By Amna Alawi
ABU DHABI – Students from the College of Education held Disability Awareness Day at Zayed University’s Abu Dhabi Campus on April 27 as part of a class project.
The enlightening event combined educational and social opportunities. It was held in the Promenade on the women’s side of campus from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. Students presented information through a series of exhibits.
The event was coordinated by Assistant Professor Wejdan Alsakran of the College of Education. Dr. Alsakran was supported by college faculty, staff and students.
The idea behind Disability Awareness Day was to get ZU students to understand that some members of society who have special needs deserve an education, as well as other basic rights and opportunities. The College of Education students want to include these citizens in society at large.
“It was an amazing event filled with positive energy from all the students, and faculty feedback was also positive,” Professor Alsakran said. “We would never have been successful without the cooperation and effort from our education students.”
The event was an effort to present an interactive and educational environment about different types of disorders for all students and faculties to meet the disability awareness goals for an inclusive UAE.
Education students covered different disability topics to inform and educate those who visited the exhibit tables in the Promenade. The education students also shared true stories and engagement experiences.
Some highlights included: sharing stories about famous and successful people with special needs (such as Cambridge University Professor Stephen Hawking); how to be patient and friendly with autistic people; learning ways to build an inclusive environment at ZU; understanding face expression in the autistic; learning basic sign language, and playing the what-is-it-like-to-be-blind game.
Manar Hayel, a deaf IRADA employee at Zayed University, also took part in the activities by teaching basic Arabic and American Sign Language. Her activity made students interested in taking ASL lessons in the future.
It was an unforgettable day as it gave everyone who attended the opportunity to understand the importance of the community accepting the disadvantaged.
This story was originally published on May 3, 2015. It was re-uploaded on Dec. 24, 2020.
