The organizing authority: Supreme Council for Family Affairs –People with Special Needs Committee.

Date: 14^th -16^th January 2003

Logo of the Meeting: (Family and Associations….. two wings for the integration of the effective services for the people with special needs).

First: The aims of the Meeting:

1.      Displaying the importance of the family's role in providing the different types of care for the people with special needs.

2.      Recognizing needs and the styles of family to meet these needs.

3.      Recognizing the role of popular societies in providing the services for the families of the people with special needs.

4.      Displaying the psychological, social and professional needs for the various workers in the governmental and popular associations that are related to the people with special needs.

5.      Exchanging the experiences between the associations, individuals and workers in specific impediments, particularly the family's role in the field reality.

First: The axes of the Meeting:

The first axis" The Family of the person with the special needs"

1.      Family's needs and pressures caused by having a person with special needs, the strategies to deal with such matter.

2.      The impact of having a person with special needs on the family interactions through the stages of the family's life.

3.      The family's role in the services of early intervening.

The Second axis:" Workers at the associations of the special needs"

1.      Workers' needs and pressures while dealing with people with special needs.

2.      Relationships between family and specialists, specially male and female teachers, offering the services inside the house and associations.

3.      Preparing and training the national specialized resources.

The Third axis:" Experiences and Applications"

1.      Field Gulf experiences of the popular and governmental associations in providing the services and programs for the families of people with special needs.

2.      Exchanging the experiences and relationships between societies and individuals working in specific impediments and discussing qualitative issues regarding the family aspects.

3.      Studying a realistic Gulf cases, whose member a person with special needs (Father/Mother or Son /Daughter).

Recommendations:

1.      Preparing an index for guidance and awareness for the families of the people with special needs which assures ((the importance of early intervening, centers and associations that represent programs for the people with special needs … in the rehabilitation, education and treatment area)).

2.      Assuring the importance of establishing universities, researches centers, specialized committees and associations in the States of Gulf Cooperative Council to do the field researches on the issues and needs the families of the special needs.

3.      Provoking the parents of special needs people to work in the voluntary area through activating their role in the centers, societies and associations working in this area.

4.      Promoting the relationships between the families of special needs people and people working with them to achieve the best results.

5.      Provoking the mass media to interact positively in the awareness regarding the issues of special needs people and highlighting the successful modals of family and society way of dealing with that area.

6.      Preparing and rehabilitating the national and specialized resources in the field of special needs.

7.      Giving the special needs people a bigger role to participate in drawing the policies related to them besides their contribution to plan the affairs of the society.

Calling the responsible people in the governmental and popular associations to work spiritually to stave the psychological burning (pressure) which workers with special needs people face. In addition to that, training them on the ways of confronting these pressures besides supporting these qualifications financially and spiritually.