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Why Society should a dress issues for the special needs population “ الفئات الخاصة “
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Through out history, ancient societies appreciated and praised human perfectionism. Those individual who have superior physical shapes and traits and supreme physical power where considered superior and celebrated. Those unfortunate one who were weak were thrown to the lions. Thus, the those indviduals who were weak or had a physical disabilities were looked at as not qualified for living or have some satanic inflowences. They were taunted througn out from their homes and gathered like animals and thrown out side the cities.
Christianity brought mercy to those societies. Thus, they put these indivuals with disabilities in asylums to provide food and shelter. However, they seprated them from the rest of society.
Islam came, the religion of social well-fare and equality. Islam made no difference between people in color, shapes or forms, they are all equal in front of Allah ( Al-Hujurat Sura). In the incident of the prophet Mohammed and the blind man who was seeking him to find about Islam, the prophet was busy convincing other important “ normal person” and ignored the blind man. In that Sura ( Abasa ) Allah has ordered man kind to respect all human being and treat them equally even though some may not be physically or mentally not perfect “ normal”.
Thus the guide lines for Islamic societies how to deal with individuals
With disabilities( الأشخاص ذوي الاحتياجات الخاصة )was set based on empathy, equality and respect.
During the ninteenth century, the age of european modern scientific invoation and medical advances and developemnt, their were advances happning in education indivduals with impairments and disaling conditions. Schools for the blind, deaf, and mentally retarded was built to educate those individuals.
The twentyth century in the west brought educational reforms and rights for indivduals with disabilities to live normal life and to be acepted in the society as a full pledge individual who can contribute to society as any others.
How about us the moselms? What is happening to those indviduals with special need? Even though our religion has emphasized the guide lines for our societies, individuals with special needs are lacking the services they require and the proper interventions. They have been the”forgotton” hidden groups from the eyes of society. When we look at the status of individuals with disabilities we find they are not receiving the same equal status as other individual in the socieites. Why? What Happened?
There are so many reasons that one could associate it with. One is the disadvantages that Islamic Society is currently functioning in all areas of life in comparison to the developed Western World. Second, the issue of equal treatments and individual rights did not include individual with disabilities. Third, The Economic status of the Islamic World has a lot of impact on the services thus is offered for and the quality of educational programs.
The number of children and youth who have exceptionalities been contraversial subject due to the vaguness in diffintions and lack of country wide statistical studies. However, figures from countries in the west give an estimate between 18-25% is the prevelance of exceptionalities within a population. This figure decreases in the developed world due to the lack of advances in early medical interventions and proper care to families. However, the percentage of exceptionalities within a population increses in the underdeveloped world because of the lack of early medical interventions, poor diet, intermarriges in families, and the poor care for infants.It is imperative for any society to pay attention to the numbers because it is first step to develop social, medical, and educational interventions. It is the beginning to address all issues related to this ‘forgotton, hiden” population.
In the past two decades a lot of changes occurred in the education of individuals of special education. Progress is being determining the cause of some disabilities. The science of Heriditary is evloving very fast and it is bringing us knowledge of the location of certain genes that is responsible for deseases and disorders. Thus gene therapy will be used to prevent or correct msny disabling conditions. Furthermore, Medical breakthrough is occuring constantly to provide intervntion to certain deseases which causes impairment and a disabling conditions. Inaddition, research in the fields of child’s psychology, nurology and social sciences which is related to learning and education is taking place and expanding the knowledge base. Moreover,
the constant research in this particular field allowed us considerable knowledge on stategies and educational interventions designed to meet the needs of exceptional children.
The plight of individuals with special needs is worthy to take. In order for our nation to become a humanistic nation we must uncover the mystery of exceptionalities. We have to learn about differences as well as the similarities of indviduals with special needs to us. In order for attidues of the public to change, inorder to have eceptional children in the street, in “regular classroom”, in the playgrounds our socisty has to understand them and live in their expectations and realize their burden to live in our handicapping society. We have to see the world from their eyes and bodies and can distinguish between myths and facts. We have to acknowledge their contributions to our lives.
It is time we begin our path of rightiosness the path of real Islamic values and principles. It is about time we remember those hidden children and individual and look at their needs as well as their family’s needs. There will be a column didcated to provide information to the public about exceptionalities and issues related to individuals with special needs.
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