30 Children with Disabilities from Payatas to Participate in the Dance Therapy Movement

Joining the “Dance Movement Therapy for Children with Disabilities [CWDs]” a project initiated by CBR-SMILE under the Gawad Metronian Educational Foundation, Inc [GMEFI] Community Educational Fund Assistance Program are 30 CWDs. Participant’s disabilities are described as follows: Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, Global Delay, Autism, Psychosocial, Dwarfism/Orthopedic, Deaf with CP, Learning Disability [LD], Meningocelle/LD, Intellectual Delay, and Low Vision.

Participants of the Dance Movement Therapy to be conducted by Teacher Ana Rivera of The Heart at Play Foundation. CBR Smile of Payatas, Q.C. headed by Mrs. Sanny Bautista, is the project proponent; Nitz Caliwan is the coordinator

Ten sessions will be held starting this Saturday, September 3 at 10 a.m. Venue will be at the CBR Center located in Payatas, Quezon City. The other sessions are scheduled on September 10, 17; October 1, 15, 29; November 5, 19, December 3, 10. Teacher Ana Rivera, president of The Heart at Play Foundation, and a dance therapy specialist shall be handling the children.

“Teacher Ana, as she is fondly called, belongs to a family of dancers.   In 2000, she opened her own dance studio that catered to students from exclusive schools in Greenhills, San Juan.  Amidst her flourishing private dance studio, she felt a strong urge to act and make things happen on the dance floor for children with special needs. So she completed a diploma course in special education (SpEd) from the College of the Holy Spirit.

In between her SpEd course and current pursuit of a master’s degree in Speech Language Pathology (SLP), Teacher Ana went to Wichita, Kansas, USA for training and immersion programs in dance therapy. During her observation in a dance school that caters to special children, she witnessed a child with autism who was being physically assisted all throughout a session. The CWA and her mother struggled as they tried to follow the teachers’ instructions.  Later, they left the dance floor and never returned.  From this incident, Teacher Ana vowed to promote the “No Child Left Behind Act” where her heart is – on the dance floor.

With her observations from different dance schools (including an intensive training with the American Dance Therapy in New York), her SPED background, and a heart moved by compassion for children with special needs, Teacher Ana designed a unique and innovative Dance Movement Therapy (DMT) that accommodates special needs children of all functioning levels. Cecil Sicam, Vice President of Autism Society Philippines and a seasoned SpEd teacher, observed that “Teacher Ana and her team use task analysis (the process of breaking down complex tasks into smaller chunks used to teach special needs children) in teaching dancing; they modify their teaching strategies based on individual learning styles. The DMT adopted the principles of behavior management and structured teaching that are necessary in teaching children with autism and other special needs.” [Manila Bulletin on May 20, 2013; excerpts from http://www.autismsocietyphilippines.org/2013/05/the-heart-dances.html%5D

It was Ranil Sorongon, former Executive Director of Autism Society Philippines who referred CBR-Smile to me when I asked him for a possible project that we could assist. As head of the Community Educational Fund Assistance Program, I found the project quite interesting. I submitted the proposal to the board in May. It was approved, and ready for implementation this Saturday, September 3.

[For the complete list of the participants and their parents/caregivers, click https://gawadmetronian.org/2016/08/31/gmefi-funded-project-dance-therapy-for-children-with-disabilities-to-be-launched-on-september-3/%5D

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