REHAB CENTER

House Bill 6509 requires each city and municipality to have a rehabilitation
center for children and youth with disabilities.

Under the proposed legislation, these rehabilitation centers shall provide them with
physical therapy, regular counseling and self-development training.
These two bills underscore how important it is for government to help guarantee a
better future for young PWDs who are often denied access to good education and
physical rehabilitation, she said in a statement on Sunday.
More from: http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/275241/news/nation/house-oksbills-establishing-centers-for-gifted-kids-disabled-children
1. Rehabilitation work involving planning and selection of effective means to help children,
improving their access to education and training, based on the identification and effective use
of the social mechanisms in place, to promote the social adjustment of a child in certain living
environments. Rehabilitation implies the fostering of positive influences on a child's
personality, holistically. Most importantly, the process of raising a child is to create a positive
environment and the right relationships between the personality and the community, which
are developed longitudinally during education, career and social life.

2. House okays rehab centers for children and youth

http://www.remate.ph/2012/09/house-okays-rehab-centers-for-children-and-youth/
THE House of Representatives has approved on second reading a measure establishing city and
municipal rehabilitation centers for children and youth with disabilities that will ensure a more
meaningful, productive, and satisfying life for children and youth with disabilities.
House Bill 6509 which substituted House Bill 3665 authored by Rep. Teddy Casio (Party-list, Bayan
Muna) was endorsed for plenary approval by the House Committee on Social Service chaired by
Rep. Arturo Robes (Lone District, San Jose del Monte City).
Casio cited the 2000 Census of Population and Housing in the Philippines which reported that there
are 942,098 persons with disabilities (PWDs) or about 1.23 percent of the total population in the
country.
According to Casio, Chairman of the House Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
Development, it is estimated that one in 20 households has at least one member that has a
disability, half of whom are not able to attend and finish elementary education.
Compared to people without disabilities, PWDs are three times more likely not to attend school or to
have finished any grade level and more than 40 percent of PWDs are also not gainfully employed,
Casio said.
The establishment of rehabilitation centers in all cities and municipalities shall empower children
and young adults with disabilities as well as the communities they live in, Casio added.

The measure mandates the host local government units (LGUs) to provide the land, construction of
the center and purchase the necessary equipment if there is no existing structure in the area.
To ensure the safety and accessibility to PWDs, the location of the center shall be guided by
statistical data indicating the location of PWDs as provided by the Department of Health (DOH).
In order to facilitate community-based rehabilitation programs, satellite facilities may be established
in municipalities and barangays, if necessary, Casio said.
Casio said the bill is in line with the governments concern and responsibility to facilitate the
rehabilitation of PWDs as provided by Republic Act 7222 or the Magna Carta for Persons with
Disabilities and the United Nations Convention on the Right of Persons with Disabilities.
The centers will provide physical and social rehabilitation services, educational and psycho-social
services, and act as an information hub on matters pertaining to the rights and privileges of PWDs.
The host LGU shall require other cities and municipalities to pay referral fees for every child or youth
with disability referred to the center. Referral fees collected shall be utilized for the operation and
maintenance of the center and salary of personnel.
All grants, endowments, donations and contributions to the centers shall be exempt from donors tax
and shall be allowed as deductions from the donors gross income.
The measure mandates the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the
National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA) to promulgate the implementing rules and regulations.

3.

SPED CENTER
These efforts are geared towards creating an environment for inclusive
education. It also aims to open all the avenues of learning to all kinds of
learners," Luistro said in a news release.

More from: http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/233756/news/nation/depedreassures-special-education-centers-of-continued-subsidy

Design empathy builds inclusive spaces for people with autism
Many people with autism have this sort of discomforting experience every
day. Their experience of sensory inputs, such as sound, light and textures can be
radically different, and apparently innocuous design details can be powerful barriers
to their comfort and success, from school to the workplace and beyond. Among

designers and researchers, there is growing interest in understanding how to

recognize the needs of this group which is at least 1 per cent of the population.
And at the heart of autism-focused design is one central insight that can benefit
everyone: that we all experience the world in different ways, and that being able to
choose a comfortable environment can be a powerful thing.

Part of the challenge for designers is that autism is so

varied and complex.
Reference: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/home-andgarden/design/design-empathy-builds-inclusive-spaces-for-people-withautism/article23966012/

http://www2.nst.com.my/red/aspiring-architects-showcase-their-talent-1.346077
Sanctuary for special children

Muhammad Al-Asraf bin Al-Affandee, 24, presented his idea for The Autis.ma Learning

Centre - a prototype for special needs schools to bring the well-thought- out architectural
attributes and special needs education to autistic children.
It is also an experiment to merge the learning pedagogy of autistic children with the idea of a
community-based rehabilitation programme to create a better learning environment for the children
especially in Malaysia, he said.
Designed for those aged between four and 14, he said that the education of students with special
needs has to address their individual differences, abilities and needs.
This process involves the individually-planned and systematically-monitored arrangement of teaching
procedures, adapted equipments and materials, accessible settings plus other interventions
designed to help them achieve a higher level of personal self-sufficiency and success. All these form
crucial elements in enabling special children to blend in with the community.
His idea is to integrate the early intervention centre with an existing primary school located within the
Sri Permaisuri Educational Complex in Cheras, KL. Choosing timber to complement the concretebased building, the concept favours the use of natural, healing and sensory materials as opposed to
any kind of volatile material that can cause harm to the children.

The scheme is classified under the sustainable building category with the implementation of an
active and passive sustainable design approach to maximise the performance of the building while
reducing energy consumption.
The special part of the scheme is the designated flexible classrooms, the Learning Street and a
Sensory Garden.
All of these spaces are designed based on the needs of the children that respond to the idea of a
learning-rehabilitation-treatment programme.
The architecture emphasises on quality spaces to meet the needs of the autistic children especially
in relation to facilitating their learning. A comprehensive framework of architectural design guidelines
was also developed in relation to the learning spaces by way of adopting a sensory design approach.
The idea of interaction through the senses becomes a concept in developing a scheme that
promotes, increases and improves the interaction level among autistic and normal children,
teachers, parents and the community within the interactive spaces in the school.
The concept for this autistic centre incidentally becomes a platform to implement the idea of a
sensory design approach to stimulate all the five senses (Auditory, Visual, Tactile, Olfactory and
Proprioceptive) of the children, he said.
This will result in an architecture that is not just a school or building, but instead, becomes a
comprehensive learning tool for the children. I hope this research will be used as a guideline or
manual for the practitioner, educator or policy maker in this country to develop a special needs
school for autistic children.
As an architect and researcher, I hope this idea or scheme can one day be built for the benefit of our
children for them to have a better learning environment as compared to current schools nowadays. I
always believe that a good education is a right for everybody, not a privilege.

Read more: Aspiring architects showcase their talent - RED - New Straits
Times http://www.nst.com.my/red/aspiring-architects-showcase-their-talent1.346077#ixzz3fMByQuFV