New research has revealed that early intervention programmes for children with intellectual disabilities are far more effective when families play an active role, underscoring the powerful impact of close collaboration between parents and care providers.
Fatima Salem Al Azmi, a researcher in the Learning Difficulties and Developmental Disabilities Programme at the Department of Special Education, College of Education and Administrative and Technical Sciences at the Arabian Gulf University (AGU), emphasised this while presenting the findings of her Master’s thesis.
Her study, titled ‘The Level of Early Intervention Services and Programmes Provided to Children with Intellectual Disabilities from the Perspective of Parents and Care Providers,’ aimed to assess the extent to which early intervention services are implemented, identify the challenges facing their delivery, and examine differences in perspectives between parents and care providers.
The research included 40 participants assessing service levels and another 40 evaluating implementation challenges.
“Findings revealed that, from the parents’ perspective, family services ranked highest among service dimensions, followed by healthcare, special education, psychological services, and finally social services,” she said.
“In terms of challenges, the highest-ranked obstacles were those related to the centre, followed by community-related challenges, and lastly family-related challenges.”
The study also found statistically significant differences in the overall score of the early intervention services scale in favour of care providers, while no significant differences were observed in perceptions of implementation challenges.
Ms Al Azmi stressed the importance of integrating assistive learning tools and technologies into early intervention programmes.
“These include multimedia resources such as videos, audio, and images to enhance learning, as well as virtual interaction tools such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) to enrich the learning experience,” she explained.
“It is also crucial to use educational games to make learning more engaging and effective and improve learning outcomes.”
She further underscored the need for collaborative engagement with families to define programme goals and objectives, noting that such co-operation strengthens relationships between care providers and families, enhances family skills, and supports the achievement of desired outcomes.
“In addition, facilitating access to healthcare services within early intervention programmes by providing clear and detailed information on available healthcare services and how to access them is crucial,” she stated. She emphasised the importance of raising public awareness through media and community initiatives, as well as improving communication between families and healthcare professionals to ensure adequate support.
Al Azmi also recommended training healthcare professionals to effectively manage cases requiring early intervention, helping to foster diverse developmental skills among children with intellectual disabilities.
Overall, the study recommends greater family involvement, the integration of assistive technologies, and improved access to healthcare services as key priorities for strengthening early intervention programmes.
According to Education Ministry figures, 67 schools serve 382 students with mild intellectual disability and Down syndrome, supported by 125 teachers.
With regard to autism spectrum disorder, 51 schools accommodate 286 students in specialised autism programmes and 154 fully integrated pupils 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 all government schools.
