Naga's NEED program, Part 2
THE NEED program combines traditional day care services of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) with modern Montessori-type pre-school education. It also has a component for children with disabilities, of which the HELP Learning Center is one.
The 2nd part of this Galing Pook-produced video starts with Dr. Fe de los Reyes, the Center's founder and executive director, explaining the thrusts and services of their institution, how it came about, and how it tries to make a difference in the lives of many Nagueño children.
Starting next week, my special kid Nokie will be one of them and our family will always be by her side. The concluding part of this video, which never fails to move me to tears towards the end, follows after the jump.
3 comments:
The growing prevalence of children with special needs now is something our LGU should rethink and look into deeper; in U.S. alone half-million kids are autistic. HELP was founded (10 years ago?), and never had sufficient financial support except from few organizations and of course the LGU to really come in terms with the minimum required and reinforce program. Most of us know that learning disabilities (from down syndrome, cerebral palsy, autism, mental retardation, etc.) has a wide spectrum and uniquely individual, honestly, I’ve enrolled my only kid way back because of their occupational therapist available, and sometime Speech Pathologist. But it’s not enough, though I praise the effort of Dr. de los Reyes for her effort and dedication.
We need to have individualized curriculum for these kids. You’ll experience that after few years you’ll scout for better institution other than HELP and perhaps be disappointed (again) because very few schools in Naga (Naga Parochial, Naga Central, Lighthouse Baptist) offer individualized/modular with mainstream approach as normal schools rarely accepts them. What should the community do? It’s about time we ask this question, especially the under privileged families as this kids development puts on hold by putting limit to a person’s right and their need to learn.
Hi Anon: Sorry for not responding sooner. We will have to opportunity to look at the data when we reconvene the children's council and bring up your concern.
If and when we do, can I invite you to participate? You can email me your contact details, if that's OK.
Oops: What I meant is "We will have ANOTHER opportunity to look at the data..."
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