I've Made it to Manila

Here I am, in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines.  I’ll be here for the next three or four months.  Working at Commonwealth Elementary School for one month, and with the LINK Center for the Deaf for two to three months.  Here we go!

I suppose it’s been an eventful first couple of days.  My time in Manila began with a taxi ride to my host family’s home.  It’d a modest house in a relatively beautiful, gated neighborhood.  It’s hard to imagine that just on the other side of that gate is the bustling Commonwealth Avenue, complete with 9 lanes (officially marked, that its) going each direction.  And out there, dwellings held up by corrugated steel, wood planks and tarps line the road, each outfitted with a shop out front.   And as you drive down the road the poverty just continues without end.   But in here, it’s quite and calm….such a difference.

I’m living with a family who has a student, Ocaboy, in the Special Education program.  He is nineteen years old, has only peripheral vision, and he has autism. There is also a six-year old daughter, Carina.  Ocaboy’s caretaker, Gretel, is a cousin and when the father passed away a couple of years ago, she promised him she would stay and take care of Ocaboy.   The mother, Gina, works in an office during the week.  Her father is also around.  Gina is letting me stay at the house in hopes that I can offer some helpful advice regarding Ocaboy.

On my second day, I accompanied Ethel and Ocaboy to Commonwealth Elementary School, where I will be spending my days.  We jumped into one of the colorful jeepnies that barely stopped to pick us up, and I had to heed extra caution not to hit my head, even when seated.  Down the busy road we went, stopping for more passengers to jump on along the way, until 5 minutes later we made it to Commonwealth Elementary.  The school building itself is massive, and a market and children lined the street outside.  We wedged our way through the gate into the grand courtyard.  Three story buildings surrounded us, all adorned with colorful green and blue gates.  The school is supposedly the largest in the country, with over 9,000 students attending school in 3 sessions between 6am and 6pm.   Wow! 

Over in the Special Education center (SPED), in their new building, I met teacher Evelyn, with whom I will be working.  She teaches the visually impaired students, many who have additional disabilities as well.   These students will be my main group, as I have been brought to the school by the Parents Advocates for Visually Impaired Children (PAVIC).  My supervisor from PAVIC, Marie, met me at the school as well. 

In discussing what I would do for the children, everyone immediately became excited when I said I could do assessments.  I was a bit surprised when I went back the next day and Teacher Evelyn sent one of her students over to me for an evaluation.  Already?!  I then explained that I had assessment forms I needed to print and that I must speak with the parents and teachers prior to working with the student.  After a wild goose chase through the school (where I couldn’t print from my USB drive for fear of a virus) and eventually to an internet café down the road, I was able to print my materials.  The next trick would be to photocopy them.  The school was almost a safe bet, but it turns out they will only photocopy in the hundreds, go figure, and I didn’t need hundreds.  Finally today, I decided just to copy them myself at a photocopy center in the market.  Five dollars in the end, but I think I can handle it and we don’t need to ask parents for money. 

By the end of the day, I had met with over 20 parents, discussing their child’s strengths and weaknesses and where to go with an assessment.  I never knew how much the parents knew as they were sat down with me, but it became clear that they didn’t know the service was free.  Boy how their faces lit up when they heard that!  I now have kids lined up for next week for assessments.  The idea will be to then give the parents a home program to work with their child.  A couple of students have been to an SLP before, but the prices are high and many can’t afford it.  I know there won’t be an SLP when I leave, and as parents are a child’s primary teacher, hopefully the family will benefit from the plan. 

It’s a bit overwhelming, all that’s coming at me.  Parents were constantly thrown at me today, many with children with disabilities that I have never before worked with, such as autism.  If I take it one step at a time, however, and use what I know, I think I will be able to help in some way.  I hope, at least!  I have to be careful not to lead the parents to too high expectations but to stay more realistic.  For children who are 13 years old and non-verbal, for instance, it’s probably time to think of an alternative communication mode since speech is clearly not going to be their strength. 

This also surprised me, that so many kids are nonverbal, yet none have assistive devices.  Not even picture boards!  The poverty, I was told, is the reason for this.  I’m working now on trying to think of a cheap system to enable these children to expressively communicate.  A picture board, I think would work best…now just to get the cost way down so that it’s not out of reach to anyone.   

Language assessments are also an issue.  This is such a huge part in development, but not something I can provide for all of the kids because of my lack of knowledge of Tagalog.  For those at a very basic level, however, I think I will be able to help. 

Well, I have my work cut out for me…  I do hope there is something I can offer these children and their parents.  The teachers and parents are looking for a solution, and looking to me.  I hope I made it clear enough that I can’t solve the problems, but that I can offer some help.