Republic of the Philippines

Province of Leyte
Municipality of Abuyog
ABUYOG COMMUNITY COLLEGE

PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION 3
FOUNDATION OF SPECIAL AND INCLUSIVE EDUCATION

Module 2: Special Education Programs and Services

Learning Outcome Based on the Course Syllabus

Describe and discuss the special education programs and services offered in the country.

Learning Objectives
At the end of module, the following learning objectives will be attained by the students by at least 75% rating:
1. Define the following terms: prevalence, identifiable prevalence, true prevalence, incidence.
2. Compare the prevalence estimate of children with special needs done by the UNICEF and the World
Health Organization.
3. Explain the figure on the true prevalence of Filipino children and youth with special needs.
4. Describe the different special education programs and services offered by the Philippine public and
private schools or institutions and cite examples for each.
5. Discuss the definition of inclusive education and its salient features.
6. Enumerate the support services extended to children with special needs.

Course Direct Instructions

The quotation cited impresses the urgency of Education for All children and youth irrespective of
race, religious affiliation, socio and economic status and gender. As learned in the previous lesson, the
Philippine Constitution and other laws of the land guarantee education for all Filipino children and youth.
Those who have exceptional gift and talent, those with intellectual and physical disabilities, those with
emotional and behavior disorders, like their peers in regular schools, benefit from special education programs
and services.
The Special Education Division of the Bureau of Elementary Education in in-charge of all the
programs and services in the country. It has the following functions: (1) formulate policies, plans and
programs; (2) develop standards of programs and services; (3) monitor and evaluate the efficiency of
programs and services; (4) conduct in-service training programs to upgrade the competencies of special
education administrators, teachers, and ancillary personnel; and (5) establish and strengthen linkages and
networks.

Prevalence of Children and Youth with Special Needs

Prevalence refer to the total number of cases of a particular condition particularly those with
exceptionality and developmental disabilities and impairments. Prevalence is viewed in two ways. Identifiable
prevalence refers to the cases that have come in contact with some systems. The number of children and
youth with special needs is derived from census data. On the other hand, true prevalence assumes that there
are larger number of children and youth with special needs who are in school or in the community who have
not been identified as such and are not in the special education programs of the Department of Education.
Meanwhile, the word incidence which is considerably synonymous in some contexts with the term prevalence,
refers the number of new cases identified within a population over a specific period of time.
 The 1997 UNICEF report on the Situation Analysis of Children and Women in the Philippines
indicates that the mean percentage of persons with some types of disabilities is 13.4 per one thousand
population. This means that out of 1,000 personas have certain disabilities. For every million of the
population, 10,720 have certain disabilities. In the projected population of eighty (80) million, more than eight
and a half million have disabilities. The distribution of the different categories of exceptionalities and
disabilities among children is as follows:
a. 43.3% have speech defects
b. 40.0% are mute
c. 33.3% have mental retardation
d. 25.9% are those without one or both arms or hands
e. 16.4% are those without one or both legs or feet
f. 16.3% have mental illness
g. 11.5% are totally deaf
h. 11.4% are totally blind

Philippine Population: 80 M

True prevalence of Filipino children and youth with special needs

The universal estimate the prevalence pf children with special needs stands at 10% with disabilities
and 2% with giftedness and talent. The figure above shows that approximately half of the total population of
80 million belongs to the category of children and youth whose chronological ages range from zero to twenty-
four. Based on these statistics and using the universal estimate of 12%, it may be assumed that at least 4.8
million Filipino children and youth need special education services. The true prevalence of those with
disabilities is estimated to be four (4) million. Those who are gifted and talented are estimated to number
800,000.
Of the estimated number pf exceptional children and youth how many are enrolled in special
education classes? At present, only a small number of these children are in special education classes. Many
of them remain unidentified in regular classes and in the communities. Current figures show that there are
seven hundred ninety-four (794) special education programs in all the regions, six hundred sixteen (616) of
which are in public schools. One hundred forty-four (144) programs utilize the Special Education Center
delivery mode for the full or partial mainstreaming of children with special needs in regular classes. Likewise,
there are thirty-four (34) state and private special and residential schools.
The Special Education Division report on statistics for the school year 2004-2005 gives the following
data.
Special Education Enrollment Data in Public and Private
School
(SY 2004-2005)
Categories No. of Children
1. gifted and fast learners 77,152
2. with learning disabilities 40,260
3. with mental retardation 12,456
 4. with hearing impairment 11,597
5. with autism 5,172
6. with behavior problems 5,112
7. with visual impairments 2,670
8. with speech defects 917
9. with orthopedic impairments 760
10. with special health problems 142
11. with cerebral palsy 32
With Disabilities 79,118
Grand Total 156,270

Tabulated enrolment data in public and private schools show that only 3% of the estimated 4,800,000
children and youth with special needs are receiving special education services. The majority of these
exceptional children are unidentified either in the schools or in their homes and communities. A small number
may be in community-based programs provided by nongovernment entities, church groups, and civic
organizations.

Range of Special Education Programs and Services

An array of special education programs and services are available in the country. These are offered
by public schools and private institutions.
1. Special Education Center
It is a service delivery system which operates on the “school within a school” concept.
The SpEd Center functions as the base for the special education programs in a school. A SpEd
principal administers the Center following the rules and regulations for a regular school. The
special education teachers manage special or self-contained classes, mainstreaming, tutorial
and mentoring resource room services, assessment, parent education, guidance and
counselling and advocacy programs to promote the education of children with special needs in
the regular school. The SpEd teacher functions both as a teacher and tutor as well as consulting
teacher to the regular school in planning and implementing appropriate strategies for the
maximum participation of the special children in the regular class.
2. Special Class or Self-Contained Class
It is the most popular type among the special education programs. A special class is
composed of pupils with the same exceptionality or disability. The special education teacher
handles the special class in the Special Education Center or resource room. Thus, in public and
private regular schools, there are special classes for children with mental retardation, giftedness
and talent, hearing impairment, visual impairment, learning disabilities, or behavior problems.
3. Integration and Mainstreaming Programs
It allows the children and youth with disabilities to study in regular classes and learn side
by side with their peers. Integration was the term used earlier. At present, when it is no longer
unusual to find blind, deaf, and even mentally retarded students participating in regular class
activities at certain periods of the school day, the preferred term is mainstreaming. There are
two types of mainstreaming. In partial mainstreaming, children who have moderate or severe
forms of disabilities are mainstreamed in regular classes in subjects like Physical Education,
Home Technology, and music and Arts. In full mainstreaming, children with disabilities are
enrolled in regular classes and recite in all the subjects. A special education teacher assists the
regular teacher in teaching the children with special needs. Likewise, the SpEd teacher gives
tutorial lessons at the SpEd Center or resource room.
4. Special Day School
 It serves one or more types of disabilities. The special education classes are taught by
trained teachers. Aside from special education, a comprehensive array of service is available or
arranged such as medical, psychological and social services.
5. Residential School
It provides both special education and dormitory services for its students.
Complementing the curricular programs are houseparent services, diagnostic services, guidance
and counselling, recreations and social activities.

Inclusive Education for Children with Special Needs

The Department of Education strongly advocates inclusive education as a basic service for all types
of exceptional children. In the 1994 Conference on Special Needs Education held in Salamanca, Spain, the
participants reaffirmed the right to education of every individual to education as enshrined in the 1984
Universal Declaration of Human rights. The reaffirmation served as a renewal of the pledge made by the
world community at the 1990 World Conference on Education for All. With these declarations and urgency of
the need for early intervention, the Department of Education adopted the policy of inclusive education in
1997. A handbook on Inclusive Education was issued as the main reference and guide to the practice of
Inclusive Education. National, regional and division-wide training on inclusive education were conducted to
promote the concept of inclusive education.
➢ What is inclusive education?
Inclusion describes the process by which a school accepts children with special needs for
enrollment in regular classes where they can learn side by side with their peers. The school
organizes its special education program and includes a special education teacher in its faculty.
The school provides the mainstream where regular teachers and special education teachers
organize and implement appropriate programs for both special and regular students.
➢ What are the salient features of inclusive education?
Inclusion means implementing and maintaining warm and accepting classroom
communities that embrace and respect diversity or differences. Teachers and students take active
steps to understand individual differences and create an atmosphere of respect.
Inclusion implements a multilevel, multimodality curriculum. This means that special needs
students follow an adopted curriculum and use special devices and materials to learn at a suitable
pace.
Inclusion prepares regular teachers and special education teachers to reach interactively.
The classroom model where one teacher teaches an entire group of children single-handedly is
being replaced by structures where students work together, teach one another and participate
actively in class activities. Students tend to learn with and from each other rather than compete
with each other.
Inclusion provides continuous support for teachers to break down barriers of professional
isolation. The hallmarks of inclusive education are co-teaching., team teaching, collaboration and
consultation and other ways of assessing skills and knowledge learned by all the students.

Support Services for Children with Special Needs

At least two types of support services are extended to children with special needs:
1. While the SpEd program can implement only the screening and informal assessment so that the
child can be enrolled in the program as early as possible, referral services are solicited from
medical and clinical specialists as soon as possible. Some of the specialists are:
➢ clinical psychologist, school psychologist, psychometrician for psychological testing
➢ medical doctor, dentist for general check-up of all children
➢ ophthalmologist for all children especially those with blindness and low-vision
➢ otologist or otolaryngologist for all children especially those with hearing loss, deafness,
language and speech disorders
 ➢ neurologist child psychiatrist for children with mental retardation, learning disabilities and
emotional-behavioral disorder
➢ speech therapist for all children with language and speech problem
➢ physical and occupational therapist for all children especially those with physical
disabilities
➢ interpreter for the deaf who communicates verbal activities to deaf children through
speech reading, sign language and gestures
➢ orientation and mobility instructor who teaches independent travel techniques to blind
children
2. Assistive devices are specialized instructional and learning materials and equipment that enable
children with special needs to function efficiently. Some of the assistive devices are:
➢ for blind students: braille slate and stylus, braille books, braille watch, braille ruler and
tape measure, braille calculator, arithmetic slate, computer with voice synthesizer,
embossed materials, manipulative materials, talking books, tape recorder, braille paper
➢ for low vision students: large print books, large print typewriter, magnifying lenses,
Grade I lined paper
➢ for deaf students: individual hearing aid, sign language book, speech kit, wall mirror,
speech trainer, group hearing aid
➢ for children with mental retardation: teacher-made materials specific to the
Individualized Education Plan (IEP) on the functional curriculum and adaptive behavior
skills
➢ for children with physical disabilities: mobility device such as wheelchair, braces and
splints, adjustable desk, table and chair, communication aid for clear speech, adapted
computer system

Learning Activities
Activity 1. Enumerate the different services offered in the country and elaborate its best feature, then
name a few schools that implement the said program. Which do you think is the best and
effective service for children with special needs that would develop them and become
productive citizen of the nation?

Activity 2. Discuss comprehensively the features of the inclusive education and cite example or situation
in the classroom for each feature.

Activity 3. Name the different support services for the children with special needs and its corresponding
functions. Based on your observations which of the support services is existing in the
implementation of special education? How will you address the issues on the support
services in the country?

Activity 4. Revisit virtually the special class you went earlier. Find out from the teacher how inclusive
education is implemented. Write your impressions about this type of special education
service delivery mode.

Evaluation
1. What is the meaning of prevalence? What is the prevalence of children with special needs based on:
a. the World Health Organization’s estimate?
b. the UNICEF’s estimate?
2. Based on the number of Filipino children with special needs who are in special education program,
how many are out-of-school? What do the numbers mean to you?
 3. Fill in the matrix to illustrate the salient features, similarities and differences among the types of
special education services.
Type of SpEd Services Salient Features, Similarities and differences

References
Inciong T., Quijano Y., Capulong Y., Gregorio J., and Gines A. (2007), Introduction to Special
Education (1st Edition).
Cole, Peter & Cole, Leona (2003). Methods and Strategies for Special Education.
Farrell, Michael (2008). The Special Education Handbook (An A-Z Guide).
Friend, Marilyn (2006) IDEA 2004: Special Education (Contemporary Perspectives for School
Professionals) Updated Edition.
Inciong T., Quijano Y. (1991). Handbook on Special Education (A Guide for Teachers, Administrators
and Service Related Staff. SpEd Division, BEE, DECS
Inciong T., Quijano Y. (1991). Policies and Guidelines for Special Education. SpEd Division, BEE,
DECS
Taylor, R, Smiley, L., Smiley, and Richards, S. (2006). Exceptional Students Preparing Teachers for
the 21st Century.

Prepared by:
JONATHAN T. BUDLONG, Ed.D.
Instructor