MENA CONFERENCE / 2024

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

On behalf of the Conference Organizing Committee, it is my pleasure to welcome you to the First Middle East and North Africa Conference on Adapted Physical Activity, which is being held under the theme of “Mainstreaming – Integration – Inclusion in Physical Education and Sports”.
We have been eagerly anticipating keeping up with the rapid development in various fields and sciences, with the aim of attaining a global level of knowledge in adapted sports. We seek to serve the future of sports across different regions of the world, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa.
In collaboration with our friends from the Scientific Committee of the Paralympic Committee of West Asia, the International Federation of Adapted Physical Activity (IFAPA) and the Asian Society of Adapted Physical Activity and Exercise (ASAPE), we are seeking to organize this conference.
I am pleased to announce that Amman will be hosting an exceptional group of sports scientists and experts in adapted physical education from around the globe. They will gather between April 21st and April 23rd, 2024 to share knowledge, ideas, and experiences regarding the latest developments in the field of adapted physical activity and its related domains. This event aims to showcase the most recent advancements in mainstreaming, integration, and inclusion within sports and physical activities for individuals with disabilities.
Special education specialists and experts are warmly invited to share their experiences in applying teaching strategies and developing curricula for individuals across all disability classifications.
I am excitedly anticipating the opportunity to meet you during fresh Amman nights!

Prof. Dr. Hussein Abu Al-Ruz

Themes

The conference includes the following themes:

Mainstreaming, Integration, and Inclusion in the sports of persons with disabilities and chronic conditions across recreational,
educational, and competitive levels.
Mainstreaming, Integration, and Inclusion in various educational sciences.
Adapted physical activity related sciences and developments.
Adapted physical activity and its scientific principles.
Health and rehabilitation sciences in the field of Paralympic sports and adapted physical activity.
Psychological and social sciences in the field of Paralympic sports and adapted physical activity.
Sport training sciences and kinesiology in the field of Paralympic sports and adapted physical activity.
Curricula development and teaching strategies in adapted physical activity.
Inclusion strategies in the sports domain.
Applied Behavior Analysis in Physical Education.

Organizers

The Middle East Federation of Adapted Physical Activity (MEFAPA ) and West Asia Paralympic Federation.

Keynote Speakers

Prof. Dr. Gudrun Doll-Tepper, Germany

Prof. Dr. Gudrun Doll-Tepper is a professor at the Department of Education and Psychology at Freie Universitaet Berlin. She received her master’s degree and doctorate at Freie Universitaet Berlin and her postdoctorate degree (”Habilitation”) at Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universitaet, Frankfurt/Main. Her research interests include the inclusion of persons with disabilities in physical education and sport, the role of physical activity as part of a healthy lifestyle, equal opportunity and participation of girls and women in physical education and sport, and different approaches to talent identification and development in sport.

She has written numerous articles in these areas. She and her team were hosts of the 7th International Symposium on Adapted Physical Activity in 1989 in Berlin, Germany, from 1993 – 1995 she was President of IFAPA. Dr. Doll-Tepper was President of the International Council of Sport Science and Physical Education (ICSSPE) from 1997 to 2008. Since 2009 she has been honorary member and special adviser of ICSSPE and in 2016 she was elected Honorary President of ICSSPE. From 2006 to 2021 she was Vice-President of the German Olympic Sports Confederation and since 2007 she has been Chairperson of the German Olympic Academy. Since 2015 she has been a member of the IOC Commission “Olympic Education”. In 2017 she took up the position of Chairperson of the German Sport & Olympia Museum. In 2005 she received a doctor of laws h.c. from Memorial University of Newfoundland (Canada) and in 2008 a doctor h.c. from KU Leuven (Belgium). She was awarded with several prestigious international and national awards, including the FIEP Gold Cross of Honor of Physical Education, the Paralympic Order of the IPC.

Prof. Dr. Cindy Sit, Hong Kong, China

Professor Cindy Sit is the Chairperson and Professor of the Department of Sports Science and Physical Education, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Her research interests are physical activity and health in children and adolescents with disabilities or special educational needs. Currently, she is the President and Fellow of the International Federation of Adapted Physical Activity (IFAPA) and Honorary Advisor of the Asian Society for Adapted Physical Education and Exercise (ASAPE). She has published more than 140 scientific papers in the areas of adapted physical activity, exercise science and public health.

Prof. Dr. Hussein H. Abu Al-Ruz, Jordan

Prof. Dr. Hussein H. Abu Al-Ruz: President – Elect of the Middle East Federation of Adapted Physical Activity (MEFAPA) and President of Jordan Paralympic Committee. He is a Professor in Adapted Physical Education at Yarmouk University. Prof. Abu Al-Ruzz is a former president of Middle East Region and it’s representative in the International Paralympic Committee. He is a former Secretary General of Ministry of Social Development in Jordan. He is a Chairperson of scientific Committee in West Asia Para Federation.

Prof. Dr. Pamela Beach, U.S.A

Pamela Beach is a Professor of Motor Behavior in the Department of Kinesiology, Sports Studies and Physical Education. She is also a Co-Director of the Institute on Movement Studies for Individuals with Visual Impairments (IMSVI). Recently, IMSVI was awarded the Corrine Kirchner National Research award from the American Foundation for the Blind, and Pamela is a recipient of the Hollis Fait Scholarly Award by the National Consortium for Physical Education for Individuals with Disabilities (NCPEID) and the Nat Seaman Recognition Award by the New York State AER.

Pamela publishes and presents nationally and internationally on her research in motor behavior and balance in individuals across the lifespan with sensory impairments. In addition, she has published several books including Gross Motor Development Curriculum: For Children with Visual Impairment and Physical Education & Sports for People with Visual Impairments and Deafblindness: Foundations of Instruction 2e with American Printing House Press, and co-edited Motor Behavior and Disability: A Research Handbook with Rowman and Littlefield Publishers. She has also published three editions of the widely adopted undergraduate textbook Motor Learning and Development with Human Kinetics. Additionally, Pamela produces numerous educational and training videos for parents and practitioners of youth with visual impairments and deafblindness. Pamela has received accolades for her teaching including the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching and has been appointed as a SUNY Online Teaching Ambassador. She has served on the American Kinesiology Association Board and currently serves as the Vice President of the NCPEID.

Prof. Dr. Ashraf Marei,
Egypt

Dr. Ashraf Marei is a Professor of Adapted Physical Education at Helwan University, Cairo. His research interests focus on interdisciplinary studies in various fields related to physical education & sports and the rights of persons with disabilities. He supervised many doctoral and master’s theses conducted by researchers from Egypt and other Arab countries. He is a reviewer for in Egyptian, Arabic and international journals. He received several international grants, including a Fulbright grant, and was invited as a speaker at American and European universities.

Dr. Ashraf is a former Paralympic athlete and was a member of the Athletes’ Committee and the Scientific Committee at the International Paralympic Committee. In Egypt, Dr. Ashraf was a member of the Board of Directors of the Egyptian Paralympic Committee, then its president during 2011-2012. He is the founder of Special Olympics Egypt and was a member of the Board of Directors. In 2015, Dr. Ashraf was appointed by the Prime Minister of Egypt to work as a Secretary General of the National Council for Persons with Disabilities until 2022.

Prof. Dr. Ibrahim El-Zraigat,
Jordan

Prof. Dr. Ibrahim El-Zraigat is a Professor of Special Education at the Department of Counseling and Special Education at University of Jordan. He is a former editor in chief of Research Journal of Education Germany. He is also a member of the editorial board of 13 international journals in America, Europe, and Asia in addition to acting as a scientific reviewer in many international journals. Professor El-Zraigat is a winner of the Distinguished Researcher Award for the year 2020, which was granted by the European Journal of Social Sciences.

He published more than 100 research peer-reviewed papers in local, regional, and international scientific journals. He supervised many doctoral and master’s theses in Jordan and other Arab countries. Prof. El-Zraigat was hosted in many television programs across the world to talk about people with disabilities in Jordan and the Arab world.

Prof. Dr. Justin A. Haegele,
U.S.A

Prof. Dr. Justin A. Haegele, is a Professor and the Director of the Center for Movement, Health, & Disability in the Department of Human Movement Sciences at Old Dominion University (Norfolk, VA, USA). Contextualized within the interdisciplinary field of adapted physical activity, his primary research interests center on exploring how disabled individuals experience physical activity participation, including within school-based physical education contexts.

Since joining Old Dominion University in 2015, Dr. Haegele has amassed over 230 peer-reviewed research publications, as well as several edited or authored texts. He currently serves as the director of Project CAPER and the co-director of the MAMC, two adapted physical activity training collaboratives that are funded through the US Department of Education focused on training doctoral scholars in the field. He is also currently the president of the North American Federation of Adapted Physical Activity, and the editor-in-chief for the peer-reviewed publications Quest (2022-2024) and Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly (2023-2025).

Prof. Dr. Yongho Lee,
Korea

Dr. Yongho Lee is currently a faculty member and the department chair specialized in Adapted Physical Activity at Seoul National University in Korea. He has served as Vice-president for Korean Society of Adapted Physical Activity (KOSAPA) and was a former associate dean for student’s affair in the College of Education at Seoul National University. In addition, he is currently the director of Center for In-Service Teacher Training at Seoul National University.

For his research topics, he has a wide spectrum of research interests in APA focusing particularly on movement and health related problems of individuals with developmental disabilities. Some of his research that his lab examined include the following populations: individuals with developmental coordination disorder, children and adults with intellectual disabilities, persons with cerebral palsy, persons with autism spectrum disorder, older adults with various needs and so on.
His lab continues to explore elements essential in physical activities for people with special needs, especially those experiencing movement difficulty such as Spinal Cord Injury and Developmental Coordination Disorder, in promoting physical activity participation.

Conference Program

Program of Day 1

Program of Day 2

Program of Day 3

Venue

The Hashemite University – Jordan

Abstract

All abstracts must be submitted by the 28^th of March 2024 to: info@mefapa.net

Note: The presentation should not exceed 15 minutes

Registration

For Participants Outside Jordan (200 USD):
This fee includes the following services:

Transportation to and from the airport.
Conference bag and printed materials.
A certificate of participation in the conference.
Refreshments during breaks

For Participants who live in Jordan (50 USD):
This fee includes the following services:

Conference bag and printed materials.
A certificate of participation in the conference.
Membership in the Middle East Adapted Physical Activity Federation.
Refreshments during breaks.

	Single Room	Twin Room
5 Stars Hotel	120$	180$
4 Stars Hotel	90$	120$
Students Residence	25$

Accommodation Prices Per Night Including Breakfast

Paper Submission Requirements

After the conference, researchers can publish the full paper according to the guidelines below:

The research should not have been previously published or presented at any previous forum or
conference.
All submitted research papers will undergo rigorous peer review.
Researchers should follow the APA (American Psychological Association) citation style.
The manuscript must meet the requirements of the Yarmouk Research Journal, Humanities and Social
Sciences Series (https://journals.yu.edu.jo/ayhss/PublicationRules.html).
The length of the research, including references and appendices, should not exceed 6000 words.
The research should be written in Microsoft Word (Time New Roman, font size 12).
The deadline for submitting the full paper is June 1, 2024.

Conference Activities and Accompanying Events

Fair of equipment and devices used in adapted sports.
Book fair related to the conference themes.
Workshops in the domains of adapted physical activity and special education fields.

Social Activities

The Roman Theater and Citadel / Amman (free).

All participants may visit the following sites upon request:

The archaeological city of Jerash and Salah ad-Din Castle / Ajloun.
The Maqamat Sahaba (Companions’ Resting Places) in the Jordan Valley, the Dead Sea, Al-Maghtas, and Mount Nebo Church.
Petra and Wadi Rum.

Endorsement