The sound of hope for deaf children

When the great Helen Keller, who was deaf, blind, and mute, was asked what sense would she choose if she could be given just one, she said she’d choose the sense of hearing," Susan Macuja, executive director and member of the board of trustees of SAID (Southeast Asian Institute for the Deaf) relates. "The loneliest person in the world is a deaf person. It’s something I learned when Lisa was in Russia." Susan is the mother of Russian-trained prima ballerina Lisa Macuja-Elizalde. "I learned how important it is for a person to be able to communicate and how lonely a deaf person feels in a crowd. I sat there and everybody was talking in Russian, including my own daughter. They’d be laughing and I’d have a permanent smile on my face because I could not understand anything they said. It was as if I was deaf."

Only education can free a deaf person from his disability, Susan believes, and SAID exists for deaf students. "It was envisioned as a model school in which the deaf could find an education equal to the best that’s available. It is administered by people who care to make the educational experience of each deaf child unique and special," Susan says. "The deaf child is a child first and foremost. He is a unique individual and not a poor imitation of his hearing peers. We firmly believe that within each deaf child lies the same potential for future growth that is inherent in all children."

Mindful that a deaf child’s handicap is language deprivation, SAID adheres to the Total Communication philosophy. "Total Communication is a multilevel approach to the education of deaf children," Susan explains. "It implies the right of the deaf child to all forms of communication available in order to be able to meet the goals of language competence and scholastic success. Total communication includes all language modalities, child-devised gestures, the formal language of signs, speech, speech reading, finger spelling, amplification of residual hearing with the use of hearing aids, reading and writing. Schools that accept total communication focus on the child’s abilities rather than his disabilities. There is the constant effort to communicate with the child in a way that he can understand. Early exposure to signing doesn’t mean that access to speech and lip reading should be closed to the child as a foundation for his subsequent linguistic growth as well as his cognitive development."

"Most parents with deaf children would like their child to talk, so they would go to a school that’s oral," Susan intimates. "The child can learn how to talk, but they’d usually lack comprehension. They can memorize the sounds mama, papa, banana, papaya. But the biggest problem is, can the deaf child talk to another deaf child? Definitely not."

My son came from an oral school," Naomi "Mimi" David, academic director and board member, as well as mother of SAID student, Joshua, relates. "Like most other parents of a deaf child, I also wished he was just oral. I was reluctant to put him in a total communication school. I was in denial. I had accepted that he was deaf, but I wanted him to learn to speak. Then I realized that if I waited for that, he would be lagging behind. He needs other windows to be opened. His own speech therapist in the oral school said that there comes a time when the child has to move on to total communication."

SAID is the only school for the deaf that offers total communication. "We have a direct linkage with Gallaudet University in Washington DC, which is the only baccalaureate university for the deaf in the world," Susan says. The first teachers of SAID, which opened its first class of two pupils in a church hallway in 1974, were trained under Frances Parson of the Gallaudet University. From 1976 to 1981, 16 Peace Corps volunteers trained in teaching students with hearing losses, came to teach at SAID, with each batch of volunteers staying for two years in the school. "We are proud of this link," Susan remarks. "When Dr. Bob Mobley, the head of the graduate school for education first came here in the early 1980s, and he went around and observed all our classes, his conclusion was that SAID, even at that time, is better than 85 percent of the schools for the deaf in the US. Even we were surprised. We didn’t realize that we were doing such a good job. Through the years, we also improved in certain areas. The hardest to teach children is English, and how to write grammatically correct sentences, because in sign language, many words are lost. Parang telegrama." Or texting. "Gallaudet has Signing in Exact English or SEE," Susan explains. "This means that everything you say has to be signed. It has to be grammatically correct, with proper conjugation." And why is this important? "Now, our students write better English, so they can go on to college and even pursue a masters degree. Otherwise, hanggang doon na lang sila. They are unable to cope with those with normal education."

In 1982, SAID moved to its permanent site within the Miriam (then Maryknoll) College compound. "A real school en-vironment is good for the children," Susan observes. In 1986, the Tripartite Educational Consortium was launched at Miriam College, a cooperative venture among Miriam, SAID and Galluadet.

We send our high school graduates to Miriam for college," Susan says. "They don’t have to take the entrance exam at Miriam, but they have to pass an accreditation exam which we give. They can take a two-year course and earn a certificate in computer operation, or they can opt to go for a four-year course. That’s their individual decision. We support them with our services. We provide an interpreter in the classes where they join the hearing students of Miriam in the general education subjects such as Philosophy. They also need an interpreter since the teachers at Miriam don’t know the signs. What should be emphasized is that they are fully supported by the school all the way." A number of SAID graduates were dean’s listers at Miriam College, among them, Florinda Marie Africa, Patricia Arrastia, and Eric Raymund Ebron who also received the meritorious Academic Performance award in 1996. Other SAID graduates are George Taylor who received his degree in Electronic Communications Engineering from De La Salle University, and Anne Kathleen Lenon, a Certified Public Accountant from Assumption College. Jose Mari Pascual, a manager at a McDonald’s store in Katipunan is a SAID-Miriam College graduate. "This is what our chairman, Cesar Macuja, calls our track record," Susan points out.

"We’ve also had high-school graduates who went on to study at Gallaudet. They were straight A students and they’re all homegrown," Susan proudly says. One student, Stella Marie Antonio, was in the 90% percentile, while another, Lorina Yap, was in the 98% percentile. In fact, Lorina graduated with a degree in Computer Engineering, cum laude, from Gallaudet University. In turn, Gallaudet has sent several of their students for practicum in SAID, the first batch, in 1997.

There are 109 students enrolled this school year at SAID. The tar-get is to increase that number to 150 next school year. "Of 8,000 hearing impaired only 6,000 are in school," Susan cites a statistic. "Part of the reason is because they don’t have the funds to go to school, or they are simply not aware that there are schools such as ours for the hearing impaired."

"We do not charge tuition fees at SAID," Susan explains. "What we have is socialized donations. We are a foundation, a non-profit organization. Many of our parents can afford to give only so much or none at all. Some parents who can afford, give the maximum, which this year is P46,000 for the whole school year. We are planning to increase that amount so we can increase the salaries of our teachers and staff as well as hire new teachers so we can continue to provide quality education. It’s the support of our parents that we are counting on since we lost most of our corporate sponsors. Ayala Foundation which used to give us P30,000 a year, used to be one of our biggest sponsors, but that has stopped since they now have other priorities. Fortunately, PAGCOR continues to support us with a yearly donation of P50,000 which we apply for renewal every year. Our other donors are the Assisi Development Foundation-Educational Assistance Program, and the Asian Development Bank staff community fund, as well as some of the families of our students."

Donations come in the form of cash. "But we also welcome any other form of donations," says Maureen "Mau" Barreiro, college coordinator and board member and also a parent of a SAID student, "such as a new playground set for the children, or perhaps, IBM can donate some computers and scanners, or the Thomas Jefferson Library can donate some books for our library. We’d welcome even used furniture from those renovating their offices or homes, as well as old toys. As they say about garage sales, one man’s junk is another man’s treasure."

"Our drive for more enrollees as well as sponsorships go hand in hand," Julieta "Julie" Chua, treasurer and board member as well as SAID parent, observes. Having more enrollees means opening more classes rather than having more students per class. The ideal would be about five students per class. At present, classes at SAID can have from four to seven students or at most, 13 students per.

"Our thrust is also for more parent involvement," Julie remarks. "We have the parent-teacher deaf action group. We have different committees which are involved in the various activities and programs including the marketing of the school. Parents should really play a major role." Seminars are conducted regularly for parents. "We want to change certain concepts," Mimi interjects. "Too often, what happens is, a parent brings a special child to the school and says, kayo na ang bahala sa kanya. Actually, the parent is still the primary educator and the teachers and the institution are just the facilitators of learning."

"The first thing is to accept that your child is special," Mau remarks. "Then you have to be very clear about the commitment, about the responsibility that God has given to you." There are also formation courses for the teachers. "Being an educator is a special calling in itself," Mimi observes, "but being an educator for the deaf is more than a special calling." Not all the teachers at SAID are hearing impaired. Yes, they need to have a lot of patience and understanding.

"You can see from the faces of the students if they really understand you," says Clarizel "Jing" Cadiz, administrative director and teacher at SAID. "Total communication is really of great use for us." Some of the students at the beginning would bang their head on the wall or would even bite, out of frustration, because of their inability to communicate. Josefina "Joji" Alcantara, associate academic director, has an MS in Audiology. At the Speech Auditory Training Room, she helps the students with the amplified hearing system that allows them to "hear" through vibrations as well as sound. With her as tutor, her deaf niece was able to get integrated in the mainstream math subject at Miriam. Teaching the deaf requires dedication. "It is a vocation," Susan says.

A number of SAID graduates now teach at their alma mater. Both Ma. Rosalyn Therese Ramos and Baby Ruth Evelina Reyes received their certificate in computer operation as well as an AB degree in Child Development and Education from Miriam College. They are presently pursuing their MA in Special Education at U.P. Rosalyn teaches English, Christian Living and Arts, and GMRC (Good Manners and Right Conduct). She is also the grade three adviser. Ruth, who grew up in the States and enrolled at SAID in high school, teaches English and Social Studies. She is also the adviser for PE. Jose "Tony" Lugay IV also received his certificate in computer operation and AB degree in Child Development and Education from Miriam College. He was among the first college graduates from SAID and among the first male graduates from Miriam College. He had been working with SAID for 13 years. He teaches pre-school. The twinkle in his eyes and the smile on his lips say it for him. He loves what he’s doing. Like Tony, Ma. Luz "Lewi" Cabutihan, was among the original students at SAID way back in 1974. She holds a degree in Business Management from CAP College and is presently enrolled at UP where she is pursuing her MA in Special Education. She is the grade two adviser and teaches Christian Living. "At first I could not accept that I was deaf," she says and signs, "but when I learned many things, I was able to accept my deafness." And what was the most important lesson she learned from SAID? "To be independent. And, to communicate."