As mentioned above, the diagnosis and development of support mechanisms for children with LDs is one of the most significant barriers for Jordanian students wishing to complete their school education. According to the MoE, in 2004, 5% of all students at public schools were identified with LDs, however, according to the Ministry of Social Development (Ratrout, 2008) the estimated number could be as high as 12.6-30%. The lack of consensus among ministries is an apparent example of the confusion that has been at the root cause of the problems in planning comprehensive services for children in Jordanian schools or, at least, the effective utilisation of educational support services.
Despite 18 years of official involvement of the MoE in teaching and supporting students with SEN, the nature of public services available for children with SEN has not changed significantly. Furthermore, the establishment of the Department of Special Education has not significantly altered the way in which children with SEN or LDs are supported in schools.
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For example, the creation of the Assessment Section of the MoE was to facilitate referrals by offering a series of assessments for children who teachers or parents suspected have SEN or LDs. However, the Assessment Section does not have any long-term policy to identify children with LDs nationally, or provide universal support. Most of the work they undertake is based upon individual initiatives of the members of the centre, and the success or lack of success in identifying children with SEN or LDs depends upon the personal experience of the individual administering the diagnostic tests (Al-Natour, 2008). From my own experience in a mainstream school, most cases for assessment are referrals from angry and frustrated parents who do not know what else to do (see also Rogers, 2007a). As I noted earlier, parents of children with LDs often deny their children’s' disability or ignore it (Rogers, 2007a). At the same time most teachers do not have enough appropriate experience to respond to those children with LDs and, as a result, interventions are often put in place late on (Al-Natour et al., 2008).
While several studies have mentioned the benefits of early discovery of LDs (e.g.
Majnemer, 1998; Al-Natour et al., 2008; Dockrell & McShane, 1992; Snow et al., 1998; Hall
& Moats, 1998), it has also been shown that early assessment is more beneficial for parents giving them time to adapt and work through those negative attitudes that can develop. It has also been suggested that the stress levels are reduced where information about the nature of their child’s difficulty is provided and where a clear understanding of a child’s needs is provided alongside of services (Uskun & Gundogar, 2010). Tensions between parents or between parents and non-disabled siblings can also be addressed through active early intervention (Taanila et al., 2002) which several Jordanian parents object to, as identified in this study.
As previously stated, unlike other countries such as the UK, in Jordan there is no central national alerting system for SEN, and the main responsibility of the assessment rests with teachers in resource rooms (Al-Natour et al., 2008). As students with LDs and behavioural difficulties (especially with SpLDs) are currently not discovered until relatively late in their educational career, the need to understand the difficulties that teachers experience, and that hinder their effective participation in early assessment, are crucial. Many of the early warning signs of LDs tend not to be recognised by either teachers or parents, particularly where the teacher is inexperienced (Al-Natour et al., 2008) or denied by parents. Indeed, parents in Jordan often argue that their child is going ‘through a stage’ and the difficulties s/he is currently facing will pass in time.
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When I suggested that we should help Yasmeen by sending her for a further assessment in Amman, her mother's first word was: no. I looked at her and did not say anything and she did not bother to explain. when I spoke to the head teacher later who told me that the mother had told her that she discussed the matter within the family and she received a piece of advice from her mother -in- law that this is 'normal' and her daughter was like this when she was in Yasmeen's age and she is ok now.
(SEN teacher - public school)
Socio-cultural contexts also come into play (Turmusani, 1999; Hadidi, 1998): parents reported being ashamed of their child’s disability and trying to hide it from others. Social status and tradition are important to Jordanians, as is how other people see them. Thus, playing down a problem (Rogers, 2007a) is a common practice by parents of children with SEN in Jordan. Children with LDs lose several social learning opportunities as they are often hidden away by parents due to their strong feelings of social embarrassment and shame (Turmusani, 1999). Moreover, it is only at the age of 9 or 10 years (or in some cases even older) when there is a marked discrepancy in learning that parents may seek out support.
I have worked with children with LDs for more than eight years in Saudi Arabia and Jordan, and have worked with students with intellectual disabilities and SpLDs in a private school in Amman where SEN services are expected to be much better than other cities and the countryside. In addition to working in private schools, I have also worked as a classroom teacher in Zarqa where there were no resource room or local assessment centres. I have thus had first-hand experiences of the difficulties experienced by teachers, students and their parents. It was very common to hear parents, especially mothers, criticise the services that are available. In summary, their main criticism was that the assessment came too late and their child will lose many opportunities to be taught effectively.