By Erika Sauler
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 18:27:00 01/17/2010
Filed Under: Education, Health
THE audience laughed from time to time as Elena Martinez, 25, recounted the obstacles she has faced as a person with cerebral palsy, a disorder that affects movement and posture.
Her physical handicap was no laughing matter but Martinez told her story with such positivity and humor that mall goers were drawn to listen as she spoke at the recent Special Education Expo at Glorietta mall in Makati City.
Etera Events organized the expo to promote the right of every child with special needs to a suitable educational program. The event brought together parents and teachers of special children, as well as service providers like therapy centers, book publishers and toys and equipment manufacturers.
With the theme “A World of Options,” the expo aimed to create awareness of the needs of special children and the options available to them.
Martinez spoke on “In the Eyes of an Exceptional Child” in the special education forum held as part of the event.
Martinez, who champions the rights of women with disabilities, is the Region 3 representative to the incoming Board of Governors of Kampi (Katipunan ng Maykapansanan sa Pilipinas Inc. or Disabled Peoples International), the national federation of 237 grassroots organization of persons with disabilities.
Unfazed
The Zambales native, who has a degree in psychology from Trinity College in Quezon City, recalled that one professor had wondered how she got to college. Unfazed, Martinez replied she took the examinations orally.
She added she could take the midterm examination for his class the next day if he would let her. He did and she got a perfect score.
“Napakanegatibo ng tingin ng tao. Sa pagsusulat lang ba malalaman kung natututo? (People have negative views [of my condition]. Is the written test the only way to measure learning?),” Martinez asked.
She said she had learned to look at things positively. It doesn’t bother her when people stare at her when she and her husband are in a mall.
“I’m like a celebrity. Wherever I go, many people look at me,” she quipped.
Martinez said more than four million Filipinos with disability lived below the poverty line. Their general lack of access to education, services and employment has led to their exclusion and poverty.
“Negative attitudes, lack of access to the same opportunities and to basic respect, are more disabling than the actual impairment,” she added.
Other speakers tackled the state of SpEd in the Philippines, appropriate educational placement, teaching techniques, alternative therapies and coping with stress.
Education Assistant Secretary Teresita Inciong discussed Philippine laws and policies on SpEd.
Neurologist Dr. Mark Reysio-Cruz, who holds clinic at Capitol Medical Center, listed indicators of developmental delay in language, social, cognitive, gross and fine motor that can serve as red flags to parents:
Having less than three words with meaning at 18 months old
No eye contact, does not orient to one’s name, limited attention, pretend play, imitation, and not pointing at 18 months old
Does not know colors or letters at five years old
Not walking independently at 18 months old
Education specialist professor Frances Olivia Mijares-Magtoto said there were no perfect parents, no best school, and no ideal student and teacher. In education, the aim is to make a good match.
She said a placement program was dependent on the type and degree of a child’s “exceptionality.” A child with a mild degree of exceptionality must be placed in a less restrictive environment like regular classrooms while a severe case needs a more restrictive setting like special schools and institutions, said Mijares-Magtoto, who is currently a lecturer at St. Joseph’s College in Quezon City.
Genevieve Rivadelo-Gaw and Elizabeth Logronio taught teaching and reading techniques. Rivadelo-Gaw is a pediatric psychotherapist and chair of the special education department of Miriam College. Logronio is clinic director of Wordlab School Inc.
They said the current view was disability was not inherent in the individual; rather, it was society that rendered people disabled. Teachers should adopt themselves and their methods to the needs of each child with special needs.
Alternative therapies were discussed by Dr. Ferdiliza Dandah Garcia, assistant professor at the Department of Speech Pathology, College of Allied Medical Professions, UP-Manila; and occupational therapist Janel Anne Belarmino and physical therapist Kristofferson Mendoza, both also from UP-M.
Erlinda “Dang” Uy-Koe, three-term national president of the Autism Society of the Philippines, spoke of her own challenges in having a special child and gave tips on how parents could cope with stress.
Koe said it helped to have a sense of humor, seek support from other families, and make time for one’s self and one’s spouse.
The speakers’ presentations are available online at www.spedexpo.blogspot.com. Proceeds from the event went to Support and Empower Abused Deaf Children, a nonprofit organization for the defense of the rights of deaf children who are victims of sexual abuse and maltreatment.
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