By Mark Isaiah David
The holiday season brings joy – and pressure – especially for parents of children with special needs. Typical gifts might not suit a neurodivergent child’s unique way of experiencing the world. To find out what’s on their wish list, we asked the parents of Autism Community Philippines (ACP – a Facebook group with more than 62,000 members) what they’d want Santa to bring their kids this Christmas.
Sensory Tools and Toys
Sensory tools and toys are a godsend in managing the challenges of every day for kids with special needs. Sensations and experiences that are normal for the general population could be impossible to cope with for those with special needs due to sensory overload. This is where sensory tools and toys are helpful.
Weighted blankets and lap pads are great for calming and soothing when there’s sensory excess. Fidget toys and chew necklaces are useful for focus and self-regulation. Bubble walls and lava lamps are visually soothing, providing a much-needed space for sensory break. Sand and water tables enable tactile play that encourages fine motor development and sensory exploration. And for those with ultra-sensitive ears, good noise-cancelling headphones help with managing sensitivity to sound in noisy environments.
Adaptive Communication Devices
Non-verbal kids need help in sharing their thoughts. There are few things more frustrating than being locked in your own body, unable to voice out what you want. For kids with speech difficulties, adaptive communication devices liberate their silenced minds.
Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices are tools for nonverbal or minimally verbal children to communicate. A tablet with the right app is an example of this, along with the more traditional Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) – usually a personalized board of photos that symbolize what the kid would ask for (toilet, food, go out, too loud, go home, etc.). Voice output communication apps like TouchChat, Proloquo2Go and CoughDrop are apps that help with communication for children with speech or language challenges. Finally, sign language apps such as SignSchool can support communication in a nonverbal form.
Developmental & Therapeutic Apps
Various apps can even help regulate behavior and manage emotions. Visual schedule apps like Choiceworks and First Then Visual Schedule help with routine and transition management. Behavior and emotion regulation apps such as Zones of Regulation and Calm Counter are useful for children learning to regulate and voice out their emotions. Last, focus and organization tools such as Time Timer, Focus@Will are great for kids with ADHD or organizational needs. Like the apps that help in communication, these development and therapeutic apps normally cost money.
While toys and apps are exceedingly useful in helping cope with the every day demands and challenges faced by kids with special needs, it is undeniable that a more systemic change needs to happen to enable children requiring specialized support to catch up with their neurotypical peers.
Accessible Education
A 2022 United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) study declared that there are approximately 1.6 million children with disabilities in the Philippines. Even with such a sizable number, it’s still hard to find good Special Education (SPED) schools in the country, especially in the provinces.
The cost of educating kids with special needs is another Godzilla-sized problem. SPED schools are expensive – typically much more than normal schools. Furthermore, neurodivergent kids need therapy (occupational, physical, speech, Applied Behavioral Analysis, etc.) and they typically cost around P1,000-P2,000 per session. Depending on a child’s needs, a developmental pediatrician may recommend the kid to undergo 2 sessions (of each therapy) per week. For most Filipinos, this is simply too expensive.
Clearly, there is a need for more government support for its neurodivergent citizens.
Health and Insurance Coverage
It’s already difficult getting health and insurance policy in the Philippines where millions are barely able to make ends meet. But parents of special kids looking for this coverage find that it is even more torturous when the candidate isn’t “normal”. Unless the child is diagnosed as ‘high-functioning’, health insurance providers automatically reject applications the moment they find out that the child is neurodivergent – a prejudice that continually frustrates parents of kids with special needs.
Fortunately, there are those who push the norms and advocate for change. In a breakthrough case, John Paul Sarmiento, a Financial Advisor and Insurance Agent, was able to secure Critical Illness coverage with Early Stage, Recovery, 2nd Critical Illness, and Male Cancer Benefit for a child with autism, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and Intellectual Developmental Disability (IDD - what used to be called retardation).
Even better, Sarmiento was successful in championing the students at Polikids Center for Development – a SPED school in Bulacan. In what is possibly the first case in the Philippines, students with special needs now enjoy group Life and Accident protection.
Hopefully, more health and insurance providers will follow this direction and address the needs of the growing special needs market.
Sustainable Employment
Every parent wants their children to become productive members of society. And while kids with special needs face more challenges than their neurotypical counterparts, having meaningful, sustainable employment is still within their reach – given enough opportunities.
Schools and training facilities that prepare people with diverse abilities for employment are few and far between, and even fewer still are those establishments that train them beyond equipping very specific skills (like cooking, or waitering, etc.). The Vanguard Academy (TVA) – through their Transcend Program – excels in this area.
Going beyond skill-specific training, TVA’s Transcend Program prepares students for part-time or full-time employment, greater levels of independent living, and possibly tertiary or continuing education. Depending on their chosen areas of interest, the Transcend Program offers opportunities by partnering with organizations, businesses, and communities that are not only safe but also open to learning how to become more inclusive for individuals of all abilities.
Thanks to ventures that are paving the way for a more inclusive Philippines, parents of kids with special needs retain hope that someday, every organization will welcome individuals of all abilities.