Contemporary Special Education in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Conceptualization and Service Provision for Profound and Multiple Intellectual Disabilities
Objectives: This paper investigates how Special Educational Needs (SEN) practitioners in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Comprehensive Rehabilitation Centers conceptualize Profound Intellectual and Multiple Disabilities (PIMDs) and how these views shape service provision.
Methods: Using an interpretive phenomenological approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 SEN specialists across three governmental centers in Riyadh. Data were thematically analyzed through the lens of the Disability Studies Framework.
Results: Findings highlight persistent terminological ambiguity around PIMDs, which hinders research development and complicates interdisciplinary communication, ultimately limiting the establishment of a clear and unified research foundation and consistent service practices. Where clearer definitions exist, they remain rooted in medical models that portray PIMDs as a permanent deficit state and reinforced by charitable discourses of pity and protection. In contrast, only a minority of specialists employed social, affirmation, and rights-based perspectives, signaling the need for a paradigm shift toward contemporary special education practices.
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