The Learning Support Department (LSD) was established during the academic year 2013/2014 in coordination with the SKILD center located in Mansourieh. First, they supported us a lot, but now we refer some cases to them for assessment, and they send a speech therapist to support us with our work.
The Learning Support Department meets the needs of students who have learning difficulties from the kindergarten to secondary classes.
The following people work in this department:
- Special Educators (Arabic, French, English and Math)
- Occupational Therapists
- Speech Therapists
- Art Therapist
Special education specialists work with students who have learning, emotional, and/or physical disabilities. They implement general education lessons and teach various subjects to students with mild to moderate disabilities, and basic skills that meet their needs. Students are given individual sessions in languages (Arabic, first foreign language) and mathematics. Special educators rely on appropriate techniques that meet students’ abilities and help them grasp the concepts taught. In addition, students also benefit from sessions with speech therapists and occupational therapists that help them overcome the challenges faced in those areas.
It all begins when the teacher notices any challenges in the students’ academic performance or any inappropriate behavior. Then, he/she is referred to the head of department, and the school counselor is also notified. After that, the student is referred to the LSD where the special educator specialist provides the teacher with a checklist to identify the students’ strengths and weaknesses, in addition to observations done by the therapist and the counselor. After following this systematic procedure, a decision is taken based on what suits the student’s situation more: recommendations to the teachers, a screening assessment by the special educator, or the student is referred to a specialized center to make a formal psycho-educational assessment.
Full assessments clarify if the student needs to be followed up by the specialists in the LSD.
At first, an individual education plan (IEP) is determined by the specialists and followed up through individual sessions; then, lessons and exams are adapted and modified in coordination with the teachers to meet the student’s abilities.
The Learning Support Department conducts training sessions and educational workshops to teachers, parents, students, and to the public aiming at disseminating the culture of integration and accepting the differences by the community as a whole.
We contact the Ministry of Education, and each student has a report showing his/her learning difficulties. We also prepare a follow-up plan starting from grade 7 which allows him/her to benefit from modified versions of the official exams based on his/her abilities.