UAE: Fewer families sought special care for children of determination in 2021, says ministry

According to authorities, the number of families who registered their children to enrol in care and rehabilitation centres for people of determination in the UAE decreased last year compared to 2020.

The Ministry of Community Development, represented by the Department of Care and Rehabilitation of People of Determination, said they received 58 requests for registration to care and rehabilitation centres for people of determination in 2021, compared to 84 requests in 2020.

According to the Ministry’s statistics, until the end of December 2020, the centres served 25,590 people, including 14,262 male and 11,328 female citizens.

There are 95 governmental and private centres for people of determination distributed across the emirates. The centres provide general or specialized services to categories of people of determination, regardless of their disabilities.

The Ministry has temporarily stopped accepting online applications for people of determination due to Covid-19.

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The database of the People of Determination card issued by the Ministry also added 10 new categories. The categories of disabilities include visual, communication, autism, physical, mental, multiple, psychological, audio-visual, attention deficit and hyperactivity.

The Ministry aims to ensure that people of determination receive the necessary training and rehabilitation to enable them to integrate into society. It said it was keen on raising the level of rehabilitation and educational services provided to people of determination through its affiliated centres, which reflects the level of interest in this category.

The national policy to empower people of determination is based on six main axes, including the health and rehabilitation axis, the education axis in order to develop an inclusive education system in the fields of general, vocational and higher education, the vocational rehabilitation and employment axis, and the accessibility axis, the need to provide standard unified buildings, taking into account the needs of people with disabilities at the state level, and the axis of social protection, and family empowerment for the purpose of providing social security policies appropriate to the needs of people with disabilities, and the axis of public life, culture and sports.

- ismail@khaleejtimes.com

• Abu Dhabi