As the new school year begins
Dubai Autism Center opens (24) therapy rooms to reduce the increasing cases on the waiting lists
• The center's clinical services help remove obstacles during the post-diagnosis stage
• The expansion aims to provide 2,400 sessions per month in the clinic
• The Center has the largest multidisciplinary team in the region
• Increasing the capacity of the Center in both the school and clinic systems to reach 150 seats
The Dubai Autism Center (DAC) announced the opening of (24) therapy rooms at the DAC Clinic, which specializes in providing clinical services, in order to accommodate the increasing cases on waiting lists to obtain individual intervention sessions in the fields of applied behavior analysis (ABA), speech therapy and occupational therapy.
Hisham Abdullah Al Qassim, Chairman of the Dubai Autism Center, said: “Within the framework of the National Autism Policy, the Dubai Autism Center seeks to achieve leadership in overcoming the obstacles facing individuals with autism and their families, especially during the post-diagnosis stage,”
“Expanding the scope of DAC services in the Center comes in accordance with the objectives of Decree No (26) of 2021, issued by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, regarding the Dubai Autism Center,” Al Qassim added.
Mohammed Al Emadi, Director General of the Dubai Autism Center and Board Member said: “During the past academic year, the Dubai Autism Center witnessed an increasing demand for the center’s services due to the continued provision of free consultation sessions, as the current average number of individual sessions exceeded 900 sessions per month.
“Therefore, the center’s management has decided to open (24) therapy rooms for providing individual sessions in applied behavior analysis, speech therapy, and occupational therapy which would increase the number of sessions to 2,400 individual sessions per month,” Al Emadi stated.
“Therefore, the center’s management has decided to open (24) therapy rooms for providing individual sessions in applied behavior analysis, speech therapy, and occupational therapy which would increase the number of sessions to 2,400 individual sessions per month,” Al Emadi stated.
Al-Emadi indicated that the center’s management approved allocating (100) seats in the school and (50) seats in the clinic to accommodate the increasing cases for the academic year 2022-2023, explaining that the center’s multidisciplinary clinical team is the largest in the region, as it contains (50) Registered Behavior Technicians (RBT) supervised by a number of certified Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBA).
It is noteworthy that the number of students enrolled in the Dubai Autism Center has witnessed a steady increase since its establishment in 2001. The center received 16 students in 2003, and the number gradually increased until it reached 54 students in 2017 at its new integrated building. After that the number continued to increase until it reached 115 students this academic year. The students are received in facilities that have been fully equipped to suit their needs In a total built-up area of 166,000 square feet. It contains 34 classrooms, 22 motor therapy clinics, 18 speech therapy clinics, 3 rooms specialized in sensory therapy, and a number of laboratories, and medical clinics, all designed according to the latest specialized international standards, providing the appropriate educational environment for children with autism.