Deafblind unit
The deafblind Unit provides education, rehabilitation and care facilities for one of the most neglected and under-served groups in the Middle East region.
Very little information is available about the number of deafblind children in the region, who are generally relegated to a life of inertia and emotional, cognitive and social neglect and starvation.
For years the institute was aware of the tremendous needs of the deafblind, before it developed the capacity to provide the required habilitation, education and care for deafblind children and young people and provide training and support for their families.
In 2001 the unit opened with two deafblind children and at present local and expatriate staff provide services for nine deafblind children, aged 4 to 17 years. The unit is located in a homely environment and provides 24-hour care. The deafblind children are taught the skills they need in daily life and which stimulate their independence and conscious decision-making. As an important component of the various activities they learn hands-on sign language, later augmented by finger spelling and Braille, which enable them to communicate with their environment.
The unit’s care and teaching staff give practical and hands-on instruction to their deafblind pupils. For this purpose the team has been developing its own educational and training materials which is used for training courses in other countries in the region.