ABU DHABI, 4th January, 2023 (WAM) — The Zayed Higher Organisation for People of Determination (ZHO) affirmed its keenness to promote dissemination and use of the writing system used for the blind or visually impaired by the sense of touch “Braille” in all areas of life.
This comes as part of ZHO's commitment to supporting efforts to empower and integrate people of determination into society, and to provide the finest means of care and rehabilitation for all of their categories under its care, especially the blind and visually impaired.
As part of its support for the blind, ZHO established a blind care department within its structure to provide them with many specialised quality services. It includes the sole printing facility at the state level that prints all educational materials, curricula, educational and cultural aids, stories, and awareness books in Braille for the blind and visually impaired.
On the occasion of World Braille Day, ZHO stressed the importance of organising workshops and courses to prepare employees in government and private departments, institutions and companies to deal with the blind, and to meet the needs and challenges facing the blind to fully integrate into society by providing more facilitation services, and through the environmental adaptation of all facilities and working to enhance and complete successes achieved by the State in this context.
For her part, Naama Abdul Rahman Al Mansoori, Member of the Federal National Council, Director of the Blind Welfare Department at ZHO, confirmed that the celebration of the "World Braille Day" aims at raising community awareness of the importance of language in the life of the blind, as it is a means of reading to acquire education and knowledge, encouraging the blind or those suffering from severe impairment to read and write, and consolidating their actual presence in their communities, as well as allowing them to identify the problems they may face.
“The celebration aims also to find actual solutions to overcome their problems through the concerted efforts of international organisations, particularly the World Health Organisation,” she continued.
In a press statement, she affirmed that the Blind Welfare Department at ZHO provides a number of services related to the blind in government and private care and rehabilitation centres, and integration schools at the state level and universities.
“These services are printing books and curricula in Braille, printing exam forms and study abstracts for those interested in Braille, printing prominent educational aids, printing books and cultural stories in Braille, providing publications and guidelines in Braille to government agencies, as well as preparing electronic copies of all publications to make it easier for those with visual challenges, as well as providing training services for the blind and training them on specialised training programs for people with visual disabilities, and providing consulting services in the field of the blind to customers, whether students, their parents or teachers,” she added.