Seated from Left: ASP Head Nilo Sorongon, MCCID's Jerome Marzan, Me, Akap Pinoy's Daylin Taleon, Liliane Philippines' Tess Dela Cruz, NCDA Director Geraldine Ruiz and Nova Foundation's Noli Agcaoili

Two Saturdays ago, I was privileged to be invited in a workshop on disability in the Philippines sponsored by the Australian government. Since I’m used to attending these seminars with few or no representation from the deaf community, I decided to come with a deaf person with me, Jerome Marzan. He is a trainor in our school and at the same time a deaf leader in his hometown. It’s not a problem if I would interpret for him. It’s important that the deaf are represented in forums like these which aims to uplift their well-being through education.

Fortunately, they invited the right representative for the deaf community, Ms. Raquel Estiller-Corpuz, President of Philippine Federation of the Deaf. I was so glad that at last, the community was represented in that forum. I was also equally glad that she brought with her a sign language interpreter of her choice. I admit I’m already too old in remembering names so I’m sorry, that her name slipped my memory box. I only know that she is the daughter of one of my respected and admired Filipino deaf leaders, Mr. Rafaelito Abat.

Me interpreting for Ms. Heather Whitestone during her 1997 Manila Visit

Breakaway groups were formed. We joined with the Alternative Learning System for PWDs group. Deaf education was brought up and criticized. Sign language became an issue. One of our group invited a representative from the Department of Education to shed light on the matter. She passed the blame on teachers using sign language. She said that the DepEd is advocating for TOTAL COMMUNICATION and MOUTHING WORDS must be emphasized in teaching. She even commented that the interpreter hired by the organizer was a “pasaway” (too stubborn) because she signs while her mouth is closed. Ouch!

In my previous blog entitled Common Misconceptions about Deaf People, I mentioned that NOT ALL DEAF PEOPLE CAN READ LIPS. Lip reading is a high level skill. Not everybody has this ability. This brings me back to my title question, to mouth or not to mouth?

Five Key Elements

Based on my nearly two decades of experience in interpreting for the Filipino Deaf, I consider these five key elements when interpreting for them:

1. Specific Situations of Interpreting – Will I be interpreting in a legal situation? Medical? Religious? Job placement? Schools? Once I have established the condition, then I may adjust as to its needs and requirements.

2. Size of Interpreting Area – Will I be interpreting on a large congregation in an auditorium? A 15-seater classroom? Or a one-on-one session? Mouthing words in a large gathering is almost useless because they cannot see the movement of your lips, unless you are beamed to a white panel screen where your face can be seen from afar.

3. Educational Background of the Deaf – This proves to be the most difficult element when interpreting because of the diversity of the community. If you are interpreting on a school setting, you are most likely in front of deaf students with more or less the same cognitive levels. Church or social community gatherings are the hardest place to interpret because you can only guess the general educational background of the audience.

4. Language Used – The Philippines is a bi-lingual country. English is the medium of instruction in schools and government. We are the fifth largest English speaking country in the world with 52% of the population are English users. Filipino or Tagalog is widely used language for the rest of the sector including the very basic environment, the home. Since a pre-lingual deaf learns their first language in school, they would most likely acquire English. It may be fortunate if the speaker uses English for the whole duration of his talk. The SL interpreter can mouth every words. Now what if he intermingles the two languages? Worst, what if he uses straight Filipino?

5. Orientation of the Deaf – There are cases wherein we may encounter deaf people who are orally oriented. In this situation, mouthing words would be very beneficial. But then again, we might also consider element #3 wherein the speaker may use one or two languages. Another situation may be for deaf persons with severely restricted language skills. Since a low verbal deaf may not have attended formal schooling, they encounter mostly hearing people in their community. Chances are, they are most adapted to lip reading.

In a classroom setup where the teacher is the main actor, he may employ total communication as the best tool in giving his lessons. According to Ms. Jamie Berke’s About.com guide,

Some parents and educators favor total communication as a catch-all that ensures that a deaf child has access to some means of communication (speaking as needed, or signing as needed). For example, a deaf child who can not communicate well orally gets the additional support of sign language, and vice versa. Using total communication can also reduce the pressure on parents to choose one method over another.

However, she also mentioned about its disadvantages. She said that signing and speaking at the same time can result in a compromise that affects the quality of one or the other. This can impact the quality of educational information received by a deaf student.

I hope that the people who run the Department of Education would make a more thorough research and study on this. I also hope that they would have an open mind and consider other aspects in handling students with various language acquisitions.

Considering the five factors I mentioned, it’s up to the sign language interpreter’s better judgement on how he can convey the speaker’s message across the majority of the deaf listeners. What’s important is that they understand what you are signing and not just aimlessly waving your hands in the air.

I got hold of this touching story of a 17-year old deaf girl named Micaella while I was browsing Inquirer.net, my favorite online newspaper. The commentary came from Mr. Roberto Salva, executive director of Catholic Ministry to Deaf People (CMDP).

In May 2009, Micaella died of liver ailment, apparently due to the condition in the estero where she lived to get an education. She was one of the CMDP scholars. She died in order to get an education. Such a sorry state in our country’s educational system.

According to Salva, Micaella’s deafness caused her family to move from their hut in Bulacan to the estero beside the Divisoria mall – despite its unhealthy state – so she could be near a school for the deaf. Such was their love and hope for her.

When his father was interviewed by CMDP as part of their process in accepting scholars, he wrote,

“I have big dreams. I hope my two children will finish their studies and hopefully, in the future, we won’t be on the streets anymore.”

Micaella’s parents are unique among hearing Filipino parents of deaf children. They were not disabled by their child’s deafness.

A study was conducted by CMPD concerning the role of the hearing parents in rearing their deaf children. They initiated the study because they observed in families of their scholars the lack of expressed closeness between the deaf and their hearing parents, and the breakdown in communication.

According to the survey results of among 151 scholars in May 2007, around 81 percent of the household heads (and 77 percent of their spouses) could not pass the evaluation for Basic Sign Language. Fourteen percent of the household heads, mostly fathers, were not communicating with their deaf children at all, including 3 percent of the mothers.

Many organizations for the deaf like MCCID and CMDP, have responded to this dilemma by offering sign language classes to the parents. Although it is one step closer, learning the language is not enough for them to play an active role in their deaf children’s lives.

Continuing with their survey results, 30 percent of the parents expressed sadness when they discovered they had given birth to a deaf child. Twenty percent of the answers were questions, mostly expressing worries (15 percent) about the future of the deaf children – whether there is one. Thirteen percent articulated non-acceptance, 9 percent hurt, 5 percent fear, 4 percent disappointment, and 3 percent sense of loss.

However, as Salva pointed out, there are parents like Micaella’s who immediately get over their sense of distress and focus on what they can do to help their deaf child. They represent roughly 3 percent of the respondents. The others are able to hurdle their issues only gradually as they see their deaf children grow.

The parents’ acceptance of their deaf children, the calming of their worries, and their pro-active sense with regard to their response to the deafness of their children surface when they learn of the opportunity available to, or the ability of, their deaf children to get an education. Forty-one percent of the parents expressed that. They realized that, except for the inability to hear, their deaf children have the same capacity as hearing children.

Unfortunately, the opportunity to get education in the Philippines is not accessible to all deaf Filipinos. There are not many schools for the deaf in the country. We still have not even been able to correctly account for all the deaf children. This leads us to another question, how many deaf children are there in the Philippines anyway?

A deaf girl from Bohol, photo taken from Idea Deaf

Many of the hearing parents of deaf children are unaware of the educational opportunities for their deaf children and of the need of these children to learn a language, especially sign language, for their holistic development.

I am in unity with Mr. Salva in dreaming of a day when education is accessible to all Filipino children – with or without disability, deaf or hearing, of a minority or the majority, rich or poor.

We dream of a day when families like that of Micaella need not risk their lives along the creeks of our metropolis to be near a school for the deaf.

You may view the complete article here. The Catholic Ministry to Deaf People has been an active partner of MCCID in providing “Young Adult Health Education Program” for our deaf students since late 90s. They have also supported some of our students as part of their scholarship programs. I have blogged about their organization and their selfless endeavors here, here and here. Mabuhay po kayo!

I want to remember the 10,000th blogs visitors so here I am again! To coin Hiro Nakamura of Heroes, Yatta! hehehe

More than two months and fourteen blog posts later, I was able to entice 10,000 readers to come to my site. In my visitor profile, the segmentation remains the same. 41% came from my home country while 38% are Americans and the rest are from other nations.

My WordPress dashboard says that I already posted 190 blogs with 479 approved comments and 454 tags. My blog about the Deaf Icons Heather and Marlee remain on top while Gov. Padaca of Isabela is now trailing just a few points behind. My retrospect on Philippine deaf education is at third. I am humbled by some of my readers who are using my blog posts as a credible reference.

Another significant milestone I would like to mention is that my blog is currently ranked 17th worldwide among deaf related topics according to Postrank.com! PostRank is a scoring system that ranks any kind of online content, such as RSS feed items, blog posts, articles, or news stories. They based their rank on social engagement, which refers to how interesting or relevant people have found an item or category to be.

According to their site info page,

PostRank measures engagement by analyzing the types and frequency of an audience’s interaction with online content. An item’s PostRank score represents how interesting and relevant people have found it to be. The more interesting or relevant an item is, the more work they will do to share or respond to that item so interactions that require more effort are weighted higher.

So many people find my blog about deaf very interesting and relevant! Yehey! Thank you very much my dear readers, whether you are hearing or deaf! On to my 90,000th visits!

The Special Education Expo 2009 will be held on December 1, 2009 at the Glorietta Activity Center, located at the main building of the Glorietta Center.

Here are more details:

Date: December 1, 2009
Venue: Glorietta Activity Center [View Map]
Operating Hours: 10 AM – 8 PM
Entrance Fee is PHP50 for adults. Children under 12 years old is Free of Charge.

All fees will be donated to the event’s chosen charity, Support and Empower Abused Deaf Children, a partner of MCCID College. The organization is headed by Ms. Liway Caldito, a former teacher of Philippines School for the Deaf.

For the teachers, you may also request for Certificate of Attendance. To do an advanced request, please send email to spedexpoph[at]gmail.com Email subject “CERTIFICATE OF ATTENDANCE”.

Accompanying Events: Exhibitor’s Presentation, Story-telling, celebrity guest performances, Learning block sessions by Special Education practitioners and experts, Raffle Draws, Entertainment & Games.

TENTATIVE FAIR PROGRAM ACTIVITIES

• Learning block sessions – forum and informal lecture on selected topics on special education by esteemed experts in the academe
• Games and Raffle Draws – prizes to be given away during games (may be sponsored or by the organizer) for kids
• Story Telling – book and interpretative reading by celebrities and/or reading groups
• Intermission – short performances by celebrities and children from special education schools
• Presentations – exhibitors and sponsors’ presentations of their products and services

This is a repost from Special Education Expo Blog Site.

Good news to the closed caption advocates like me! Google, in a significant development for the deaf, announced on Thursday it was adding automatic caption capability to videos on YouTube.

Google said machine-generated captions would initially be available only in English and on videos from 13 YouTube “partner channels” but it hopes to extend the feature eventually to all videos uploaded to the site.

“Google believes that the world’s information should be accessible to everyone,” said Vint Cerf, a Google vice president who has been described as the “Father of the Internet.”

“One of the big challenges of the video medium is whether it can be made accessible to everyone,” said Cerf, who also holds the title of “Chief Internet Evangelist” at Google.

Speaking at Google’s Washington office, Cerf noted that he has a “great personal interest” in the closed caption capability. Cerf, 66, is hearing impaired and has been wearing hearing aids since the age of 13.

Since last year, YouTube users have been able to manually add captions to videos but the feature is not widely used and the vast majority of content on the site does not have captions.

Noting that more than 20 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute, Ken Harrenstien, a deaf Google software engineer, said “the majority of user-generated video content online is still inaccessible to people like me.”

Google uses advanced speech recognition technology to generate the automatic captions on YouTube and Harrenstien noted that it is not perfect — the word “sim card,” for example, came out as “salmon” during one demonstration.

But he said the technology “will continue to improve with time.”

“Today I’m more hopeful than ever that we’ll achieve our long-term goal of making videos universally accessible,” he said in a blog post. “Even with its flaws, I see the addition of automatic captioning as a huge step forward.”

Although the automatic captions can only be generated from videos in English for the moment, they can be simultaneously machine-translated into any of the 51 languages Google supports.

In addition to the automatic captions, Google announced a new feature that will make it easier for users to add captions to their videos.

Called automatic caption timing it involves creating a transcript of the video and uploading it to YouTube. Speech recognition technology is then used to create captions for the video and insert them appropriately.

“This should significantly lower the barriers for video owners who want to add captions, but who don’t have the time or resources to create professional caption tracks,” Harrenstien said.

Both features will be available in English by the end of the week.

The university partners whose videos will allow automatic captioning include the University of California at Berkeley, the University of California at Los Angeles, Columbia University, Duke, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford, Yale and the University of New South Wales in Australia.

National Geographic’s YouTube channel will also include the feature as will most of Google and YouTube’s own channels.

Now, if they can only put automatic captions on our sign language videos… That would be the day!

Good news to our Filipino deaf web designers! The Official Website of the National Council on Disability Affairs won in the Association/ Organization category of the 4th Digital Filipino Web Awards this year.

This is the first time NCDA site won the award given annually by the DigitalFilipino.com Club whose members judge the nominations from the public in over 40 categories. The site was designed by Ervin Reyes, an award winning Deaf web designer together with yours truly under MCCID College of Technology.

The Digital Filipino Web Awards were given last Friday, November 13 at the Hotel Intercontinental in Makati City. It was part of the Digital E-Commerce Summit, which started in Thursday.

From Left: Me, Sir Dandy Victa of NCDA and a representative from Bitstop Network Services who nominated the website

The websites were reviewed and judged “for their ability to create a noticeable presence on the Internet—their ability to be seen and heard among all the noise and clutter of the Net,” said the award body.

“The DigitalFilipino.com Web Awards aims to advocate the use of Internet and e-commerce for business development, through the identification, promotion and highlighting of best e-commerce practices from various websites in the Philippines,” it said.

The criteria for determining the winners were:

• Search engine readiness—title tags, keywords and page strengths.

• Content/organization—clear purpose, target audience clearly defined, citation of sources whenever used, freshness, originality and accuracy of information.

• Structure and navigation—opening page, content connection and transition, writing and conventions, ease of navigation and link usefulness.

• Design and functionality—overall layout, colors, background and text.

• Technical performance—page loading, browser flexibility and live links.

• Interactivity—audience involvement and overall experience

In behalf of the organizers of the Digital Filipino Web Awards, thank you very much for the honor you gave to us. To God be the Glory!

The word DEAF in Filipino Sign Language

Another Sign Variation of the word DEAF (not commonly used)

Every time I had a chance to visit various countries here in Asia, I always see to it that I meet the local deaf people and their communities. Just last September, I attended the two-week Web Based Networking for Accessible Information and Communications Technology in Bangkok, Thailand. I was with deaf Edmond Guzman, my former student and now the trainor of MCCID’s newest branch in Quezon province. We were able to chance encounter young local deaf group chatting in signs at a McDonald’s restaurant.

Edmond signs with Deaf Community in Thailand

At first, it was difficult to introduce ourselves because of the sign language barrier. But when we got the hang of it, we let loose our signs. We were able to penetrate their conversations and understand their signs. All in but a few minutes of “getting to know” them.

When we finger spelled them that we were from the Philippines, they immediately countered with their own sign name of our country. However, it was entirely different from our accepted sign. We sign our country name as

Middle finger of “P” hand circles above palm face down “S” fist then touches the center of the “S” hand.

The reason behind this sign is that, we initialized the first letter of our name which is “P”. Then we circle it on “S” hand face down mimicking the sign of “ISLAND”. Our country is composed of 7,107 islands. The local deaf community incorporated that information into sign language.

But the Thai deaf signed it like this:

Open “5″ hands touch the shoulders then pull out and opposite into flat “Os”

Philippine First Lady Imelda Marcos

The logic behind this is that it outlines the shoulder cloth commonly seen Filipino National Costume of “Butterfly Gown”. This attire is always worn by our Former First Lady Imelda Marcos as her signature dress.

American Sign Language signs our country name a little different. Instead of circling the “P” around the S fist, it just taps it twice.

You may see the video of the sign here in MOV format.

To know more about other country signs, visit this very comprehensive and nearly complete listings from ASL Resource dot net. See if your own country sign name is listed there.

This entry is to shout out the yearly celebration of Deaf Awareness Week in the Philippines.

The Department of Education issued a memorandum to all Bureau Directors, Regional Directors Schools Division/City Superintendents, Heads, Public and Private Elementary and Secondary Schools Special Education Centers and schools with deaf in pursuant to Presidential Proclamation No. 829 dated November 8, 1991, the 2009 National Observance of Deaf Awareness Week will be on November 8-14, 2009. This year’s theme is “Tinig Ko… Dinggin Mo…” (Hearken to My Voice).

The observance aims to strengthen public awareness on deafness, its preventionand rehabilitation and to ensure the integration of the hearing impaired in themainstream of the society. All public, private, special schools with programs for the deaf and Special Education (SPED) Centers are encouraged to undertake any of the following activities like:

• hanging of streamers;
• academic competitions;
• arts and crafts competitions;
• visual and performing arts competitions;
• sports competitions with hearing students;
• skills training and jobs fair;
• tiangge exhibits;
• free screening and sign language;
• parent symposia on early detection, intervention and education of the deaf; and
• week long exhibit of education services offered to the deaf.

For more information, please contact the Bureau of Elementary Education, Special Education Division (BEE-SPED), 2/F Bonifacio Building, Meralco Avenue,Pasig City at tei. no.: (02) 631-9993 or e-mail address: bee-deped@pldtdsl.net.

Although most people would probably say they would rather be deaf than blind, studies show that deaf people represent the most isolated group of disabled individuals. Their ability to communicate is hindered by the fact that few hearing people know and understand sign language. Ideally, deaf students should have someone with them to interpret lecture material as it is spoken, and notetakers to record lecture material for future reference. But then again, deaf people can excel in many ways if only we hearing people learn to remove those common misconceptions about them.

Let’s explore a few myths:

Myth #1: ALL DEAF PEOPLE LACK THE ABILITY TO SPEAK.

Fact: Many deaf people have learned to use their voices in speech classes. They cannot, however, automatically control the tone and volume of their voices because they cannot hear themselves. Deaf individuals may have speech which is difficult, at first, to understand. Some deaf people are shy about speaking in public because of the negative reactions they have received.

Myth #2: ALL DEAF PEOPLE CAN READ LIPS.

Fact: All of us, to some extent, rely on lip reading to understand language. Even a practiced deaf listener can only understand 30-40% of spoken sounds by watching the lips of a speaker. Words such as “bump” and “pump” or “mama” and “papa” look the same on the lips. But all of them have totally different meanings. The ability to read lips varies among individuals. Although the most accurate mode of communication with deaf people is sign language, pencil and paper are appropriate substitutes. Keep in mind that your body language and facial expressions say a lot, too.

Myth #3: DEAF PEOPLE ARE NOT VERY BRIGHT BECAUSE THEY HAVE NOT LEARNED TO TALK OR USE GRAMMAR PROPERLY.

Fact: Because the basic form of communication with the deaf community is sign language, many deaf people have not mastered the grammatical fine points of their “second” language – English. This certainly does not indicate a lack of intelligence. Most deaf individuals do learn English usage and do have speech training, but they may find it easier to communicate in their “first” language.

Myth #4: DEAF PEOPLE CANNOT APPRECIATE ARTS AND CULTURES BECAUSE THEY CANNOT HEAR MUSIC, MOVIE DIALOGUES, ETC.

Fact: Anyone who has ever had the privilege to see a performance by the Silent Theater for the Deaf worldwide will realize the error in this myth. Throughout history, deaf people have participated in and contributed to the performing arts (Beethoven, for example). As long as there is rhythm and visual image, those with residual hearing and even those who are totally deaf can be valued patrons and performers of the arts.

Note:
I got this neat article while searching for some files in my computer. I thought it’ll be cool to share this with you. I forgot where I copied them. Sorry. I have added some of my own.

The Archdiocese of Manila Office for Persons with Disabilities (AMOPDM) would like to invite Persons With Disabilities from: MAKATI, PASAY, MANDALUYONG and SAN JUAN to apply for PWD i.d.s/booklets on Sunday (October 25, 2009) at the Our Lady of Guadalupe Minor Seminary nr. Loyola chapels. Please proceed to the Legal Services Booth and submit the following requirements:

FOR MANDALUYONG CITY: (c/o Mr. Oca Arceo Tel. No. 534-0986 / 532-5001 loc. 308)

1. 3 pcs. ID pictures (2” x 2”)
2. 2 pcs. ID pictures (1” x 1”)
3. Barangay Certificate
4. Medical Certificate
5. Voter’s I.D. Card/Certficate (If PWD is 18 years old and above: photocopy of Voter’s I.D.)
6. (If PWD is below 18 years old, photocopy of Voter’s I.D. of the parents of PWD)

FOR PASAY CITY:

1. 3 pcs. ID pictures (1” x 1”)
2. Barangay Certificate
3. Medical Certificate

FOR SAN JUAN CITY: (c/o Bro. Hermie Tel. No. 724-4934)

1. 2 pcs. ID pictures (1” x 1”)
2. Medical Certificate

FOR MAKATI CITY: (c/o Irene Pascual Tel. No. 899-9046)

1. 4 pcs. ID pictures (1” x 1”)
2. Barangay Certificate
3. Medical Certficate
4. Voter’s I.D. Card/Certification (If PWD is 18 years old and above: photocopy of Voter’s I.D.) (If PWD is below 18 years old, photocopy of Voter’s I.D. of the parents of PWD)

For further inquiries, please call Atty. Jessica Siquijor-Magbanua at Tel No.985-1082 or CP No.: 09285064837.