Friday, July 18, 2008 DSWD: Allow disabled kids to mingle
TO ERASE insecurities, parents of children with disabilities are encouraged to allow them to play with their counterparts.
Social Welfare Regional Director Porfiria Bernardez said allowing children with disabilities to mingle with "normal" children while growing up would help them overcome any insecurity they may have developed as a result of their exposure to a society which sometimes discriminate on them.
Bernardez said the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) encourages this to be done in day care centers, for teachers are specially trained in dealing with persons with disabilities (PWDs).
The DSWD also encourages business establishments to hire PWDs.
The 2000 census of the National Statistics Office showed that there are 17,321 PWDs in the Cordillera. Benguet has the highest number of registered PWDs with 3,572 followed by Abra (3,383); Baguio (3,098); Kalinga (2,227); Ifugao (2,129); Mountain Province (1,941); and Apayao (971). (RO)
