I received today from the UP Sped Area, UP College of Education an invitation to attend the 12th National SPeD Conference on the theme: EDUCATING THE CHILD WITH SPECIAL NEEDS IN THE REGULAR SCHOOL: Current Perspectives, Support Services and Best Practices. I am not a sped teacher but I annually receive invitation from them probably because I was one of the attendees in their 2004 seminar. That was the first seminar related to sped education that I attended. I was then groping on how to start my docu on autism. I even wanted to enroll and formally study sped education to make my film but I was discouraged by the throng of people wanting to study primarily to go abroad. The UP College of Education used to be a “ghost town” the way I remembered it in the mid-70s because I once cross-enrolled there to take up a subject on audio-visual aids.
Those were the days. When I told Dr. Marie Therese Bustos, one of my volunteer consultants for my project of interpreting Rizal’s poems in sign language, about my desire to study sped education she told me that it was good that I didn’t pursue with it. When I asked why, she said that that would have affected my mind. I would have a template that I would have to follow based on pedagogical theories and principles, I guess, of whichever school I would attend, if at all, I continued with my plan. Anyhow, now that I am thinking about it, yes! I would not be as ‘free’ I think in expressing myself had I educational principles in mind to consider when making my docu. Without that knowledge, I always start from zero, and learn along the way about the sped subjects I am aiming my lens at. My viewpoint is always from someone who does know anything about the subject, and therefore not theorizing or critical about it. I get information and share them with the viewers. It has become as simple as that, presenting my own evaluation at the end of it.
I just want to know more about INCLUSIVE EDUCATION – inclusive – a term I used as early as 2006 in Alyana when the word is not yet that popular as now. I will be with teachers I salute for their commitment and dedication. I will make try my best to make myself free on October 22, Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. It will be held at my former ‘home’, the UP FILM CENTER — the place where I used to work, in the theater where I vowed to have all my premiere film shows to be held. My target this year is last week of November for the premiere showing of five of Rizal’s poems —in Filipino Sign Language, Filipino and Spanish versions with captions or subtitles.
Send your reservation form with the payment to UP SPECIAL EDUCATION AREA, College of Education, UP Diliman, Q.C., For inquiries, contact Tel No. 981-8500 loc 2818, or cel # 09064725534.
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