UrFU Bolsters Partnership with Zayed Higher Organization for People of Determination
On January 29-31, a working visit of the delegation of Sverdlovsk Region to the United Arab Emirates led by the Deputy Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Pavel Krekov, took place. The delegation also included representatives of Ural Federal University headed by Rector Viсtor Koksharov.
One of the most significant events during the visit took place at Zayed Higher Organization for People of Determination. UrFU has a cooperation agreement with the Organization since June 2023.
On January 29-31, at the Rehabilitation Center of ZHO Sergey Kiselev, UrFU associate professor, head of Laboratory for Brain and Neurocognitive Development, conducted the second cycle of “Neuropsychological Diagnostics of Children” professional development program on application of the neuropsychological approach developed by the world-famous Russian neuropsychologist Alexander Luria, to help children with disabilities.
The first cycle of the professional development program for the staff of Zayed Higher Organization for People of Determination took place from November 27 to December 15, 2023 online and was dedicated to the basics of working with children with disabilities used in the Russian child neuropsychology. In particular, ZHO staff members got acquainted with possibilities of a computerized neuropsychological assessment battery for children developed at UrFU under the leadership of Sergey Kiselev. Before the visit to the Center, a partial adjustment of this method for the UAE was carried out by UrFU experts. In particular, all instructions were translated into Arabic and an Arabic voiceover was made in the recording studio. Also, work commenced on adjusting the tasks taking into account cross-cultural differences. Furthermore, necessary materials for the tasks on assessment of phonemic processing and memory for names were picked up.
On the first day of the second cycle of the training, ZHO specialists got acquainted with basics of syndrome-based analysis for neuropsychological diagnostics of children.
On the second day, Sergey Kiselev conducted a neuropsychological assessment of a 7-year-old boy with delay in cognitive development. A detailed syndrome-based analysis of the child’s diagnostic results was conducted with the participants of the seminar. The advantage of such analysis for assessment of children with developmental disorders has been shown: it allows to identify the mechanism leading to the arising symptoms, as well as to develop individual trajectories of care for such children. Sergey Kiselev also gave a detailed consultation for the child’s parents and recommendations on his support to the specialists of the Center who work with this child.
The third day of the professional development program was devoted to mastering the computerized neuropsychological assessment battery for children. Specifics of the process of completing the tasks, the approach for evaluating and interpreting the results of neuropsychological assessment were discussed.
As a result of the visit to the Rehabilitation Center of Zayed Higher Organization for People of Determination, it was decided to complete a full adjustment of the computerized neuropsychological battery for the UAE. And to that end, a research team was formed under the leadership of Sergey Kiselev and the staff of the Center. At the first stage, a professional voiceover of instructions will be made, as well as new stimulus for neuropsychological tasks taking into account peculiarities of the culture and traditions of the UAE. At the second stage, a study to identify age-related norms for typically developing children aged 4 to 9 years from the UAE will be conducted, as well as a study to identify the possibility of using this technique to identify the mechanisms of disorders in children with various forms and syndromes of deviant development. At the third stage, a statistical analysis of the results obtained and a final adjustment of the methodology will be carried out. In the fourth stage, a user’s manual for the computerized neuropsychological technique will be released.
In addition, on January 31 the delegation of Sverdlovsk Region met with the leadership of Zayed Supreme Organization for Determined People, including its Secretary General Abdullah Abudalee Al Humaidan.
The Russian guests were shown opportunities and services of the Rehabilitation Center for people with disabilities, including an Equestrian Center, a Department of Care and Treatment, and a Diagnostic Center. During the negotiations, topics related to the diagnostics and treatment of autism, rehabilitation of patients with various forms of motor and mental disorders, further development and application of First Step mobile app for pre-diagnostic screening for children, as well as further research initiatives of Ural and ZHO experts were discussed.