Al-Jazirah MEDIA reports show that there are 900 Saudi boys and girls with special needs studying in Jordan. The report attributed this to the shortage of special schools and institutes in the Kingdom. This huge figure triggered many questions in my mind with regard to our inability to address this important social issue. Even though the Kingdom has sound financial capability to build schools and learning centers for our children with special needs while comparing with many neighboring states, a large number of Saudi parents are forced to take their children to Jordan whose financial capability is much lower than that of the Kingdom. As far as the availability of human resources is concerned, here we have sufficient number of specialists to handle cases of these children. It is very painful to read such reports that shed light on the magnitude of the shortfall in facilities for educating children with special needs. We cannot say there is any negligence on the part of the Saudi government in this respect. These children are studying in Jordan as scholarship students at the expense of our government. But this money could be saved if there are schools and centers for children with special needs in all our cities. I do not blame parents of these children for sending them abroad for their education. They are forced to do so in the absence of adequate number of special schools within the Kingdom. Here, the problem is not simply restricted to sending disabled children to a foreign country for their studies but the life of these children is confined to dormitories of these schools throughout the year. These children are living there without having the special care of their parents in the most crucial period of their childhood. How is it possible for their mothers to leave them in the hands of caretakers at these dormitories or shelters with peace of mind? I don't know what are the grave circumstances that prompted these parents to send their children with special needs to a foreign country. However, I am confident that the life of such children would be the best at their home and in the company of their parents and other family members if they have the facility for schooling in their locality. Most often, these children find it very hard to integrate with children studying in ordinary schools. I suggest that there should be a change in our perspective of considering people with special needs as disabled or handicapped. We have to develop a mindset that these people are part and parcel of our society. Developing such an attitude would be instrumental in changing the negative mentality of even some family members of these people. The unfortunate thing is that the victims of this negative mentality are not only the people with special needs but also the country itself if it fails to recognize the real value of this segment of society.
