International Collaboration Continues:

Under the Patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Bin Abdullah Al-Missned the Second Annual International Forum, hosted by the Shafallah Center for Children with Special Needs, will take an innovative approach to international alliance and current trends on the right to education for children with special needs. The Forum will bring together policymakers, educators, persons with disabilities, and leaders in the field to discuss how perceptions of disability are formed and transformed through media, creative arts, and education.

Pursuing the momentum created by the provisional text of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Forum will spotlight Article 8, raising public awareness. The 2007 Forum has taken the initiative to turn this text into a reality via three different media channels. In keeping with the Shafallah Center’s primary focus on educating children with disabilities, Sesame Workshop has created a compilation of clips from Alam SimSim and other Sesame Street episodes that directly attend to disability issues. This exciting and unique segment will be screened in classical Arabic to raise awareness, understanding, and respect for disabilities among Arab youth. The Shafallah Center continues to pursue its mission as it will present the launch of collaborative efforts with Anthony Kennedy Shriver’s Best Buddies® program, to encourage and support meaningful friendships between persons with disabilities and their typically developing peers.

The Forum has rallied leaders in the media and disability world for a networking exposition of magazines, radio shows, books, PSAs, and documentaries. Later, these inspiring documentaries will be screened for the opportunity of a true first hand glimpse into the lives of persons with disabilities. Through these pioneering media representations, the Forum will highlight media as a positive change agent in the transformation of disability, creating a truly inclusive society.

This discussion of media as a positive change agent continues with behind-the-scenes tours of the world-class Shafallah Center, first-hand student observations, and pertinent presentations by the Shafallah Center staff.