Most notably, students refused to sit in front of smart screens and wear masks

5 challenges faced by "Ras Al Khaimah Autism" in the application of "distance education"

• The center devises a plan to implement "distance learning" in proportion to the special cases of students.

  Emirates today

• Sumaya Hareb Al-Suwaidi: “The center has succeeded in modifying students’ behavior by sending a social worker to their homes. ”

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The Ras Al Khaimah Center for Autism was able to implement a "remote" learning system for students, despite the difficulties it faced, as a result of students not being accustomed to taking "remote" lessons and continuing to sit in front of a smart screen or a "laptop" for long hours.

The center had implemented "hybrid learning", with a one-week system at the center and another at home, based on the instructions of the Ministry of Community Development.

The director general of the center, Sumaya Hareb Al-Suwaidi, told "Emirates Today" that the center faced five difficulties in implementing the "distance" learning system for its students.

She explained that the center includes 19 students with autism syndrome, and they have been receiving hybrid education since the beginning of the current school year, at a rate of 50%. Each semester receives three students, while the other three students receive training, rehabilitation and education "remotely" while they are at home.

Al-Suwaidi added that the five difficulties that the center faced, and managed to overcome them, students' refusal to sit in front of smart screens for a long time, and their lack of acceptance or accustomed to learning "remotely".

She emphasized that the center succeeded in modifying students' behavior by sending a social worker to their homes, in accordance with the precautionary measures and preventive measures taken to prevent the Coronavirus (Covid-19), with the aim of training their families and helping them to rehabilitate their children and equip them to use smart screens, and continue sitting in front of them, and listening to Teachers and specialists to receive appropriate training and qualification, according to each case.

The center’s efforts also included sending instructional videos to students ’families, including an explanation of the most appropriate way to deal with them, based on assessing each student’s condition, psychologically and socially, and measuring his abilities and challenges that he faces to accept the“ distance ”learning system.

Al-Suwaidi explained that some students accepted the new education system after eight lessons, and others needed 15 lessons.

She added that the second factor was the lack of tools necessary to qualify and train students at home, as they are tools that are exclusively present in the center.

Al-Suwaidi explained that the goals that the specialists work to achieve through their work at the center differ from those they seek to achieve when going to students at home, and for this they have focused on using cubes, clay and games to develop students' mathematical skills, because these tools are available or can be provided in Student home.

The center also sent smart applications to students' families, to train them to create sentences and words from the images in them.

And Al-Suwaidi added that the third factor was scheduling classes "remotely", according to the circumstances of the students' families, because there are many cases in which the father and mother are working, and they may spend long hours a day outside the home.

Therefore, it was decided to start the class "remotely" in the evening, after one of them returned home, pointing out to overcome this challenge by applying flexible time with the students' families.

She added that the fourth factor was the insistence of students in sending their children to the center, despite their cold, cough, or high temperatures.

Al-Suwaidi explained that the supervisor measures the students' temperature daily before boarding the bus.

And in the event that she speaks of a high temperature, or a cold, then she refuses to board the bus, and asks his family to keep him at home, in order to preserve the safety of other students, and in compliance with the instructions of the Ministry of Community Development.

She added that the center developed a plan to implement “distance” learning in proportion to the special situation of students, as four “remote” classes were applied daily, at a rate of half an hour for each class.

In the first session, the student receives special education, in the second session language and pronunciation, in the third session occupational therapy, and in the fourth session, behavior modification and special education.

Al-Suwaidi pointed out that the fifth factor was the students ’refusal to wear masks.

The center addressed this challenge by training students to wear it while they were in the classroom.

5 difficulties

Students refused to sit in front of smart screens for a long time.

The lack of necessary tools to qualify and train students at home.

Scheduling classes "remotely" according to the circumstances of the students' families.

- The insistence of some of the students to send their children to the center despite their cold or high temperatures.

The students refused to wear masks.

19

Students studying at the Ras Al Khaimah Autism Center.

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