Cerebral Palsy, along with Down’s Syndrome, Mental Retardation, Hearing Impairment and Visual Impairment are probably one of those classified as “obvious” special needs people.

Why? These conditions can be recognized readily by those who know how.

Cerebral palsy can be recognized by a number of symptoms like spasms, inability to move and maintain balance and posture. They lack muscle control.

Some of those with cerebral palsy have difficulty walking and doing tasks like writing and/or feeding themselves and/or dressing up. There are those who are hyperactive. There are also those who have seizure disorders. There are those who have learning and developmental problems.

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Special needs parents? Whatever happened to children with special needs? Who are these people?

I am so happy to brag write about this. Woohoo!
Click here to read my article posted at FilipinoMomBlog.

Parents expect a lot when they have their children go into therapy, whether it is occupational therapy or speech and/or language therapy and physical therapy.

Of course, they expect a lot because they pay a lot of money to be able to get these services for their children.

Here in the Philippines, parents/families of children receiving therapy services pay for these services, unlike those children in other countries who get these as part of their tax benefits.

Getting into these therapy services don’t mean instant relief and instant improvement of the developmental and behavioral problems that need to be addressed.

So what should parents expect during the first few weeks of therapy?

Below are a few observations I have made during the course of working with these therapists:

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There is a student who goes to the center where I work who undergoes speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and Language and Literacy Program with me. I have given him an assessment year 2006 but they didn’t push through with the program.

They came back August last year and we started the program on the last Wednesday of August 2007. They got a Wednesday slot, after his speech and language therapy session. For the first two months, attendance was good. But from November to February, the child was almost a no-show. Not just to me but with the other therapists too.

No, he didn’t get sick. He just didn’t want to go to therapy. Mom lets him do what he decides to do, just go home after school and watch tv.

February the child wasn’t coming so I decided to not continue with the program. My time is valuable to me, I can teach another student needing my services.

This week, they went to their developmental pediatrician who got mad because they didn’t have any report from us three. She wrote a letter, demanding to know why, demanding to have those reports as she will ask the child to come back after two weeks. Yeah right.

If only they were able to at least consistently attend their program schedule. If only follow-up is given when take-home works are brought home. If only the doctor explained what is EXACTLY wrong with the child, then perhaps, the mother would understand why her child is not learning the way she expects her child to learn.

We can’t tell her that, it is not our place to tell what exactly is wrong with our students because it is the doctor’s role.

We felt insulted.

I felt insulted. I do my work, more than the usual that I can give and do. I have had students with me, who consistently go to me for special ed services, some for over a decade. They are still with me, not because they didn’t improve but because they know that together with their families and their support, we can make things better.

A few minutes after I got the message about this,I set out to write a very detailed report. I even included every session’s objectives and goals as well as the drills given. For 17 hours worth of program implementation. From August 29 till February 5.

Too little time to show or even warrant improvement in the Language and Literacy Program, especially if attendance is inconsistent. Sigh.

JG had bacterial meningitis before she turned two. I haven’t seen JG and her family since they moved from the inlaws’ rented apartment.

M I think, had the same (not really sure though) when she was still a baby. Up to now, she still takes some medication for her condition. Her condition had effects on her learning.

Both of them have hand grip problems.

JG I am not sure what hand preference has the grip problem but she had difficulty peeling a banana or tying shoe laces or even doing tasks that look quite simple enough. JG is a teenager and has learning problems.

M’s hand grip problem is her left hand, which was fine since she is right-handed. MQ can not open up her left hand properly nor perform tasks using that hand.

I am not sure how these should be addressed. Perhaps with assistive technology yes, assistive technology would definitely help them have some improvements. But this type of intervention still has a long way to go here in the country.

Individuals with mental retardation develop their skills more slowly than others in these different aspects of development:

• social development
• emotional development
• academics
• physical skills

Most children diagnosed with mental retardation have mild or moderate disability. Educational services should begin in infancy. Services should continue way into their critical developmental stages, until they have reached their full potential, depending upon their capabilities and/or diagnosis and/or intervention programs.

To read more about Intellectual Disability, click here. The four different degrees of mental retardation can be read here.

These children did not want to have this diagnosis, in my humble opinion, it is a disrespect to use the word “retard” when referring to them OR to other people.