THE EDUCATION AND TRAINING

The Center’s curriculum is an integrated approach to the teaching and learning process. Our curriculum is also the product of teaching experience, methodical observation of children’s educational needs and a thorough consultation by each section’s teachers, therapists and other special educators working at Dubai Center for Special Needs. It aims to make each student enrolled at the Center an independent learner, well-equipped with skills necessary to integrate into daily life outside of the Center.

Building life skills is a primary focus for our students. These are integrated into all learning areas and a separate section is also provided in this curriculum to emphasize the significance of life skills in the student learning process. The life skills program is interwoven in all learning activities of the students at the Center. Each section (academic, nursery, prevocational and multi-sensory) has a separate program that is tailored to meet each student’s needs.

Rehabilitation (occupational therapy, speech therapy and physiotherapy) also plays a vital role in the success of the curriculum as it is essential to helping students overcome their mental, physical, social/emotional and behavioral challenges.

Moreover, the curriculum covers fundamental domains that are vital in the education of students at the Center: rehabilitation, literacy and numeracy, science and theme activities, arts and humanities, life skills, work placement, leisure activities, multi-sensory, PE/swimming and computer/IT. Social and emotional maturity is also a vital part of all learning encounters at the Center.

Nursery Section
Children learn most of their early concepts through play and “trial and error.” Designed to cater to the needs of young children in the age group of four to seven years old, our Nursery Section is primarily geared towards play-based learning.

In order to offer the best possible program, the program utilizes a multi-sensory approach which incorporates components from various teaching methods such as Montessori and Conductive Education.

Academic Section
The Academic Section is primarily a curriculum-based program which caters to the needs of students in the age group of seven to eighteen years old. Focus is placed on academic learning with emphasis on all developmental skill areas such as self-help, social skills and safety.

Reasoning, problem solving and generalization are the keys to success and this program offers a wide range of opportunities to strengthen these skills.

Prevocational Section
As our students approach the end of their academic studies at DCSN, they begin prevocational training. Students in this section are actively involved in various work placements. Work placements emphasize the development of social interaction and work skills, facilitating independence and integration into society.

This involves visits to various organizations within the community where they can experience different environments and work tasks to prepare them to take their place in the working community. Through these various placements our students in the Prevocational section concentrate on gaining skills that will prove valuable to them finding work later on, which is crucial to achieving their ultimate goal of independence.

Dubai Center for Special Needs is extremely grateful to the below companies for opening their doors to our Pre-Vocational students.

DHL Express

Emirates Flight Catering

Gulf Cobla

Jumeirah Emirates Towers

Kempinski Hotel

National Bank of Dubai

Dubai Mall Aquarium

BackOffice Managed Solutions

Tellurian Book Production

The Charity Shop

The One

Union Co-operative Society

Emaar

Multi-Sensory Section
DCSN is the only Center in Dubai with a Multi-Sensory section which focuses on enhancing the five senses (touch, smell, sight, hearing, taste) for students with more complex needs.

Designed with the needs of children with severe physical and cognitive challenges in mind, the program is primarily management-based with an emphasis on learning through repetition. This program offers highly structured inputs to stimulate visual, auditory and tactile senses as well as maintain/improve gross and fine motor skills. All of these exercises are repeated with the goal of increasing participation in self-help skills.

Sensory skills provide feedback from the senses to the brain so that a child can interact with his or her environment successfully. These skills involve seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, tasting, balancing and body awareness. A student hearing a friend call their name, feeling cold water in a pool, smelling fresh cut grass, swinging on a swing (balance) and walking without looking at their feet (body awareness) are examples of sensory skills at work on a daily basis.

Students benefit from specially designed instruction that caters to their increased need for stimulation and building sensory skills. Their focus is the same as students in other sections which is to become as independent as possible.

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