Abu Dhabi mums hope to Inspire special needs children to engage

Heidi Pezzotta and Sema Faulkner have started Inspire to provide a community for families of special-needs children.

From left, Charlotte, 11, her mother, Heidi Pezzotta, Sema Faulkner, and her son Oliver, 9. Mrs Pezzotta and Mrs Faulkner have set up Inspire and are organising the Festival of Learning at The British School Al Khubairat in Abu Dhabi. Mona Al Marzooqi / The National
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ABU DHABI // Two mothers are bringing together families with special-needs children through a group they have started.

Inspire provides support and information, and organises sporting and social get-togethers supported by local, qualified providers.

Inspire’s founders, British mothers Heidi Pezzotta and Sema Faulkner, are holding their first event, called Festival of Learning, on Saturday at their children’s school, The British School Al Khubairat.

The event will launch Dyslexia Awareness Week (October 4 to 8) to highlight the condition, which affects about 10 per cent of the UAE’s population. Pupils are being encouraged to wear a purple ribbon to support the campaign.

“The festival will be a celebration of learning,” said Mrs Pezzotta, 39, whose 11-year-old daughter Charlotte is dyslexic.

“The more we understand about particular conditions, the better our children will do at school, because we can support them better.”

When Mrs Faulkner, 38, moved to Abu Dhabi four years ago with her husband and three children, she had no idea who to turn to for the right support for her eldest son Oliver, who has cerebral palsy.

“In school he has a learning-support assistant, but to cater for his multi-agency therapists, clinical and social needs, there was no community or educational support network.”

Mrs Faulkner missed being able to chat to someone who understood what she was going through.

“The private therapy sessions are tiring for the child and the family. Because there are no group therapy sessions in which to meet similar families, it becomes isolating for the child, who needs reassurance and social integration, and for the families, who are looking to find support among each other,” she said.

Oliver was not able to enrol in extra-curricular activities or clubs, something he found “quite frustrating”.

Mrs Faulkner was convinced that the exercise and peer integration that after-school sports provide was important for all special-needs children.

Last winter she helped to set up the Try Rugby group for eight children with special educational needs, who were paired with junior players of the Harlequins rugby team at Zayed Sports City.

“Each one buddies up with a child, so for that hour, that other child feels like they’ve got a friend,” she said. “We have a couple of children who don’t speak, so when you get that cuddle and see the smiles on their faces at the end of the session, you know you’ve succeeded.”

Mrs Faulkner wanted to do more and heard about another Al Khubairat mother, Mrs Pezzotta, and her Facebook group – Dyslexia and special-education support Abu Dhabi.

Mrs Pezzotta set up the group a year ago for parents to discuss online – and over coffee – how they could best support their children and find local specialists. By December, the group had 70 members. “Lots of parents whose children had other special needs, but who didn’t have anywhere else to go were asking to join the group,” Mrs Pezzotta said.

Mrs Faulkner attended one of Mrs Pezzotta’s coffee mornings and the two joined forces. In June, they called the newly formed group Inspire, with monthly coffee mornings arranged for their 310 members.

“It’s the face-to-face contact that parents really need,” said Mrs Faulkner. “Some days you just need a hug, and to know that the person you’re sitting next to you understands what you’re going through.”

The free Festival of Learning event will feature talks by an educational psychologist, a Dots and Links brain-trainer, a speech and language therapist, as well as workshops for the children.

Inspire is planning a Family Fun Day and has already timetabled “Inspirational Hours” at the Zayed Sports City Ice Rink, exclusively for special-needs children.

The mothers are also in discussions to soon add football, an equestrian centre event and more to the timetable.

Mrs Pezzotta wants to inspire her daughter Charlotte to achieve anything she puts her mind to – “as other dyslexics like Steve Jobs, Richard Branson and Pablo Picasso have done”.

“We’re giving them the tools so they can move through life with as much support and confidence as possible,” Mrs Pezzotta said.

The Festival of Learning will be held at The British School Al Khubairat in Al Mushrif, from 11am to 3.30pm on Saturday.

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