About Sharjah Autism Center
Establishment
The Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services introduced specialized services for people with autism spectrum disorders in the United Arab Emirates for the first time in the 1994-1995 academic year by establishing a department connected to the Institute of Intellectual Development (previously).
Sharjah Autism Center was established in February 2002, and opened as the first specialized Emirati center that provides specialized educational and therapeutic services suitable for students with autism spectrum disorder and their families.
As part of the center's commitment to continue developing and expanding services for adolescents and young people with autism spectrum disorder, a special section for young people with autism spectrum disorder was opened in 2007.
Type of Disability
- Sharjah Autism Center provides services for people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
Age group
Acceptance of students in the Sharjah Autism Center starts from the age of 5 years until 15 years old.
- Educational classes from 5 to 12 years old.
- Professional preparation from the age of 12 to 18 years.
Curricula and assessment tools
Sharjah Autism Center adopts several curricula and assessment tools
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The Sharjah Autism Center provides its services to people with autism spectrum disorder, following the (TEACCH) approach.
(TEACCH): Treatment and Education of Autistic and Related Communication Handicapped Children
Services
The center currently provides the main services, and each service includes a set of supportive services
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Psychoeducational evaluation services
The center provides evaluation services based on various standards such as: the Psychoeducational Profile, Third Edition - Arabized Version (PEP-3) and the Evaluative Scale (PEP-R) for the age group up to 10 years and the TTAP scale for ages from 12 years. and above, where their developmental level is determined in all fields and accordingly the educational and treatment plan is drawn up and followed up.
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Training and rehabilitation services for students with autism spectrum disorder
The center provides direct training services for students with autism spectrum disorder after evaluating and diagnosing them and preparing an individual training plan for each student using specialized educational curricula and at the hands of qualified staff.
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Family support and counseling services
The center provides family support and counseling services in addition to home counseling services for the families of the center’s students and training on methods and mechanisms for dealing with children with autism spectrum disorder.
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Educational integration services
The center seeks to provide academic integration opportunities for some students in regular schools and follows up on the integration process.
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Supportive activities
such as swimming services, horse riding, music therapy, drawing and handicrafts, which would contribute to achieving the goals of educational plans.
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Supportive therapeutic services
Such as occupational therapy, speech, and language services.
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Training and technical support services
The center seeks to develop the skills and competencies of workers in the field by organizing workshops and specialized training courses, in addition to providing technical support and training services to teachers of students with autism spectrum disorder.
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Community awareness of autism spectrum disorder
Through organizing and participating in exhibitions, conferences, lectures, and allocating visits to schools, universities, and various entities, in addition to integrating the center’s students into the external community through various external activities.
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Youth Department Services
It is a department dedicated to youth from the age of 12 to 16 years and aims to enhance students’ abilities to communicate and be independent, develop hobbies, and fill their free time in a way that contributes to improving their social and interactive skills, in addition to training in some workshops and professional work.
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Assistive technology service
By assessing students’ needs and providing them with appropriate tools and applications to support the process.
Achievements
Most important achievements and awards
- Staff Development Program
Holding continuous training programs and workshops for the SAC employees.
- Awareness Raising Campaign
Organizing and hosting an annual campaign which includes multiple activities.
- Total School Inclusion
following up with ASD students integrated in regular schools.
- Winter Camp Program
Organizing and hosting an annual winter camp for SAC students and their siblings.
- “Shuraka” Initiative
organizing and hosting a collective of training programs and workshops for the parents of newly enrolled students in the center.
- Production of and Employment of Simple Reading Models
Producing Simple Reading medias and employing them with SAC students.
- Simple Programming
Employing Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies and robotics in training SAC students and participating in a wide array of local and regional robotics competitions.
Admission to SCHS
Registration and Admission at Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services Procedures for registering new students:
- First:
- Attend in person to register at the Social Service Department, in the administration building during official working hours.
- Register using a valid original ID.
- Provide a recent medical report from an accredited entity / Provide a psychological educational report (if available).
- The center is determined based on age group and type of disability.
- Second:
- The school or center's social worker will contact to schedule a personal interview.
- Communicate with the family and inform them of the beneficiary's file acceptance if conditions are met.
- The social worker completes registration data, including filling out the social case study.
- The social worker receives the required documents and health reports as mandatory attachments for the admission process.
- Third:
- The beneficiary pays a non-refundable seat reservation fee of AED 1000.
- The beneficiary pays a non-refundable file opening fee of AED 200 to join the services of the Physical and Occupational Therapy Center or Family Counseling services. For more details regarding school fees and transportation services, click here.
- Fourth:
- The beneficiary joins the services of the SCHS
- Fifth:
- The beneficiary completes the fee payment procedures in coordination with the school or center's accounting department. For more details regarding school fees and transportation services, click here.