Introduction

SALIENT FEATURES

Extra Curriculum Activities: Extra Curriculum Activities play a very vital role in the quick rehabilitation of these special children. Al-Shifa provides an opportunity to the special children by making arrangement to develop their skills. Every Monday children go on trips. They have shopping visits, picnics and education trips on an alternate week. They visit the Banks, Post Office, Awami Markaz and Jinnah terminal etc. to observe their working. Fireman and Traffic Policeman also call to teach our children the uses of fire appliances and road signs. Children also go for swimming. Every Thursday children have some extra curriculum activities of their interest like vocational, art work, bait bazi, drawing etc. video movies are also shown to them which they enjoy very much.

Integration in to normal school: Each child is checked by a team of orthopedic doctor, child specialist, clinical psychologist and chief physiotherapist before the integration of children into normal school.

Al-Shifa Trust has a team of doctors and professional and we feel that every school should have the team like this. The team is consisting of the following members.

Workshop

Orthopedic Surgeon

Child Specialist

Clinical Psychologist

Director of Professional Services

Physiotherapists

Education Coordinator

Occupational therapist

Speech therapist Counselor

Orthotist

Physiotherapist of aids and equipment

Honorary Doctors & SurgeonsOrthopedic doctors visit once a week to check the indoor and outdoor patients and even do surgery where necessary. Child specialist comes once a week and check the indoor and out-door patients.

On the last Wednesday of every month we hold a meeting of the Board of Doctors to discuss the children and their behavior problem. Parents of the children are also called in Al-Shifa for attending this meeting.

Training Of Al-Shifa Staff Al-Shifa Trust is very keen to keep its staff abreast with latest techniques of treatment. In this context, Al-Shifa Trust sends its staff members to attend seminars, training courses and workshops within the country and abroad as well.

Seminars are held at Al-Shifa once in three months. Eminent doctors, child specialist, clinical psychologist, orthopedic surgeon, physiotherapist and professionals in this field, deliver their lectures. We invite the professional and students in this particular field to attend these seminars.

In-service training is also a regular feature of Al-Shifa. In-service training held once in two months in which Al-Shifa staff shares their knowledge with each other.

Vocational Training and Skill Development: We at Al-Shifa provide an opportunity to our special children to learn about some artwork, games, sewing, embroidery, and music etc. which helps them to improve their skills.

Self Employment after Acquiring Vocational Training and Skills: We are more interested to integrate the special children into normal schools, so that he/she may get education with normal children and be a successful citizen of the society. But if a child who is profoundly handicapped but is intelligent, he could learn through computer.

Many of our children get admission in normal schools and colleges after passing out from Al-Shifa and now they are independent and are useful citizen of the society. Some of them had training at Al-Shifa in making the articles from Plaster of Paris and now they are self-employed.

We are at Al-Shifa have 4 special employees who are working in our Bio-Engineering Workshop. Two of them are cerebral palsied and two are polio patients and we are proud to say that they are working very well.