On the Autism Spectrum
BY AIZA DELA CRUZ
APRIL 2 is World Autism Awareness Day. Although we are aware of autism, there is still a lot more that needs to be done by policymakers to truly narrow the gap of inequalities experienced by people with disabilities and help them become productive members of our society. It is not enough to just promote awareness by having one day observe a specific disability. Promotion needs to be coupled with action.
The most important action that needs to be given the most attention and investment by policymakers is education for people with disabilities.
The current education system in the Philippines does not include nor factor in people with disabilities. For parents, like me, who have autistic children, we have little to no options when it comes to education of our children.
From the nursery level to the higher education level, if parents do not spend so much, our children would not become independent learners nor would they be presented opportunities for growth or employment.
Teachers at the nursery, kinder, and preparatory levels in public school are not equipped to handle autistic children. A typical public nursery has about 30 to 40 students with one teacher to teach all of them. There is not even a teaching assistant. The teacher may be an early childhood education or special education graduate but they are not trained nor equipped on how to teach and handle children with disabilities. If in this basic level of education a child with a disability cannot be accommodated, then more so in the primary and secondary level.
However, educating an autistic child does not begin at nursery. There is still the process to get diagnosis through seeing a developmental pediatrician and child psychologist which involves more than one visit to accurately diagnose the child. In our case, we had to pay per visit about P4,000 to the doctor and P4,000 to the psychologist.
The moment we received the diagnosis of a child, we have to hire a speech pathologist and occupational therapist. Where I live, these two specialists are not available. We have to go to Manila to obtain services from these specialists. An hour of therapy session per specialist costs us between P1,200 to P2,000, and sessions are thrice to five times a week. These therapy sessions are needed to help the child with their social communication and interaction, and behavior management. These are needed even as they grow into adults.
We also need to have a special education teacher to help the child integrate into regular schooling and a shadow teacher who will directly help the child inside the classroom. These teachers also charge a per-hour rate. Where I live, an hour is P400 to P500.
The parent who has the means can afford this but what about those who do not? Then that child does not get the education he needs. He will never know how to fend off for himself nor will he be able to support himself financially. Worst, he becomes an outcast and dies of neglect.
The government does not provide any support, subsidy or welfare benefit for the education of children with disabilities. There is no policy or law in place to provide either assistance or help narrow this non-inclusion and inequality.
When a child becomes ready for primary education, a parent’s option is to enroll him to a special education school. The parents have to secure first a formal diagnosis from a developmental pediatrician before the child can be accepted.
I encountered a grandmother in a special education school who was in a dilemma since his seven-years- old grandson, who is not diagnosed, cannot be accepted because the school requires a formal diagnosis. The grandmother and child’s parents cannot afford to see a doctor. The teacher was also in a dilemma because the Department of Education removed their financial assistance for diagnostic testing for children with disabilities that year. Eventually, the child was accepted but never diagnosed. How can that child be helped and taught in a way he would be able to learn? How can his potentials be discovered and nurtured?
Our special education school system – both at the primary and secondary levels – does not provide a teaching assistant. Everything is handled by one teacher. One teacher alone cannot manage 30 to 40 children with different learning levels and disabilities.
This education inequality must be addressed immediately by the government. Countries around the world have recognized the potentials of people with disabilities and their contributions to the growth and progress. The Philippines needs to level up. We need to grow with the changing times. We need to adopt the measures other countries are implementing to narrow the gap of inequality for people with disabilities and to include them in society.
I enjoin everyone to have more compassion and understanding for all children with different abilities.
I would also like to hear the experiences of other parents who have children on the autism spectrum. You may email me at genevieveaiza.delacruz@gmail.com. I am a member of the Autism Society Philippines (ASP), a national non-profit organization dedicated to the well-being of persons on autism spectrum disorder./PN
