The Help Center’s 4th Symposium in January 2009 entitled “Young Adults & Beyond … Towards a Secure and Stable Future” will address all issues related to the adulthood of persons with disabilities: centers and services, medical care, employment & sheltered workshops, aging, marriage, legislation, and many other topics of vital importance.

The main objective of the 2009 Symposium on “Young Adults & Beyond & Beyond” is to enhance and support equal opportunity for and enhance the lives of persons with disabilities and their families. The Symposium will target eight segments of our society with the following aims:

• To highlight the efforts of the Government in Saudi Arabia particularly in the last three decades to protect the rights of Disabled through various legislations. The latest Legislation was in 1421 H – 2000 G called “Disabled care System” in 16 articles.
  
  
• To trigger the Government to consider how persons with disabilities will age, where they will go and who will be responsible to take care of them in hope that they will establish homes for elderly persons with disabilities or another form of living, such as living in a family like in SOS children villages or sheltered living settings, etc; and set up funds to cover for their costly aging.
  
  
• To trigger the Government to make the main cities disability-friendly, e.g. for persons with physical disabilitites: side walks with ramps, larger toilets, larger doors and elevator doors, etc; for persons with hearing impairement and visual impairement: sound and light triggered buttons in elevators, at doors, at pedestrian crossings, etc…
  
  
• To trigger the business community to partner through sponsorships with specialized centers in promoting the rights of persons with special needs, and influencing other members of the community in considering setting up centers that would provide services that complement the existing ones; to encourage business establishments to create employment opportunities for persons with disabilities.
  
  
• To make members of our society more aware of the existence of persons with disabilities; their capabilities; their rights; etc.
  
  
• To make persons with disabilities and their families aware of facilities and services available to them and their children to secure their future.
  
  
• To bring together specialized centers and layout the role of each center in complementing each other towards the main purpose of enhancing the lives of persons with disabilities, through training -- not only for those who were fortunate to attend specialized centers, but more for those who were not.
  
  
• To trigger educational institutions to focus on developing tools and programs for fields that complement and are related to special education; to make them aware of the capabilities of persons with special needs and increase acceptance of students with disabilities, through inclusion and mainstreaming.
  
  
• To promote companies and factories who specialize in medical equipment for persons with disabilities and medical institutions.
  
  
• Conduct a “Saudi National Survey” about existing legislations (to probe if these legislations are applied or not; if some components of the legislation are translated into feasible programs, etc…)
  
  
• To outline the role of media specialists and their respective media in supporting and promoting persons with disabilities.
  
  

The symposium will host workshops and lectures. Conductors will be parents and other family members of persons with disabilities; authorities from the Government; specialized centers; medical institutions; the business community who have experience in employment of persons with disabilities; etc… The Symposium targets persons with disabilities and their families; prominent Government figures and authorities; prominent members of the business community and corporate entities; medical institutions and medical companies; educational institutions as well as other specialized centers.

The 2009 Symposium on “Young Adults & Beyond” will be hosted at the Help Center in Jeddah, January 2009. The exact dates and schedule will follow in the near future.

 

• Lectures & Workshops
• Booths to promote Government authorities, universities, medical institutions, specialized
• Displays from companies specialized in medical equipment

For additional information on presenting a paper, a lecture and/or a workshop; being a member of a panel; and attending as a member of the audience, please contact:

• P.O. Box 51890 Jeddah 21553, KSA
• Tel:  (+966-2) 663 1113 Ext 2022 or 2018
• Fax: (+966-2) 668 3109
• Email:pr@helpcenter.med.sa