Vocational Rehabilitation and employment

Vocational Orientation

The vocational orientation phase is an extension of what the student gathered since childhood on various educational, behavioral, and social skills, independence and self-reliance skills, and developing their skills while considering their physical and cognitive abilities. This stage also takes into consideration the students’ professional tendencies, training in various professions, prepare them for the work environment, and include them with their peers.

The education at this phase is not limited to what’s mentioned above but also includes; personal development, training them on the appropriate manners, behaviors, etiquette, assessing various situations, and enhancing the student’s ability to accomplish various tasks, which all contributes to enhancing student’s ability to adapt to the work environment in the future.

Each student is assessed and an individual plan is designed for each student that taking into consideration his abilities in general, professional abilities are evaluated and individual abilities and limitations are taken into consideration, based on which achievable objectives are set and progress is monitored against them. It includes training on areas and skills that are useful for everyday life and the desired work domain.

Vocational Training

Vocational training and employment are very significant all over the world, in the UAE Federal law 29 was applied in organizations to increase the employment of people of determination, in addition to the international agreements and contracts the UAE has done as a result of this law. Employing people of determination not only helps improve the society but also increases people of determination’s self-esteem, confidence, and self-sufficiency.

Vocational training has a noteworthy effect on qualifying people of determination and preparing them for future work placement. Vocational training starts from fourteen years old and it extended for a couple of years until the individual has all the skills and abilities that are beneficial for his/her career. The current problem that this program is facing is that the job market doesn’t understand people of determination’s needs especially the females, which may eventually result in unemployment of people of determination even after the vocational training, moreover, there has been a small effort from companies to apply law 29 and employ people of determination because the law doesn’t impose or force companies and organizations to employ people of determination.

The association’s services have not just been limited to people with Down syndrome, however, the services have been extended all over the diverse society, additionally, the association made sure to raise and spread the social awareness about Down syndrome.

The association was able to give hope to the families that have been waiting to receive the services. The services that are offered by the association are internationally well known, and certified to be effective. The association has been always looking forward to setting high standards and has a futuristic vision to be internationally known.

Through many training programs, the association has been able to support and encourage people with Down syndrome to be professionally qualified and suitable for the work environment, and also to be productive members in the society and in their families.

Internal Vocational Training

The robotics club

As a result of the inclusion plan that combined and trained students in the Applied Technology High school and in the Robotic Program in Dubai Center for people of determination; the robotic club was established by the association in 2019. The club’s purpose is to qualify people of determination and empower them in the field of technology and innovation, which allows and enables them to shine and compete against other schools in national competitions. The training is provided by volunteers from a leading technology company.

Targeted Group:

People with Down Syndrome aged 12 and above.

The project objectives

Offering training services for people with Down syndrome in the field of applied technology
Qualifying and training people with Down syndrome into being creative in building robots, programming, and automatic control
Training and teaching the learners about applied technology and artificial intelligence
Include and engage the learners in the national school competitions
Achieving psychological, social, and behavioral benefits for people with Down syndrome.

External Vocational Training with Partners

The association has connections with several companies that offer unique training and qualifying programs to people of determination and these programs continue for more than 6 months, and it contained a lot of jobs and careers such as food preparation, flowers arrangement, cleaning, arranging room, and office work etc.

Shangri-La hotel – Dubai
Swissotel Al Ghurair – Dubai
Career qualification – yearly courses

The association offers specialized courses for people of determination such as photography

Employment

The association works on training and qualifying people with Down syndrome on being able to find the careers that fit their abilities, interests and the job market demands, consequently, they can be productive members of the society. People of determination point of view on employment is not only limited on being equal or having the same rights as others, however, their view expands on providing for their families, reducing the financial expenses, achieving their goals, and meeting their needs.

Many sociological and psychological researches have suggested that unemployed people view themselves negatively as they are unable to provide and achieve their goals. Moreover, unemployed people have low self-esteem and high anxiety which can be reflected in their behavior and their feelings towards other people, therefore work and employment are very significant for everyone especially people of determination.

The association’s development and sustainability objectives are not limited to developing career qualification programs; however, it expands on developing and improving all types of qualification programs.

Employment Strategy

The association’s employment strategy is:

Meeting and evaluating people with Down syndrome that are candidates for the vocational training and employment to determine their abilities and readiness.
Contacting the appropriate sites
Checking the workplace safety and security to see if it’s suitable for the trainees
Train the workplace staff on how to deal with a person with Down syndrome
The supervisor evaluates the trainee after the training period
Offering support for the trainee after employment until he/she settles Down and feels competent.