A S U

In conjunction with World Autism Awareness Day, the Faculty of Arts at Ain Shams University organized an awareness seminar entitled “The Rights of Persons with Disabilities and How to Be Qualified to Work with Children and Persons with Disabilities.”

The seminar was held under the auspices of Prof. Ghada Farouk, Vice President of the University for Community Service and Environmental Development, and Prof. Hanan Kamel Metwally, Dean of the Faculty of Arts, and under the supervision of Prof. Hanan Salem, Vice Dean of the Faculty for Community Service and Environmental Development.

Prof. Hanan Kamel Metwally, Dean of the Faculty, explained that she believes that the role of educational institutions is not limited to academic education only, but extends to include human development and supporting the most vulnerable groups, stressing that raising awareness of the rights of people with disabilities is the cornerstone for their real integration into society, and that the Faculty of Arts is always keen to open its scientific and human spaces to everything that promotes the values of compassion, justice and equality.

For her part, Dr. Hanan Salem, Vice Dean of the Faculty for Community Service and Environmental Development, explained in this meeting that organizing the seminar comes within the framework of the sector’s plan aimed at spreading a culture of community awareness of disability issues, and qualifying students and those interested to work consciously and responsibly with children and people with disabilities, stressing that scientific knowledge, when combined with the human dimension, becomes an effective tool for real change.

Dr. Mahmoud Fouad Al-Rifai, Director of the Progress Center of the Egyptian Association for the Advancement of Persons with Disabilities, lectured at the seminar, where he presented a comprehensive thesis in which he emphasized that persons with disabilities have full rights guaranteed by law, and are not merely a subject of care, addressing the concept of disability from a rights-based and humanitarian perspective.

The lecturer also addressed the importance of psychological and cognitive training for those who work with these groups, explaining that the correct approach begins with a deep understanding of their needs and abilities, and not with mere stereotypical perceptions. Dr. Mahmoud Fouad Al-Rifai, the lecturer at the seminar, reviewed the mechanisms of educational and psychological interaction with children with autism spectrum disorder and intellectual and developmental disabilities, and the role of the family, educational institutions and society in creating a supportive and stimulating environment.