SCE raises awareness about learning disabilities in Egypt
The school of continuing education (SCE) at the American University in Cairo (AUC) is offering three new courses for parents and teachers to give them a better understanding of the younger generation and to raise awareness of learning disabilities among children and adolescents.
The course will start on June 1. Each course is one month long and will enroll a maximum of 15 students. Registration for the courses will start during the first week of May and participants are expected to earn a total of 20 credit hours from the three courses.
Russane G. Hozayin, associate professor and executive director of Education Initiative in the SCE, explained that the three new courses are meant to raise awareness among parents and adolescents.
The first course, offered this summer, is called Development Specialised Psychology, for diverse learners in elementary psychology.
“Children must be seated properly and comfortably with their feet touching the floor, if they are to properly hold a pen,” said Hala Abdel-Hak, who holds a diploma in special needs education, and is an adjunct faculty member at AUC, giving an example of how such a course could be of use to a parent or teacher.
The second course is the Home-to-school Connection, which shows how parents communicate with a child at school. This is parallel to a course given to teachers that shows them how to form a well-organised communication circle, between parents, students and teachers.
“There should be more educational courses for parenting,” said Neveen Salah Rashid, a former instructor at SCE. She added that they are important for building a stronger generation and a brighter future.
The third course is called Resources for Parenting Diverse Learners, which helps parents find people who can help diverse learners with books, schools and external activities. The term “diverse leareners” includes those with any disabilities, including emotional.
Other areas where the SCE has been raising awareness include illiteracy education, which encourages teachers to explore child development theories and explains the "milestones that children go through, to familiarizes them with the right time for children to actually become independent," said Abdel-Hak.
The second area is to teach parents to deal with children who are diverse learners. "The term diverse learner is an international trend," said Hozayin.
SCE found that formal learning is a complex process because any child could be challenged in different areas, different stages and different times in their lives.
Hozayin added that there are 14 different reasons for a child to be a diverse learner including emotional problems, psychological disorders and genetic disorders, all of which have only been discovered recently. However, in Egypt, only three categories are recognised, including visual impairment, hearing problems and mental disabilities.
AUC is trying to get all 14 categories recognized in Egypt. "AUC is a well-placed institution to start widening awareness and focusing on learning disorders," said Hozayin, "This is a window of opportunity that should create a more responsible and aware society.”