To address the communication and language barriers in the family of Deaf children, the Philippine Federation of the Deaf [PFD] submitted a proposal to Gawad Metronian under their Educational Fund Assistance Program [GMEFI]. PFD’s Proposal is titled, “Communication Skills Training to Hearing Parents of Deaf Students.” The Filipino Sign Language [FSL] will be explained and taught to  target beneficiaries who are parents of Deaf students of a public elementary [Susano Elementary School], and a public high school [Novaliches High School] in Novaliches City. GMEFI is based inside the campus of Metro Manila College in Novaliches City.

Last Thursday, Yvette Apurado, Vice-President of PFD with a hearing interpreter met Dr. Evelyne  Dominguez. Ms Apurado signed the MOA in behalf of PFD. Executive Officer, Annalissa Penullar said that some members of the Board of Trustees got so interested on the project that they too would like to sit-in when the seminar starts in summer. The exact date is yet to be determined.

We hope that interest will be elicited on the linguistic rights needs of the Deaf in the area of Novaliches. And that both hearing parents, and their Deaf children builds self-esteem in the process when they come to know clearly about their rights under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. [MM]

[Read the previous post for more details about the project]