Report on the Field Survey Process for NUDEM Organization for People with Special Needs

2021-09-20
The idea of the research is based on integrating and activating the role of people with special needs within their local communities, where the problem of the handicapped and the disability lies in the different social conditions that are predisposed to the disability, which put unjustified restrictions and obstacles and are not based on scientific visions for the participation of the disabled in life activities.
- Numerous studies indicate that the problems of life and compatibility for people with special needs are not due to injury or disability in and of itself but rather are mainly due to the way society views them.
The Research's Concept:
Human development; the development of action on the one hand and the development of interaction on the other hand. Meaning that human development must include the development of human capital and social capital at the same time to the institutional system, relations, prevailing culture and traditions that affect all members of society, including those with special needs, which is reflected in participation in social and economic interactions that have a direct impact on the development process and its continuity.
Research goal:
• The research aims to integrate people with special needs into society.
• Changing the prevailing culture of disability by defining the roles that community members and institutions can contribute
• Achieving social normalization of this group and their acceptance, in order to reach the development of policies and mechanisms that work to integrate them into all development issues
• Work to restore confidence and self-reliance among people with special needs in order to integrate them into society.
Research Importance:
The importance of the research comes from emphasizing that disability is basically created under certain social conditions, even if it has a formative or genetic origin
The social context is the main variable and the difference in the emergence of social and behavioral conditions with all its negative repercussions on the disabled, which requires a change in the prevailing culture by adopting a strategy of integrating and enabling people with special needs of social participation and give them the chance to benefit from the advantages and services produced by community institutions for non-disabled people.
Subject and Community of the Research:
The research was applied in the city of Qamishli between 1 to 30 June 2021, and all disabled people of all kinds were targeted in a regular manner. These cases were studied through individual interviews and also observation as a research tool.
The research was carried out in the city of Qamishli between 1 to 30 June 2021, and all people with special needs of all kinds were targeted in a regular manner. The cases were surveyed through the individual interview and also observation as a research tool.
 Analysis of the responses of the field study cases.
 Persons working in the field of education for people with special needs.
 The negative social attitudes towards the disabled.
 The view of the disabled as a social burden with no benefit due to their disability.
 The basis for improving the status of the disabled in society depends on changing social attitudes and beliefs.
 This is achieved through awareness-raising programs for members of the community on all issues of disability and the handicapped.
 Making fundamental structural changes in the educational system in terms of its legislative frameworks and procedures to accommodate the disabled within its framework by providing various educational opportunities available to non-disabled people.
 Those interested in issues of people with special needs.
Their opinions indicated that society’s view is based on avoiding them and not accepting them, especially in cases of severe disability. This refers to the behavior of their families by trying to isolate them. They also see that society is fully and directly responsible for the care, education and rehabilitation of people with special needs. This is done through a change in the social atmosphere in order to achieve their integration into society and to focus on the fact that the disabled is an individual and can produce with his/her abilities and have value. Their problems must be dealt with as a humanitarian and moral duty before they are considered a social and national duty, and even the creation of the appropriate environment that contributes to their compatibility and adaptation with their non-disabled peers by making the conditions surrounding them comforting and not mistreating them in any way.

It is clear from the analysis of their responses that:
1. Work on activating the interest in the people with special needs themselves and their abilities and special characteristics that are to be focused on and developed.
2. The decrease of the various forms of social and psychological support for the disabled and their families
3. Requiring the provision of all health care services.
4. Supporting vocational rehabilitation institutions working in the field of disability

Families of People with Special Needs:
They expressed their satisfaction with the decree of God, and that this is their destiny. As for the community, they indicated that they are busy with other issues except for their assistance in some formal matters and often they are not implemented according to the cases of the field study. They believe that the problems their children with special needs face are many and varied and make a heavy burden on the family.
Among these issues:
 Issues at the family level that are represented in their feelings that their child is handicapped, so they provide him with all the help and therefore they harm him because they do not give him the chance to use his abilities and try to develop them despite their knowledge of this. They believe that such cases need other institutions that deal with the child in an objective scientific manner outside his family, which are not available in the rural community.
 As for institutions and services, there are clear shortcomings at the health and educational level.
 At the level of community members, the view ranges between pity or distancing and rejection, especially if his condition is severe, forcing the family to isolate him as a stigma attached to the family.

It is clear from the analysis of their responses:
 The lack of health care services for these families, especially early detection services
 Inadequate early intervention services
 People with special needs do not get many rights and services compared to their non-disabled peers
 Financial disability and poor health care increase the suffering of the disabled and their families, and this is reflected in their low participation in community activities and their tendency to isolation.
 There are no job opportunities for this category
The Most Important Recommendations of the Research:
1. Disability is a social issue in the first place born due to certain social conditions that limit the activation of what can be called surplus energy for the disabled. Therefore, the use of surplus energy depends on the education and awareness of society in its various systems related to social interaction and the psychological and behavioral characteristics of the disabled. Hence the importance of calling for the establishment of specialized scientific centers to study all issues related to disability and people with special needs.
2. Supporting the activities and programs of public NGOs in the field of care and training of the disabled and their families in various forms of financial and moral support
3. Establishing specialized social and sports gyms that provide a space for the disabled and their families to practice all sports and recreational activities
4. Establishing vocational training and rehabilitation centers to provide people with special needs with skills that enable them to work professionally to help them lead independent lives.
The number of children with disabilities (mental - physical - auditory and verbal - visual): 431
The number of females with disabilities (mental - physical - auditory and verbal - visual): 326
The number of males with disabilities (mental - physical - auditory and verbal - visual): 456
The total number of people with disabilities in Qamishli: 1213