When Rana Atassi’s middle son Jad was two, he was diagnosed with autism.
“I did it all by the book to try to make him better – intensive therapy, alternative medicine, supplements, you name it, I did it,” says Ms Atassi, a Syrian mum-of-three whose husband owns an IT company, adding that she then “became severely depressed”.
That was in 2009. A year later she set up a blog, autismindubai.com, as a way to support families like hers coming to terms with the condition. However, it soon became a “Yellow Pages for autism in Dubai”, she says.
“Unfortunately when it comes to autism, like with many industries, one or two centres market themselves tremendously – but that doesn’t mean they’re the best. And others cannot afford the marketing, but they’re doing an amazing job,” she explains. “So I upgraded the website to include all the centres, activities, schools, anything related to autism in Dubai, all free of charge.”
Seven years later, Ms Atassi has taken her mission even further – last October launching Modern Alternative Education (MAE), a school that claims to be the first and only learning centre in Dubai to fill the gap between mainstream and special needs learning.
It took four years of planning to open, a journey that started when she noticed how the cost of extra occupational and speech therapy (Dh400 for a 45-minute session) was financially crippling some families in her online network. “Even the cheapest unqualified therapist is Dh200 per hour, and these services aren’t generally covered under normal medical insurance,” she explains.
So in 2012, under the umbrella of the Red Crescent, Ms Atassi reached out to corporates in Dubai to sponsor the treatment of those most in need. In all, 22 children have been helped through her fundraising. Although the recipients tended to come from lower-income families, Ms Atassi says that’s not always the case. “If you have a couple of kids and one of them is autistic and requires 20 to 40 hours a week of applied behaviour analysis, you don’t necessarily have to be on a low income for autism to bankrupt you.”
With additional therapy, Ms Atassi’s own son has “improved tremendously”; his autism is now considered “mild to moderate”. But nevertheless, he was still rejected by 22 mainstream schools. “I had a live-in therapist to go everywhere with him, but they still didn’t accept him,” says Ms Atassi. “Their excuse was that he is non-verbal.”
Ms Atassi discovered she was not alone. Despite the extra therapy, most of the children she fundraised for ended up at schools more suited to those with severe special needs. “This raised so many questions,” says Ms Atassi.
While Jad was eventually accepted into a mainstream school, she found this did not suit his needs either. “He would sit there colouring while they were doing their times tables – this is not inclusion.”
So the mum took drastic action, deciding to fill the gap between special needs and mainstream education in Dubai by setting up MAE.
Her first step was to learn more about special needs education via a training programme at Little Friends, a Chicago autism centre – a business model she later decided to replicate. “They have 22 small villas, and all their classes are small in size. I wanted MAE to feel like a family environment, where we know all the kids’ names.”
Because Little Friends is an American governmental non-profit organisation, MAE couldn’t be its franchise. “But we are under their umbrella with our registration and application forms,” Ms Atassi explains, adding that licensing, approvals and finding the right affiliates and staff were the biggest obstacles in her entrepreneurial venture.
The school is housed in a villa in Al Wasl on a large plot of land. Jad is one of 15 students now enrolled there, and it has capacity for 35 more. All are ages eight to 18, with mild to moderate learning difficulties. “It helps that they all have each other,” says Ms Atassi, who has received placment requests from families in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
For 14-year-old Abhishek from India, MAE has provided the “middle way” between mainstream and special needs schools, according to his mum Anjana Nair. “The pressure on him was too much at a mainstream school, but at the special needs school he attended, they thought he was incapable of learning anything. At this school, they are trying to teach him things. They seem to be aware that he can learn, but they do it at his pace.”
Ms Nair concedes that the fees (Dh79,000 to Dh98,000 a year depending on the required teacher-student ratio) are not the cheapest in Dubai, but says the school provides value for money. “They’re using the money to get good professionals in who are trained to know how to handle these children.”
So far, Ms Atassi has hired 10 professionally trained special education staff.
She says if she decides to grow her non-profit school, she will duplicate the villa model, rather than expand the current facility. “I want the school to become solid first,” she adds. “Then we’ll talk about future possibilities.”
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Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Schedule:
Pakistan v Sri Lanka:
28 Sep-2 Oct, 1st Test, Abu Dhabi
6-10 Oct, 2nd Test (day-night), Dubai
13 Oct, 1st ODI, Dubai
16 Oct, 2nd ODI, Abu Dhabi
18 Oct, 3rd ODI, Abu Dhabi
20 Oct, 4th ODI, Sharjah
23 Oct, 5th ODI, Sharjah
26 Oct, 1st T20I, Abu Dhabi
27 Oct, 2nd T20I, Abu Dhabi
29 Oct, 3rd T20I, Lahore
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TRAINING FOR TOKYO
A typical week's training for Sebastian, who is competing at the ITU Abu Dhabi World Triathlon on March 8-9:
- Four swim sessions (14km)
- Three bike sessions (200km)
- Four run sessions (45km)
- Two strength and conditioning session (two hours)
- One session therapy session at DISC Dubai
- Two-three hours of stretching and self-maintenance of the body
ITU Abu Dhabi World Triathlon
For more information go to www.abudhabi.triathlon.org.
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Britain's travel restrictions
- A negative test 2 days before flying
- Complete passenger locator form
- Book a post-arrival PCR test
- Double-vaccinated must self-isolate
- 11 countries on red list quarantine
Pakistan Super League
Previous winners
2016 Islamabad United
2017 Peshawar Zalmi
2018 Islamabad United
2019 Quetta Gladiators
Most runs Kamran Akmal – 1,286
Most wickets Wahab Riaz –65
The specs
Engine: 4 liquid-cooled permanent magnet synchronous electric motors placed at each wheel
Battery: Rimac 120kWh Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide (LiNiMnCoO2) chemistry
Power: 1877bhp
Torque: 2300Nm
Price: Dh7,500,00
On sale: Now
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League quarter-final (first-leg score):
Juventus (1) v Ajax (1), Tuesday, 11pm UAE
Match will be shown on BeIN Sports
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