Hi Nadia! I can only help specifically with the last part of your message, as I am not familiar with the services offered in Cairo for Special Needs children. However, I did attend a meeting a couple of years ago where they said that there were only sufficient school places for about 1/3 of the special needs children in Cairo! So you will be very lucky if you find a place for your frends child as I am sure all the good schools will have waiting lists, and probably the indifferent ones too.
But basically the term "special needs" is a broad umbrella term for any children whose educational needs cannot be properly served within the normal school system without additional support/ help/ expertise. So it could mean children who have a physical, learning, or behavioural difficulty, although it often refers to children who have a mild to moderate learning difficulty or more severe mental retardation. Very often children with autism are offered services with these children, due to a lack of sufficient facilities for them or due to their diagnosis of also having a degree of mental retardation. Hope that was of some help and that someone can direct you to possible suitable services.
[This message has been edited by newcomer (edited 08 January 2004).]