Under a different lens: Glimpse into lives of two Qatari children with Down syndrome – The Peninsula

Under a different lens: Glimpse into lives of two Qatari children with Down syndrome – The Peninsula

Nawaf and Anfal are two young Qatari children and the focus of an upcoming photo exhibition curated by the World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH). Both are students at Shafallah Center, a comprehensive and non-profit center dedicated to children with special needs in Qatar.

Both love to go to school, actively participate in creative activities such as painting, live with loving families, and spread their affection wherever they go. There is one more thing that is common to both children in that they have Down syndrome – a genetic condition caused by an extra chromosome in some or all the body’s cells which can lead to delays in a person’s growth, development, and learning.

Often upon learning that someone has a disability, physical or mental, many people tend to view their whole existence and life through the lens of that disability. This attitude risks undermining the individualistic characteristics and aspirations of disabled members of society and can lead to their marginalization and seclusion from many facets of life. Such attitudes, which view disability as a weakness and evoke only sympathetic reactions, need to be re-evaluated and the focus of the conversation around disabilities needs to be shifted to be more open, empathetic,