Ever heard of Katamino?

I admit I wouldn’t know what that is if I won’t Google the term.

I bought Katamino a few months back. This is definitely not easy to accomplish even if it looks like it is easy.

The photo shows shows the shapes of the Katamino I got. I would prefer the ones made of wood but this will make do for now.

Katamino will test one’s creativity, logic, problem-solving, planning and perception on how things go together. The geometric shapes look easy to fit to make the task done but do not be too sure about how everything fits together.

The Kontra Sakit, Kontra Liit Campaign with Ceelin Plus kicked off last year.

This campaign aims to curb growth stunting among Filipino children. The Food and Nutrition Research Institute (DOST-FNRI) conducted a study on the nutritional status of Filipino children in 2011. The results they got are the following:

• 3 in every 10 children ages 0-5 years old are stunted for their age
• among children who are 6-11 months, 16.2 percentage have stunted growth
• stunted growth reaches as high as 33.6% when these children turn a year old

The Philippines has the second highest incidence of stunting in Southeast Asia, with Indonesia at the top spot, according to a United Nations Development Programme study. The high prevalence of growth stunting in the Philippines, placed at 30-39% for chidren under age five has already been a concern with the UN Development Report, back in 2008.

There are two factors main factors to be considered in the incidence of growth stunting among Filipino children:

• malnutrition
• recurrence of illnesses and infections

Underprivileged children in developing countries such as the Philippines have a high prevalence in the incidence of growth stunting than their counterpart at a higher socioeconomic level.

These height deficits in children are related to poverty and other environmental influences (dirty environment, unsafe water, dirty air, too many people in a small space) than to genetic influences in body size, even if there are differences in ethnicity across socioeconomic strata.

It is in this regard that Unilab’s Ceelin Plus launched Kontra Sakit, Kontra Liit campaign. The campaign aims to increase awareness about growth stunting and highlight the importance of strong immunity against illnesses and infections that further contribute to the condition of growth stunting.

Why Ceelin Plus? Ceelin Plus has

• vitamin C that forms part of the body’s natural immune system and stimulates the activities of the antibodies and immune cells.
• ZINC  is needed for the normal delveopmental and maintenance of the immune system.

The preventive supplementation of 10mg/day of zinc increases the immunity against repeated illnesses which has a significant effect on the growth of children less than five years old.

The word auditory pertains to hearing.

Here are a few information regarding the word auditory when it comes to learning and language development. There are several intervention methods to improve auditory training to be able to maximize the full learning potential of people, most especially those with needing intervention services. 

Aside from undergoing occupational therapy and speech and language therapy with (some) focus on the auditory processes in relation with learning and other developmental concerns, there is an alternative intervention method to improving auditory skills: Auditory Integration Training.

What is Auditory Integration Training? Auditory Integration Training is a method of retraining the ear. AIT was developed in the mid1900′s by Dr. Guy Berard. Dr. Guy Berard is a French ENT doctor who developed Auditory Integration Training to initially correct genetically induced hearing loss.

What does AIT do? AIT is one of the alternative intervention methods that parents can avail for their children who were diagnosed with special needs and needing intervention and therapy.

AIT uses filtered and modulated music to help:

1. Normalize and improve hearing distortions.

2. How children perceive sounds as they develop is very important as this can affect the way they acquire their language skills. Any abnormalities in verbal perception will result in an inaccurate imitation of sound.

3. Improve sensory processing (which is very important for children with sensory issues). Children who have difficulty integrating and interpreting internal and external sensory cues will encounter difficulty in learning to communicate.

4. Improve the ways in which the brain processes auditory information. This in turn impacts on the different areas of the brain that controls the different senses and systems of the body.

5. Stimulate the auditory (as well as vestibular) and neurological systems. The vestibular and auditory systems are closely related and difficulties in this area can impact on speech and language development.

6. Improve sensory overload tolerance and reduce self-stimulating behaviors.

7. Diminishes or resolves behaviors related to sensory defensiveness. People who are sensory defensive often react negatively to or experience anxiety to sensory input that is generally considered harmless to other people. Both painful and uncomfortable, it can impair one’s ability to attend to daily tasks. Example: a child may refuse to join a loud party, have a haircut, or be orally defensive (in the case of an extremely picky eater).

8. Improve speech and language.

9. Improve behavior and learning.

10. Improve mood and social skills.

11. Improve comprehension which impacts on learning which may lead to better academic performance.

What types of problems does AIT (plus other intervention services) help with? In 1998 the US FDA evaluated and approved Auditory Integration Training as a safe and effective way in improving impairments in auditory discrimination associated with the following diagnosis:

1. Autism Spectrum Disorder
2. Asperger’s Syndrome
3. Pervasive Developmental Disoder
4. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
5. Attention Deficit Disorder
6. Central Auditory Processing Disorder
7. Learning Disabilities like Dyslexia, Non-Verbal Learning Disorders, Language Delays and Communication Disorders
8. Those with Sensory Processing Disorders, Hyperlexia, and Sensory issues  can also benefit from AIT

To know more about Auditory Integration Training, contact Sound Therapy Learning Center

Sound Therapy Learning Center Unit 7 3rd Floor, The Promenade Building 198 Wilson St. Corner P. Guevarra 1006 San Juan, Metro Manila
Telephone: (02) 775-8100 Mobile: (0917) 887-7852
Email: bridging2worlds@gmail.com
Website: http://soundtherapy.ph/
https://www.facebook.com/aitph

ML, the youngest child with two older siblings, reached his significant milestones like expected till he reached a year old. When he turned 2.5 however, there were noticeable delays in his development. At 3.8, he was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Later on, at 6.5, his diagnosis was PDD-NOS Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified.

Before he was given intervention after the first diagnosis, he exhibited the following behavior:

• echolalia
• receptive language at 12 – 15 months
• expressive language at 9 – 12 months
• inconsistent eye contact and negative joint attention
• poor sitting and attention span
• poor balance and fine motor skills
• no approach-request skills
• hyposensitive
• experiences diarrhea and has foul smelling stool
• gross motor skills like walking, jumping, swinging, climbing and running have difficulty

The following steps were undertaken for ML by his parents after the first diagnosis:

1. “Traditional” intervention services: Occupational and Speech Therapy services
2. Researched about autism and joined support groups
3. Other intervention methods

In details, the following were the services that ML went through (and is still going through):

Traditional (what are usually being recommended by developmental pediatricians) intervention methods:

• Occupational therapy and speech therapy
•  ABA or Applied Behavior Analysis
• Special Education tutorials
• Special school with social skills training
• For socialization skills, he was enrolled in a mainstream progressive education setting

Non-traditional intervention methods:

• GFCF (Gluten-Free Casein-Free) Diet and juicing which also addressed allergy issues
• Biomed intervention (for biochemical imbalances in the body as well as yeast and fungal infections)
• Auditory Intervention Training to address balance/motor coordination problems, proprioceptive issues, improvement of focus, eye contact and receptive language skills.

What has happened to the country is saddening and heartbreaking. I collated a limited list of emergency numbers to contact as well as a limited list of relief and donations center that people can go to to extend help. This is the link.

Along with prayers and thoughts, putting together a relief kit for people in need of these basic things is easy enough, especially if you and your family have not been affected.

Below are some items one can put in a relief kit:

• hot meals (if possible)
• canned goods that are ready to eat (because noodles still need to be cooked), bread, biscuits, water to drink
• first aid kit with alcohol, topical antiseptics, bandages, OTC medicines for cough and colds
• clothes like shorts, pants, shirts, jackets (No gowns please!)
• bedding like mats, pillows and blankets
• educational kit for children with crayons, pencils, pad papers and coloring books

A big hospital was inundated with water and it was really heartbreaking to see photos and learn that patients there are having a hard time. They need medical supplies like medicines and emergency kits, power supply, hardware supplies like med carts, new medical equipment and device, as well as manpower to clean up the mess.

DepEd launches Go! Education exhibit at the 2nd floor activity center of The Block, SM North EDSA.

Deped Go! Education exhibit opening was graced by Bro. Armin Luistro, DepEd Secretary (third from left), Pilipinas Shell Chair and President Edgar Chua (first from left) and two members from the House of representatives, A Teacher partylist Rep Mariano Piamonte Jr and Kalinga representative Manuel Agyao.

DepEd Launches the GO! Education Exhibit Expo

The Department of Education (DepEd), with the support of the Philippine Business for Education (PBEd), Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) and  United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has launched an Exhibit Expo to introduce the Greater Opportunities! (GO!) Education campaign to the broader public. GO! Education focuses on the three primary components towards improving access and quality of basic education in the country

• Teacher Quality,
• Curriculum Enhancements through the K to 12 Basic Education Program, and
• addressing the gaps in Resources.

“We hope that through this Expo, people will fully appreciate the benefits of the reforms we are implementing, including those on curriculum through K to 12,” said DepEd Secretary Br. Armin Luistro FSC. “We also want people to know that aside from curriculum reforms, we have also carried out and continue to implement reforms focused on improving teacher quality and augmenting resources.””

“Our educational reforms are a significant undertaking; one that will require everyone’s full support and participation,” said Luistro. “Through GO! Education, we want to encourage the entire Filipino community to support DepEd as it pushes for an education that will provide greater opportunities for our citizens,” Luistro said.

The GO! Education Exhibit Expo will run from July 27 to 29 at the The Block Atrium Activity Center, 2nd Floor, SM City North EDSA

In succeeding months, the Expo is set to run in key areas—

• SM Manila,
• SM Mall of Asia,
• SM Pampanga,
• SM Bacoor,
• SM Iloilo,
• SM Cebu,
• SM Davao

Below is a photo opp with the movers and shakers of DepEd’s Go! Education program during the exhibit expo opening:

Photos of the exhibit area of DepEd Go! Education exhibit, happening at The Block SM North EDSA, July 28 – 29, 2012: