Abstract

While there is a lot of interest in the area of inclusion of children with challenging behaviour in mainstream schooling in the Gulf and Middle East, little has been published in relation to the support of parents of such children to cope with this behaviour. This research article reports on findings related to a funded project by Al Jalila Foundation known as the Ta’alouf (Harmony in Arabic) Training Programme. This program ran for just over four years, supporting batches of parents. It aimed at raising the professional standards of parents who are engaged in the management of the challenging behaviour of children with disabilities and improving the practice of those parents by encouraging them to support the development of their children with disabilities. A set of qualitative research methods were applied to measure the impact of the Ta’alouf Training Programme on parents of children with special needs and disabilities (SEND). The findings of this study show that the course has had a large impact on parents. The article ends with recommendations for future practice.