The Development of LD Education in Saudi Arabia: Services and Implications for the future

Abstract

Saudi Arabia has been consistently honing its educational services for students with Learning disabilities (LD) since the recognition of the category by the Ministry of education in 1996. This review includes scholarly published articles and government websites to address the following research questions: 1) What were the main factors to influence the educational services offered to students with LD in Saudi Arabia within the past decade? 2)  To what extent have these changes been implemented across genders?  We conclude that the main factors include: legislation implementation, government support, awareness level of the society, globalization, and an increase in specialized cadre of Saudi special education professionals. Also, at this time, the LD services are equal across gender.  Future research should focus on establishing a more specialized identification process, and provide greater training opportunities for both general and special education teachers on the needs of students with LD. Also, the authors suggest that highlighting the impact of collaboration between regular and special education teachers are essential.