The Development of LD Education in Saudi Arabia: Services and Implications for the future

Year 2018, Volume: 2 Issue: 2, 83 - 96, 30.12.2018

Modhawi Abdulrazaq Almedlij Eliane Betina Rubinstein-ávila

Abstract

Saudi Arabia has been consistently honing its educational services for
students with Learning disabilities (LD) since the recognition of the category
by the Ministry of education in 1996. This review includes scholarly published
articles and government websites to address the following research questions:
1) What were the main factors to influence the educational services offered to
students with LD in Saudi Arabia within the past decade? 2)  To what extent have these changes been
implemented across genders?  We conclude
that the main factors include: legislation implementation, government support,
awareness level of the society, globalization, and an increase in specialized
cadre of Saudi special education professionals. Also, at this time, the LD
services are equal across gender. 
Future research should focus on establishing a more specialized
identification process, and provide greater training opportunities for both
general and special education teachers on the needs of students with LD. Also,
the authors suggest that highlighting the impact of collaboration between
regular and special education teachers are essential.

 

Keywords

Learning disabilities, special education, public education, Saudi Arabia

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