 93 with visual impairments have also been integrated across government schools.
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