Early Childhood Development Program enters its 3rd year

The Fall of 2015 marked the beginning of the third year of the Foundation’s Early Childhood Development Program.

The 2015-2016 Parenting Talk season began with “Autism Symptoms and Early Signs.” Dr. Ahmad M. Almai, Head of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, Abu Dhabi, and Hanan Abdulhamid a parent of a child with autism provided the audience with a multi-faceted discussion on autism. Dr. Ahmed presented information on the early warning signs, diagnosis and treatment of Autism. Hanan offered personal first-hand experiences of the impact her child’s diagnosis has had on her child and her family.

December’s talk introduced a new format for this season’s parenting talks. The format of this season’s talks will include multiple speakers, be more conversational and represent different experiences. Speakers will be drawn from local and international subject matter experts such as physicians and academics and speakers with personal or practical experience such as parents and teachers.

The second cohort of the Shamsa bint Mohamed Al Nahyan fellowship program began their second year this fall as well. This year the fellows will focus on their research projects until they graduate in the spring of 2016.

Lastly, the Foundation is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Jana Fleming as the new Director of the Foundation’s Early Childhood Development program. Dr. Jana has over 20 years’ experience in the field of Early Childhood Development. She has experience in developing graduate-level education and training programs for early childhood development professionals across multiple disciplines and advising policy makers on strategies to improve services and programs for young children and their families. Dr. Fleming holds a law degree from Duke University and a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Welcome, Dr. Jana!