In keeping with our objective of strengthening the capacities of the organizations working for people with disabilities, NOWPDP, partnering with Deaf Reach, a subsidiary of Family Educational Services Foundation (FESF), organized a pilot workshop titled "Guiding Parents in Early Childhood Education for Children with Mental Disabilities." The session was held on 23 May 2009, at the Marriot Hotel Karachi, and was facilitated by Ms. Mary A. Riek, the Director of the Deaf Reach school. 25 participants from schools for children with mental disabilities participated in the day-long session, which covered topics including understanding the needs of children and their parents, stages of childhood development, and effective modes of teaching children with mental disabilities.

This pilot session is the first of a series of upcoming workshops that are part of the NOWPDP Master Trainers Project. Teachers and primary caregivers at organizations working for, or with, people with disabilities, will be trained in understanding and imparting learning of the needs of children with intellectual or mental disabilities to their parents. By training the senior teachers and trainers to be master trainers at organizations, we hope to generate a ripple-effect, achieving maximum effectiveness of the program. We hope to reach as many parents of children with mental disabilities as possible, thus contributing to the development of a parent-child relationship. Following this initial session, it has been planned to organize the sessions in various areas spread out all over Pakistan in the latter half of 2009.