The Academic and Vocational Rehabilitation Center was inaugurated in April 1980 to provide many rehabilitation, educational and professional services to children and youth with intellectual disabilities through two specialized units: the Academic Rehabilitation Unit and the Vocational Rehabilitation Unit.

Note: In view of the construction works and repairs currently in place in the building of the Academic and Vocational Rehabilitation Center, the Ministry announce that the services of the Academic and Vocational Rehabilitation Center will be transferred to Shaikhan Al Farsi Center for Total Communication until further notice.

The center seeks to integrate students in all forums and events to achieve the principle of participation and equality. It also celebrates annually the graduation of a group of male and female students affiliated with the center who have completed their vocational rehabilitation training programs and thus, assists their integration into the labour market.

Objectives:

1. To diagnose the condition of the persons with disabilities to reveal their physical and sensory aptitudes and abilities to design care programs and educational and vocational guidance to develop these capabilities.
2. To train persons with disabilities to acquire basic academic skills through an educational program that adapts to the different manifestations of disability.
3. To develop health awareness and acquire healthy habits through an integrated program for health education and prevention of diseases and accidents.
4. To develop and encourage the tendencies and skills of the persons with disabilities, which helps them to enrich their lives and occupy their spare time by means of recreational and entertainment programs, as well as social activities.
5. Achieving social adjustment, autonomy, and developing a sense of self-worth and psychological compatibility through an integrated program for counseling, guidance and mental health.
6. To propose and conduct studies, surveys and research related to persons with disabilities to plan future services for them.
7. To undertake the task of establishing and encouraging cooperative and productive societies for the persons with disabilities and to hold exhibitions and seminars highlighting their activities and vocational participation.

Programs and Services:

Academic Qualification Unit:

The Academic Rehabilitation Unit is concerned with the rehabilitation and training of children with mild and moderate intellectual disabilities, according to their special programs that help them with social integration and adaptation.

These Programs include the following:

• Basic academic skills.
• Self-sufficiency skills.
• Social skills.
• Technical skills (drawing).
• Physical education skills.
• Independence skills, including (home economics - handicrafts - library and learning resources).
• Kinetic education entertainment programs.
• Prepare special means for implementation of programs.

Professional Preparation Programs:

1. Qualifying students for basic elementary skills in professional preparation (theoretical).
2. Practical training on the basics of vocational training.
3. The integration of students into training and vocational rehabilitation programs after completing the academic and vocational preparation programs.
4. Granting the certificate of completing the academic qualifying programs.

The Vocational Rehabilitation Unit:

1. The Vocational Rehabilitation Unit is concerned with implementing vocational rehabilitation programs aimed at achieving the economic sufficiency of persons with disabilities by working, engaging in a profession and continuing with it.
2. Preparing appropriate professional programs for all disability groups integrated in the center, in addition to analyzing and adapting jobs and professions required in the labour market.

Occupation training is carried out through the following training workshops:

• Carpentry Workshop.
• Sewing and Crafts Workshop.
• Ceramic Workshop.
• Beauty Workshop.
• Computer Workshop
• Professional preparation workshop.
• Granting occupational qualification certificate after completing the training programs.
• Transferring graduate students to employment offices at the Ministry of Labor
• New workshops are being created according to the needs of the labour market.

Health and therapeutic care program:

1. Follow up the medical and periodic statements of students and open a special file for each of them.
2. Providing attention to students' health affairs, taking care of their hygiene and following up on their medical needs.
3. Carrying out the necessary measures to immunize students and those working with them.
4. Providing prosthetic devices for students who need them.
5. Conducting first aid for students at the center, or transporting them to the hospital when necessary.
6. Carry out periodic checks on students.

Psychological care programs:

1. Conducting psychological tests for students to determine their abilities and capabilities.
2. Providing individual therapeutic education according to the characteristics of each case with "behavior modification."
3. Providing group therapeutic education.

Social welfare program:

1. Study the social status of students and record all the changes occurring in their conditions.
2. Providing financial and in-kind assistance to needy cases.
3. Organizing field visits to public and private institutions.
4. Work to maintain the students ’relationship with their families and the community through mutual visits and joint programs.
5. Providing transportation to transport students from home to the center and vice versa.

Cultural, sports and entertainment programs:

1. Organize entertainment and educational trips for students.
2. Provide the opportunity for students to participate in the scout teams at the center and their participation in the scout camps organized by the various institutions.
3. Provide students with the opportunity to read newspapers, magazines, and educational television programs and to play educational and entertaining games.
4. Organize parties for the occasions celebrated by the Kingdom of Bahrain.
5. Organize exhibitions to introduce the products of the students.
6. Provide the opportunity for students to participate in all internal and external social activities.
7. Participate in sports activities of people with special disabilities locally and internationally.
8. Organize physical education classes within the daily program and participation in local and international championships.

Training programs for the center’s employees:

1. Organize training courses in various fields of special education and vocational rehabilitation at the local and regional levels.
2. Organize lectures and stimulant training courses during the academic year.
3. Participation in training courses organized by local universities and centers for people with similar disabilities.
4. Exchange of exploratory visits between centers for people with disabilities to benefit from their experiences.
5. Scholarships for employees to obtain specialized certificates in the fields of special education and vocational training.
6. Participation in local and international conferences.

Admission procedures:

1. Submitting an official application through the social centers to join the educational service, attached with a copy of the CPR card for the case and medical reports.
2. Conducting social research on the case and his family.
3. Conducting the various assessments necessary for the case (psychological - academic - professional - medical).
4. Open a case file.
5. Acknowledgment by the guardian of approval of the service system in the center and cooperation in personal attendance to follow up the case whenever needed.
6. Subjecting the case to a trial period for a period not exceeding six months to determine the possibility of continuing the case in the center and its suitability for the applied programs.
7. Comprehensive medical examination.

Ending the relationship:

1. Death.
2. When the student completes the qualifying programs specified for him.
3. Upon request by the guardian to terminate the case services from the center.
4. The student's failure to respond to the programs applied in the center after the end of the prescribed trial period.
5. When the conditions in the center become unsuitable to satisfy the student's needs and develop him.
6. Absence of the student for seven consecutive days or for two weeks intermittently without valid reasons.
7. When his condition becomes a danger to himself and other students, despite efforts to modify his behavior.
8. Non-compliance of the student/case with the regulations, procedures, and instructions in force at the center.
9. When one or more conditions of acceptance are absent.

Case arrest procedures:

1. Recording detailed information about the situation in the behavior modification forms.
2. Preparing reports on the situation by the center's work team.
3. Discuss the case with the psychiatrist.
4. Calling the parents to discuss the case problem.
5. Sending notifications to the guardian to urge the case to attend in case of his absence.
6. Submitting suggestions by the center's work team to the Social Rehabilitation Department and working to implement the administration's decisions​