Children from Middle-Eastern Backgrounds
Important Characteristics
- CULTURAL, FAMILY LIFE, & VIEWS
- The Arab population in the Middle East is larger than that of any other group. More than 75% identify themselves as Arabs.
- Arab is best used within a cultural context because people cannot be classified as Arab since the word connotes a mixed population with widely varying ethnologic and racial origins.
- Key values for many Middle Easterners include family and religion.
- Children are held to highest regards. They are loved, cherished, and greatly valued.
- An individual's achievements affect how the family is perceived by others in the community.
- Children are taught that it is important to conform to an expected social image.
- Many mothers in the Middle East emphasize attachment and parent-child bonding rather than individualism and independence.
- Respectful behavior in front of adults is the most important aspect of acceptable conduct. Children are not to interrupt or question the rules.
- Co-Ed schools are not an option for many children in Middle Eastern Countries.
- Some girls do not continue their education beyond elementary school because they are afraid they will be exposed and left unprotected in inappropriate school experiences.
- In the Middle East, formal Arabic is taught in many schools.
- Some groups (Saudi Arabians) generally do not talk much during meals; they prefer to talk after meals.
- Women in some Middle Eastern cultures may be expected to eat in separate rooms from men.
- Arabs believe privacy is loneliness.
- Arabs have a relaxed attitude about time and are not expected to apologize when they arrive late for events.
- Members of opposite sex do not show affection in public.
- In some areas, women are not to talk to strangers and may not leave the home without permission from the husband. In some parts of the Middle East, males are not supposed to approach women.
- In some areas, women cover themselves in clothing from head to toe before going out in public. Dress varies from country to country.
- In the Arabian Gulf states, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia, few women work outside the home. The few with employment outside the home work in all-female environments or in the medical professions
- Some Middle Eastern women in the U.S. work outside the home. This has led to a reversal of roles for many women who did not work outside the home in their countries of origin. Some Middle Eastern men have difficulty accepting the greater freedom that women are afforded in the U.S.
- In many traditional Muslim families it is considered unacceptable for a person to be treated by a health care professional of the opposite gender.
- A mother of a child born with a disability is likely to feel shame and guilt. The father may view the disability as a personal defeat and a blemish on the family’s pride. Reactions to a child with disabilities may include denial, isolation, overprotection, or in some cases total abandonment.
- Families with children who have disabilities may become isolated from everyone except other family members.
Speech & Language Concerns