SDEAS and KNU Cultural Exchange Program

SDEAS and KNU Cultural Exchange Program Feb 9,2009



SDEAS and KNU Cultural Exchange Program Feb 10,2009



SDEAS and KNU Cultural Exchange Program Feb 11,2009

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Education and Integration of Deaf People

Education and Integration of Deaf People

By Theresa Christine B. dela Torre, MAEd

This is a paper presented in the First Asia-Oceania Association of Audiology Conference/6th Philippine Society of Audiology Annual Conference.Held in Dusit Hotel, Makati City on November 27, 2008

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Good Morning!.

I am here to discuss what we do at De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde to help in the Education and Integration of Deaf people. Before I talk about some key points, allow me to explain a bit the perspective from which I will come from:

1. We belong to two different professions that deal with the Deaf population. And so we look at things in a different light.

One such difference is how we call them. While you refer to them as hearing-impaired from a pathological perspective of deafness, I shall refer to them as Deaf people from a cultural perspective. People who may have difficulty with hearing or may not hear at all and may use assistive devices such as hearing aids and cochlear implants, and who at some point in their lives have learned to speak, nevertheless are also Deaf people who share their own interests, culture, language and history.

2. In the educational set up of the Deaf and other children with disabilities, we use terms such as self-contained set-up, mainstreamed set up and inclusion. For everyone’s benefit let me just briefly state some unique features:

1. Self-contained arrangements – Deaf students attend all their classes with their fellow peers.
2. Mainstreamed arrangements – Deaf students attend some classes that are self-contained and some classes with their hearing peers.
3. Inclusion – Deaf students attend all their classes with their hearing peers either with accommodation support or on their own.

The Deaf Students

Who are the Deaf students who become members of the DLS-CSB Community? To further understand SDEAS, I would like to start off by stating the issues that Deaf students often bring into the college as they pursue their studies in DLS-CSB. These are :

1. Low self worth and confused identity – often there is a negative view of self, poor self-worth, and overwhelming feeling of being a 2^nd class citizen.

2. Distrusts capability, and capacity to improve knowledge and competence – questions worthiness, has very weak foundational skills in reading, writing, and computation; knowledge of information, basic facts, and others are limited or are sometimes distorted.

This view of weakness further compounds issues of self-worth

3. Limited aspirations and Interests – very limited options because their circle of influence revolves around similar job options in their growing up years. And there are of course, very few colleges that offer career training opportunities.

4. Poor health due to financial situation of their families. Most of our families belong to C or D classes. 99% of the deaf students receive partial or full tuition subsidy from CSB.

However, with sufficient support and guidance, they graduate and find jobs. [showcase the graduates]

And so, what do we do in the education of our Deaf students? I shall explain by way of introducing to you DLS-CSB and SDEAS .

About De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde

De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde is one of the 18 District Schools of De La Salle Philippines. At present, there are 6 Academic School in the areas of Deaf Education and Applied Studies; Design and Arts; Hotel, Restaurant and Institute Management; Management and Information Technology; Multidisciplinary Studies; and Professional and Continuing Education

We also offer non-degree course for pre-college students, post baccalaureate courses for students seeking advance training in various fields, and Sign Language classes. Our teachers are Deaf people and we would be glad to coordinate with PSA and Dr. Rodriguez to custom fit your needs to learn sign language.

The Mission of De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde has 5 key elements which play crucial roles in our education process. These are:

1. Value for community - Learning is possible and nurtured through a sense of community composed of students, faculty, administrators, and other stakeholders

2. Value for relationships through transformational experiences - guided by the Benildean Core Values (BCV) of appreciation of individual worth, creativity, professional competence, social responsibility, a sense of nationhood, and our faith.

3. Value for mutual support and respect for diversity; and we recognize and address needs, interests and cultures of all learners.

4. Value for Faith, holistic human development and national development

5. Our role to respond and anticipate needs of individuals, communities, industries and society by developing innovative and relevant programs

This is the context of our learning environment that we help cultivate for our students, particularly for our Deaf learners.

School of Deaf Education and Applied Studies

There are 3 major programs that provide support to the Deaf students. These are the Office for Academics, the Office for Deaf Esteem and Formation, and the Office for Partnership and Development.

The Office for Academics is responsible for the pre-college program called Deaf Learners’ Preparatory Course (DLPC) and the Bachelor in Applied Deaf Studies with specialization in Entrepreneurship and Multimedia Arts.

The Deaf studies track focuses on strengthening the Deaf students’ identity, and the elective tracks focus on building competence for employment. Here, you shall see the whole academic team who takes charge of the academic track of the Deaf students in DLS-CSB SDEAS

Side by side with their academic training, the Office for Deaf Esteem and Formation provides extensive formation program involving Guidance and Counseling, Spiritual Deepening, Theater Arts, Dance and Leadership Involvement through student life activities in sports, organizations, and community service. [show Office of Deaf Esteem and Formation]. The counterpart of this office for the needs of hearing students is the Office for Student Affairs.

Together with academic training, SDEAS nurtures the growth of healthy Deaf Esteem rooted in Deaf culture, value for Deaf community and their Filipino Sign Language.

SDEAS also takes part in the nurturance of a positive view of Deaf people in the mainstreamed environment. We actively take part in the education of hearing people through various involvements with the general CSB community, the employers and employees, people’s organizations, media, PSA members and others.

These are opportunities aimed to develop lasting partnerships that will have an impact on improving attitudes, awareness and on operation side, improve policies and procedures that will improve Deaf people’s access to education, employment and human services.

We have offered self-contained set up and no mainstream arrangements for the academic and self-development training of the Deaf. This is both a response to our mission, and a strategy to facilitate greater learning opportunity for our students. As mentioned earlier, we cultivate a Learner-Centered Environment, which allows diversity of needs and cultures to be fully recognized and addressed so we may assist in their growth towards the target level of professional excellence and holistic development we all aspire for our graduates.

However, interaction and full participation in the mainstreamed arrangements are made possible through close coordination of SDEAS with other units of the college. Students pursue their rights to get involved in many opportunities. Official participation in non-SDEAS school activities and initiatives are made accessible through the provision of interpreters, and other appropriate arrangement of opportunities.

In the next 3-5 years, we are preparing the way to increase the career options of Deaf people in DLS-CSB by providing access to other educational opportunities such as degree courses in design, culinary, management, and others either through a self-contained, mainstreamed or inclusive arrangement.

We hope that to be successful in such arrangement, it is necessary to provide extensive educational access support. This support shall ensure full access to information, learning experiences in and outside of the classroom, as well as educational support for remedial and advance training such as tutors, special classes, and others. We hope to have a bigger pool of interpreters for placement in various academic settings, and make use of necessary assistive devices and strategies as tools to support our deaf students in the mainstreamed set up.

Post Secondary Education Network - International, (to know more about PEN please click here ) an international partner of global network of colleges and institutions with postsecondary education program for the Deaf, is helping us in the planning of this change.

Integration of Deaf people

Deaf people are not fully integrated because the communication, information, work processes, relationships, organizations, and others in society are so arranged that only the hearing and speaking members can fully participate in.

While this is so, Deaf people find a way to be integrated in the mainstreamed society. They have learned to adapt, adjust and live productive lives despite the barriers that exist in their everyday lives. They have learned to adjust their lives accordingly to what is available, and to what is not, and creatively respond to the challenges and live a better life.

But then of course, we all seek for a better life for them. More so, they seek a better life for themselves. One where Deaf people would have a full range of options on how to improve their lives, and are able to avail of these options – with freedom to choose when, how and what to avail; and in the course of their experiences and training, they become even more productive, become experts in their chosen fields, and even take leadership roles in facilitating improvement in the lives of Deaf people and the greater majority.

The task of integration of the Deaf in society does not fall in the hands of Deaf people alone. It is a necessity that we, the hearing people fully participate in the process. Not just telling them what to do, but committing ourselves to

1. understand their diversity in order to develop interventions and support for their holistic development; and
2. have the willingness to effectively work with them in unity and with respect.

And so, aside from training our Deaf students, DLS-CSB SDEAS also seek to help and assist other hearing people we deal with along the way in the mainstreamed society to recognize the value of diversity, respect those who are different from us and learn to effectively work together to achieve the same objectives in many different ways.

And so now as I end my presentation allow me to pose the following questions to the members of PSA

1. What else can you do to help Deaf people other than to maximize their residual hearing?

2. How can you help beyond the call of your profession?

3. The children that you have helped 10-15 years ago are now teenagers or young adults or even older. How else can you help them?

4. What would you tell the parents of the Deaf young children who will come to you today? What future do they have that you can participate in creating? What can you do beyond your profession to help create a more positive future for them?

And so, I am glad to be here. I hope that my presentation clearly put across very important messages crucial to the integration of Deaf people in society. Maybe the information may help you along the way. As mentioned by Dr. Enriquez, one of the objectives of forming this society “is to get a complete picture in addressing the problems” of the population we all serve.

I hope that through my presentation, I was able to offer the missing piece that would complete the whole picture that you are looking for.

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To view the convention pictures Click Here

To view the power point presentation prepared by Giselle Montero Click Here [under construction]

Soon to release - An Article on current partnership efforts with Ospital ng Maynila