A conference on developmental disabilities called on Sunday for the establishment of a commission that will oversee all services and facilities provided to disabled children in the Kingdom. Dr. Heba Atiya, the head of the organizing committee for the 6th Children with Developmental Disabilities Conference, said the issue of quality control for services provided to children with disabilities was the main theme this year. “For five years now everyone has been talking about quality control. It is not enough to provide facilities and training. Ensuring that standards are maintained is more essential,” she said. The three-day conference brought together parents, specialists and researchers to discuss the difficulties children with disabilities face and ways to improve their lives. Atiya said the King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center helped set up a Per-Examination Center that helps detect disabilities at young ages. The center is run under the supervision of the Ministry of Education and has served some 800 children in various preschools. Niveen Attar, founder of Nida Society for the Rehabilitation of Children with Communication Disorders and a speaker at the conference, said she set up the society over 15 years ago in Egypt to help children with hearing impairments integrate in schools. Attar said parents need to be patient with special needs children. “We work with children with hearing impairments for three years before we send them to school and we often have difficulties with parents who think their children will be able to adjust within three to four months or parents who think training can help their children get rid of hearing aids,” she said. __
