ADVOCATA's 2nd Seminar: Opening Doors to Learning

I have been wishing for an organization for people with special needs to be put up near my place of residence so I can actively participate in its cause. Although Autism Society had very good intentions and they do have resources, it’s located in Kamuning and going there is a little bit of a hassle for me.

When I learned of ADVOCATA, I immediately thought, “Finally!” This organization, headed by Rosario Marie Soriano Villasor was heaven-sent. With its tagline that says “Giving voice to children withspecial needs,” I knew that this is where I wanna be involved, as they not only care for children with autism, but all children with special needs. Although their seminars are more geared towards educating both SPED andgeneral education teachers, I was assured that they will come up with more advocacies in the future, like their free assessments every Saturday at the Makati SPED Center.

Programme

I was able to attend their second seminar today, September 22. The seminar entitled “Opening Doors to Learning: Modifications and Accomodations in an Inclusionary Setting” had Dr. Thelma Mingoa, Dr.Lilia Bautista, and Teresita Filipinia as guest speakers. The Welcome Remarks were given by Cong. Monique Lagdameo of District I, Makati City.

Cong. Lagdameo

Dr. Mingoa is the current chair person of the Department of Educational Leadership and Management Department of College of Education at De La Salle University-Manila. She is also the directress and preschoolteacher at Little Saints School for Multiple Intelligence.

She gave an overview of inclusion. Her main objective was educating us with key concepts about inclusion to see if our school and/or ourselves were ready for an inclusionary setting. Basically,she helped us see how an inclusion classroom looked like, the pros and cons of inclusion, the law requirements that govern inclusion, and she gave us strategies to promote successful inclusion.

Dr. Bautista is currently the vice chair of Department of Educational Leadership and Management Department of College of Education at De La Salle University-Manila; and, a scholar by the Rotary Internationaland a teacher for Handicapped Indian University.

She gave suggestions on accommodations and classroom adaptations for students of different disabilities, like enlarging text in activity papers, having a sign language interpreter, using audio version of books, and removing extraneous details from worksheets. A group activity was given for us participants wherein after a discussion, we have to choose verbs from a list and use them to write an effective classroom accommodations for a specific exceptionality.

Ms. Filipinia, the Vice President of ADVOCATA, gave the liveliest presentation of the day, as she gave away chocolates as prizes for people who participated during the exercises. Her topic was more on the practicalside, since she tackled the idea of modifying tests for children with special needs.

Ms. Filipinia

The seminar ended as we pledged our support for ADVOCATA and its causes. All-in-all, the seminar was a success. It opened our eyes for the need of inclusion and how it should be implemented. The venue wasconducive to learning, the guest speakers were knowledgeable, the snacks (yes, there were snacks!) were deliciously filling, and the facilitators were all ready for whatever was needed. I would surely attend their third seminar,which was said was coming in November.

snack :)

To know more about ADVOCATA, you may like their Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/advocataforchildrenwithspecialneeds); follow them on Twitter(advocatainc); or send them an email at advocatainc@yahoo.com.