A Proposal for Activating the Social Responsibility of Saudi Universities Towards Meeting the Needs of Families of Persons with Disabilities

The present research aims to identify the needs of families of persons with disabilities, explore the reality of Saudi universities’ practice of their social responsibility to meet those needs, identify the relevant obstacles and present a proposal to activate the practice of Saudi universities of this responsibility. To achieve the research objectives, the author adopted the descriptive analytical approach. A questionnaire (prepared by the author) was adopted to collect the data. It was applied to a sample of (53) unemployed mothers of female students with (physical, visual and hearing disability), who are enrolled in the Deanship of Student Affairs (Section of Female Students) and (47) mothers serving at King Abdulaziz University and raising children with mental, visual and hearing disability, autism and learning disabilities. The results showed that the need for financial support to pay for treatment expenses and educational programs of the children with disabilities was ranked the highest, while the need for further information on how to deal with children with disabilities was ranked the lowest. Moreover, there was a decline in the universities role in this aspect and that the reality of practice was moderate. Furthermore, the research identified the major obstacles to the Saudi universities practice of their social responsibility to meet those needs. The research recommended the necessity of exchanging experience and practical experiences among universities and identifying strengths and weaknesses to apply the best methods in the areas of social responsibility to meet the needs of families of persons with disabilities