Amman- 8 December 2022
The Vision Rehabilitation Center (VRC) at the German Jordanian University (GJU) held an awareness symposium on overcoming challenges to reach an inclusive society for people with visual disabilities in the presence of the Honorary President of the VRC Council, His Excellency Dr. Bassam Al-Talhouni, the Vice President of GJU, Prof. Malik Al-Sharairi, and the Director of the Center, Prof. Muhammad Hamed.
The symposium aimed to raise awareness about the issue of visual impairment and the importance of cooperation and coordination between experts and specialists to exchange experiences and viewpoints.
Dr. Sharairi stated that the symposium is part of GJU's efforts to serve the community, praising the Center's unique role as the only provider of rehabilitation and training services in Jordan through activities, initiatives, and projects to rehabilitate people with visual disabilities. He also pointed out GJU's tendency to take responsibility for improving the quality of life of people with visual impairment within the community to fully participate in their society and integrate into it in the best possible way.
For his part, Al-Talhouni explained the extent to which this type of disability affects their independency, psychological state, and engagement in society. He specified some difficulties such as mobility, sighting distant objects such as signs, and television, recognizing faces, and performing close tasks, especially reading, and thus complications in education and work.
Al-Talhouni stressed that success in achieving the goals and their continuity lies in cooperation and coordination between the concerned authorities and work on permanent continuity and development, indicating the importance of the symposium to open discussion, communication, and networking between decision-makers, specialists, and people with visual challenges to come up with practical steps and proposals for participatory projects.
Moreover, Dr. Hamed indicated that the symposium seeks to raise awareness among the various groups of society about visual impairment so that they feel accepted and welcomed in society and the workplace. He explained that the center works to reduce anxiety, improve the quality of life, and enable them to be productive and active and break the cycle of poverty and disability by providing services and assistive devices at low or free cost.
The symposium topics and discussions were moderated by GJU doctor Dr. Hatif Waar and the visual rehabilitation specialist at VRC, Maysa Massoud. It covered topic of the importance of cooperation between the various institutions to reach an inclusive and productive society, the challenges and difficulties faced by people with disabilities, the importance of inclusive education in schools and its methods, the challenges related to orientation and mobility, and the importance of environmental modifications in facilitating movement.
People with visual disabilities, their families, caregivers, and specialists from the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education, the Royal Academy for the Blind, the University of Jordan, the Hashemite University, the Friendship Association for the Blind, Al-Diyaa Charitable Association, the Vocational Training Corporation, and the Traffic Institute participated in the discussions.
