New autism centre sponsored by Saudi Aramco will open doors in Dammam, Saudi Arabia at the start of 2016.
The center will provide services for young autistic children, aged between 3 and 8, and will have a maximum capacity of about 100 children.
The Shamah Autism Center will be set up and operated by British-based Eagle House Group which was selected for the project in September by Saudi Aramco’s partner, Shumua Alamal.
Saudi Aramco is heavily involved in building healthcare facilities and infrastructure in the Kigdom, its most famous being Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare, the first-of-its-kind joint venture between the world’s leading energy leader and Johns Hopkins Medicine.
At the start of the year, the company’s CEO Khalid al-Falih was appointed health minister by the newly ascended Saudi King Salman.
“We are proud of Saudi Aramco’s sponsorship of the efforts to care for and educate Saudi children with autism,” said Huda M. Al Ghoson, executive director of Human Resources at Saudi Aramco.
“Saudi Aramco continues to build upon our long history of developing excellent services that serve the wider community, something that is not new to the company because it has always exerted considerable efforts in the development of society,” Al Ghoson added.
The centre received an official visit from Saudi Aramco’s Huda Al Ghoson, executive director of Human Resources.
During a site visit, Al Ghoson praised the center, its equipment, and the therapeutic and educational programme that will develop the children’s skills.
The center will use best international practices in delivering effective interventions in dealing with autism, Aramco said in a statement on its website.
It will be staffed by a team of experts in the fields of teaching special education curriculums, speech and language, occupational and physical therapy, behavioral support, psychology, and social services.
Once evaluated, children will be placed in the daily programme for up to six months and then re-evaluated to assess their response and the impact of the programme.
Building upon international best practices, the curriculum will be tailored to each child’s personality to help them grow and develop, as well as to meet the challenges and needs identified.
The center also focuses on empowering families and helping them learn more about autism so that they can play a full role in improving and developing their children’s abilities in collaboration with the team of specialists.
A key focus of the staff will be preparing children for education in mainstream local schools, where this is appropriate. The center will work to build relationships with local schools and governance to achieve this goal.
The partnership between Shumua Alamal and Eagle House Group is to bring international experience and evidence-based, best practices in the development of children with autism, as well as transfer expertise to the cadre of Saudi professionals training in the Kingdom.
Paul Conrathe, founder and director of the Eagle Group House, said he was honored to be selected to partner with Shumua Alamal.
“Our goal is to provide the highest quality services and be an example of best practices that will lead the way in Saudi Arabia,” Conrathe stated.
Having worked in the field of autism for more than 20 years with thousands of families in the United Kingdom, Conrathe said his group focuses on three core values that will be applied at the Dammam facility: aspiraiton, compassion and partnership.
“This cooperation between us and the Eagle House Group marks a new era for the autistic children in the Kingdom, as this institution has a long experience of caring for autistic children and the development of their abilities according to the latest scientific methods,” said Ahmad Al-Dobaikhi, director of Shumua Alamal.
