Panelists during the International Sports Conference yesterday.
Doha: The Ministry of Social Development and Family and Shafallah Center for Persons with Disabilities, in cooperation with Qatar Airways, announced the operation of the “Mazn” lounge at Hamad International Airport for people with autism and disabilities. It provides them sensory integration while they are at the airport with their families.
The Ministry said the new lounge was equipped with the latest assistive technology and educational equipment aimed at providing the best travel experience for people with autism and disabilities, including travellers and transients, under the supervision of a specialised and trained team around the clock.
The ”Mazn” lounge, which was named after the rainy cloud that irrigates the earth, will help provide an atmosphere of calm and relaxation, to promote, integrate and empower people with disabilities in society and provide them with technological tools and assistive solutions that provide them with an easy and smooth travel experience free of any obstacles through Hamad International Airport.
The sensory room works to enhance sensory skills by integrating audio-visual effects such as sound, image and touch, in addition to colour, smell, and light to help people with disabilities, autism and communication disorders, to meet their desires and needs for communication, self-discipline and attention, and to achieve the desired sensory integration.
The Ministry said the lounge has many features, including a room designed specifically for children with limited communication skills, in addition to the presence of electronic mats that provide children with different games and activities to help them use their energy positively.
It said role of the lounge is not limited to satisfying all sensory desires in case of frenzy or anger, but also to prepare people with special needs and disabilities before entering the airport and the plane every year.
The ministry also said that pre-booking for the sensory room at HIA will be available online for visitors who are parents of people with autism spectrum disorder or associated disabilities, to rehabilitate these people, train them to listen to the sounds of planes and sit on the plane without irritability or discomfort by using the available kinetic space in the kinetic energies, so that the person with autism spectrum disorder can deal ably with any wave of tantrum that strikes him inside the airport.
