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Friday, March 18, 2005
Bacong screening yields 13 children with disabilities
THIRTEEN children with disabilities from 11 barangays of Bacong town were screened for possible inclusion in the rehabilitation program of the Great Physician Rehabilitation (GPRehab) Foundation.
The screening was done on February 26 at the Bacong Municipal Health Office.
It came after barangay health workers (BHW) of the municipality attended a seminar on "Detecting Disabilities in Children" on February 11 and learned about characteristics of disabilities that GPRehab caters to.
After the seminar, the BHWs themselves saw the need to have children in their barangays, whom they have identified as having characteristics of a child with disability, to be screened for proper prognosis by professional therapists and decided to have them screened by the end of the same month.
The seminar itself resulted from a previous screening also in Bacong that yielded only four children with disabilities.
Of the four, three were chosen for the CHILD project.
Bacong Mayor Rodolfo Yee agreed to hold the seminar after learning of the poor outcome of the first screening.
GPRehab Executive Director Analou Suan said the seminar was conducted mainly to sensitize and equip the BHWs with knowledge in recognizing disabilities, especially those that are hard to detect or look hopeless to rehabilitate.
"We, in GPRehab, believe that the support of local officials go a long way in the rehabilitation of these children and ultimately, in the total development of the municipality," Suan said as she lauded the presence of Mayor Yee during the second screening without invitation.
The children, accompanied by their parents, came as far away as Timbanga, Malabago, Magsuhot, and Liptong.
Out of the 13 children, 10 were picked out as having the qualities that GPRehab is looking for.
Of the 10, three children were mentally retarded; two were afflicted with cerebral palsy, two others had behavioral problems, and the last three were either autistic, developmentally delayed, and afflicted with pontine tumor.
Two of the children are to start their rehabilitation program within the month.
GPRehab is currently undertaking a project for children with disabilities in Dumaguete City dubbed as Caring Hands to Inspire and Link with Disabled Children.
(March 17, 2005 issue)
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