(MENAFN- Khaleej Times)
Jawahar Alvi, who calls herself a proud Pakistani, had a dream. She is a Clinical Director/BCBA (Board Certified Behaviour Analyst) and wanted children with disabilities to have access to effective treatment in a therapeutic environment. Jawahar moved to Chicago in 2000 and started her career by working for a Montessori in the early childhood environment and worked in various capacities in the US for 17 years. She then moved to Dubai in 2015 and has worked hard to make her dream a reality.
Jawahar started the clinic RIFE USA in January 2016. The clinic provides Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) therapy, which is an evidence-based practice in the treatment of autism and other disabilities, occupational therapy, speech therapy, learning support and Wrap Around services, which helps the child to become a part of the community. Currently, the clinic has 40-plus children enrolled at the centre for different therapies.
The centre is Dubai Health Authority (DHA) approved and an outpatient care facility for special education. "We provide services in our day programme for children who are unable to go to mainstream schools, and attend classes from 8:30am to 2pm," said Jawahar. "These children get special education services where the curriculum is modified, adaptations are made, and receive one-on-one ABA services, speech therapy and occupational therapy services."
The clinic uses teaching practices that are aligned with common core standards of the US. They use the curriculum Unique, New2you and Ed helper.
"We have ABA-trained shadow teachers. Most of the time, shadow teachers are not trained properly and make themselves a crutch for their students. Therefore, the student cannot work without the shadow teacher. A crutch can never help a child be independent. We provide the right kind of training to shadow teachers, so that the skills can be generalised for the student and dependency on the shadow can be reduced," added Jawahar.
When asked if therapy helps improve the outcome in children with autism, Jawahar highlighted, "According to Dr Lovaas, a pioneer in the treatment for autism, Early Intensive Behavioural Intervention (EIBI) is intended to accelerate all aspects of development in young children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Lovaas started work in the field of early intensive behaviour intervention for toddlers and preschoolers with ASD. It has now evolved into many different models all of which combine a multiplicity of intervention procedures. Therefore, there is a lot of evidence that early therapy helps children become more functional and independent in the society."
When asked about future plans, Jawahar said that her mission is to provide quality services to every child with a disability. "We will be opening a branch soon in Bahrain. We are supervising MALAK special needs in Kuwait and plan to start in Oman as well."
She concluded by saying, "There is a lot of work that needs to be done in this field. We need to be honest, ethical and transparent in our services. We need to unite on this front and give our best to the individuals with disabilities."
Participating in the UAE 'Year of Giving'
The year 2017 has been announced as the 'Year of Giving' in the UAE, and RIFE USA aims to provide therapies to all clients, irrespective of whether they can afford to pay or not.
Jawahar said, "It is extremely hard for us to turn any parent away due to financial reasons. We have some scholars coming to our centre through whom we provide services free of cost. The average cost of ABA therapy for a client per month is Dh15,000 to Dh20,000. The families that we work with are from countries such as Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Philippines, Malaysia, Syria, Jordan and Egypt. The average income for these families is between Dh10,000 to Dh20,000 per month. No health insurance company covers the cost of any therapeutic services. Parents are pressured into taking loans, using credit cards or to send families back home to receive services but there are no proper services available in the home countries.
"At RIFE USA, only 10 per cent of clients attending the centre pay Dh10,000 per month. The rest pay an average of Dh5,500 per month. If a child cannot afford therapy we still provide services by qualified professionals at a rate affordable by the parents."
Serving Pakistan
On the occasion of Pakistan National Day, Jawahar said, "We are Pakistanis first before anything else in this world. All individuals living outside of Pakistan are warriors and we all fight our own battles. But in this field, we are warriors for our special children. As Pakistanis, we need to unite to do the best for not only our children, but also for all children with special needs."
Jawahar added that she is working closely with an NGO in Pakistan to start free clinical services in Lahore.
"I have trained Registered Behaviour Technician (RBT) therapists in Karachi and Islamabad. We visit Lahore every two months to set up a two- or three-day free clinic. Currently, we have served 16-17 individuals in Lahore and they are receiving therapy free of cost. We want to have a free therapy centre in Lahore where children can get free educational and psychological rehabilitation services. It is in the process and we are hoping to serve our population in Pakistan with great quality and passion," she added.
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