DUBAI // Social workers with special-needs support groups called for psychological advice and genetic counselling for families yesterday, as the parents who abandoned their six-month-old baby in hospital because he has disabilities finally took him home.
“The family must be counselled right away so they don’t take it as a curse,” said Safia Bari, founder of Special Needs Future Development Centre. “Constant interaction with the family will help them accept the child rather than it becoming a source of tension and pressure.”
Neena Nizar, a volunteer with Special Families Support, said: “In this part of the world where you have marriages between blood relatives, people need genetic counselling. People don’t know about such counselling, they have no idea.”
The baby boy was born prematurely in Dubai Hospital in August, and transferred to Latifa Hospital with respiratory complications. He is suffering from a neurological disorder and epilepsy. The parents, who have an older child with disabilities, stopped visiting the baby late last year.
Police had sought advice on prosecuting the Emirati couple for abandoning their child. “We don’t want people to hate our department,” said Col Mohammed Abdullah Al Mur, director general of Dubai Police’s Human Rights Department.
“We are just doing our job because we must tell parents not to leave their child even if it has problems in the hospital. But we will follow the baby every month in the future. Our staff will visit the home and make a report.”
Social workers said constant follow-up would ensure that the parents came to terms with the child.
They have called for long-term medical aid, not only for Emirati families but also for expatriates who have children with disabilities. Education and genetic counselling was vital, they said, particularly in cases where marriages take place within the same family.
Ms Bari – who has three daughters, the eldest a slow learner – said the integration of people with disabilities into mainstream society, particularly among Emiratis, was required.
“Compared with 30 years ago, you do see some special-needs children or adults on the streets, but you still don’t see many local children with special needs. They must be encouraged to take their children outside instead of leaving them at home with nannies.”
Mrs Nizar, who has the Jansen disorder that is characterised by skeletal and joint abnormalities, said: “A second child also with special needs comes as another shock to parents. They think, ‘How will we cope?’”
Mrs Nizar said the need for genetic counselling was never made clear to her during her pregnancies. Her condition has passed on to her two young sons. The boys will require multiple operations to correct bone growth, as she did.
“The spotlight is now on the parents, and they need counselling to deal with all these emotions. If you already have one child with special needs, genetic counselling can help parents take an informed decision about a pregnancy.”
The father of the abandoned baby had told the police that although the child had trouble breathing at birth, he did not at first have any other disabilities. He also told police that he had complained to the department of health in Dubai that although pre-natal tests did not show any sign of disability, the child’s condition had worsened later.
After the parents abandoned the baby, hospital authorities contacted the police force’s women and children department.
The hospital said the child could be taken home since he required no further medical care. The police have offered to help financially, but the father has declined to accept any aid.
“I hope there are more laws to protect a child so this does not happen to another child,” Col Al Mur said.
“If the father feels some mistake has been made, that is another case for the court, but he cannot be allowed to punish his son. The child had to go home. He needs the care from his parents.”
rtalwar@thenational.ae
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
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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.
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
Five famous companies founded by teens
There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
- Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
- Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
- Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
- Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
- Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Three tips from La Perle's performers
1 The kind of water athletes drink is important. Gwilym Hooson, a 28-year-old British performer who is currently recovering from knee surgery, found that out when the company was still in Studio City, training for 12 hours a day. “The physio team was like: ‘Why is everyone getting cramps?’ And then they realised we had to add salt and sugar to the water,” he says.
2 A little chocolate is a good thing. “It’s emergency energy,” says Craig Paul Smith, La Perle’s head coach and former Cirque du Soleil performer, gesturing to an almost-empty open box of mini chocolate bars on his desk backstage.
3 Take chances, says Young, who has worked all over the world, including most recently at Dragone’s show in China. “Every time we go out of our comfort zone, we learn a lot about ourselves,” she says.
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.
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