SPECIAL EDUCATION IN THE PHILIPPINES

MODULE 1

LEARNING TASK 1
1. WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT REASON WHY CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL
NEEDS GO TO SCHOOL?

Answer: Don't let a child's disability prevent him or her from getting a great education.
The purpose of special education is to enable students to grow to their fullest potential
by providing a free appropriate public education designed to fit their unique and special
needs

2. WHY DO CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES DON’T GO TO SCHOOL?

Answer: Children with disabilities enrolled in school but excluded from learning because
the curriculum has not been adapted to their needs, teachers do not have the capacity
or time to make the necessary adaptations, and/or they do not have access to assistive
devices necessary for their learning needs.

LEARNING TASK 2
List the significant events that have shaped the history of Special Education I the
last century

a. In Early 1900’s until 1949

1902- The interest to educate Filipino children was expressed through General
Superintendent Mr. Fred Atkinson. He proposed the children with special needs
be enrolled in school like other children

1926- Philippine association for the Deaf founded

1927- The Government established the Welfare Ville Children’s Village in Mandaluyog
1945- The National Orthopedic Hospital opened its own school for crippled children for
young patients who had to be hospitalized for long periods
1949- The Quezon City Science High school for the gifted students was inaugurated. In
the same year in the Philippine Foundation for the Rehabilitation of Disable (PFRD) was
organized
b.The Third Quarter of the Century
1950- Philippine Association for the Deaf opened a school for children with
hearing impairment
1956- The first Summer Institute for Teaching the Deaf
1957- The Department of Education created the special education section of the Special
Subjects and Services division
1958- The American Foundation for overseas blind opens its regional office in Manila
1960- Some private Colleges and Universities started to open Special Education
Courses in their graduate school
1962- Training of teachers at the University of the Philippines
1. Hearing impairment
2. Mental Retardation

C.The Last Thirty years

1978- The National Commission Concerning Disable Persons as National Council for
the Welfare of Disable Person was Created
1892- Education Act was created.
LEARNING TASK 3
-What is the importance of RA 9288 otherwise known as the Newborn screening
Act of 2004
Answer: The National Newborn Screening System shall ensure that every baby born in
the Philippines is offered the opportunity to undergo newborn screening and thus be
spared from heritable conditions that can lead to mental retardation and death if
undetected and untreated

LEARNING TASK 4
ENUMERATE THE LAWS PERTAIN TO:

a.The Inclusion of Children with special needs in all programs and concerns of
the government.
- Presidential Decree No. 1509- in 1978 the national commission concerning Disable
persons as National Council for the Welfare of Disable Person was created

b.The Education of Children with Special Needs

- Batas Pambansa Bilang 232- Also known as Educational Act of 1892. The state shall
promote the right of every individual to relevant quality education, regardless of sex,
age, breed, socio-economics status, physical and mental condition, social ethic origin,
political and other affiliations.
-Batas Pambansa Bilang 344- in 1983, the accessibility Law was created. An act to
enhance the mobility of disable person.
- Republic Act No. 6759- In 1989, the law declared August 1 of each year as “white
cane safety day in the Philippines”

C.THE PARTICIPATION OF HOME, PARENTS AND THE COMMUNITY IN SPECIAL

EDUCATION ACTIVITIES
- Republic Act No. 7610- In 1992, the Law is an act providing for strong deterrence and
protection against Child abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination
- Magna Carta for Disable Persons- Republic Act No. 7277
LEARNING TASK 5
REFLECTION

Steve Ferreira was born with cerebral palsy in Taipei, Taiwan in 1988.  When he was 15
years old, he decided he wanted to try to make a difference in the lives of people with
disabilities. He started speaking to local high schools about what it is like to live with a
disability. To this date, he has spoken over 150 times at more than 20 different regional
high schools. In addition, he has spoken to high schools and a college in Taipei,
Taiwan, local colleges, and Kiwanis and Rotary events. As a motivational speaker,
Steve aims to raise disability awareness within each and every community he
addresses

People with disabilities are still people, they are people with hearts and they are actual
physical beings; people with disabilities do their best to live every day to their fullest, yet
that is still not enough for others. I feel like as a whole, humans are generally
uncomfortable with people who have disabilities. Let’s think of it this way, people live their
life every day in their normal lives and then they come across a person with a disability
and suddenly their life is interrupted, like it is such a barrier in their flow of life to come
across someone different from themselves. But even though their have this kind of
condition they work themselves to become successful and to make people proud to them
and show to the people that they are strong in facing all the challenges in their lives.