By: Tiffany Tan ASP Board Secretary
Special Olympian Mike Almendrala, gold medalist Power Lifter, has been a loyal employee of Philippine Information Agency (PIA) since 1999. As a contractual employee, he worked his way to become a casual on 2002.
In 2005 he passed the accreditation exam through TESDA and went on to bag the Apolinario Mabini Award, the first person with autism to win the eligibility for Civil Service.
Recently, Special Olympics Philippines (SOP) launches “
Be a Fan Campaign” launched in the hopes of promoting awareness of the rights of persons with disabilities. SOP is affiliated with Special Olympics International. Individuals with intellectual disabilities can avail of sports training to athletic competition.
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The Special Olympics team during the Angels Walk last Jan 27,2010 |
Ms. Mariter Macapagal, ASP Trustee and President of Special Olympics Philippines said that PWDs could be taught skills and stressed that they should be also be accepted by society. Among the Athlete Representative of the Special Olympics Philippines is also a person with autism, Carmelo “Dacki” Sebastian Sandiego, who excels in badminton.
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| PWA Special Olympian Mike Almendrala with ASP Vice President, Ms. Peng So and his fans |
ASP envisions an environment that empowers persons with autism to become, to the best of their potentials, self-reliant, productive and socially accepted members of the community.
PWA Mike Almendrala was accorded his permanent civil service position last November 2009. This assures him security of tenure. His mom, ASP Trustee Carmel Almendrala related Mike’s elation after receiving his letter of appointment: “I am now regular employee, no more contractual, no more casual.” His current status is further reinforced by the Magna Carta for People with Disabilities, a law that prohibits discrimination against PWDs in employment.
ASP commits to establishment of institutional mechanisms to support persons with autism and their families.
Click here to know how you can help. Email us at
autismphils@gmail.com or call us at 7-903-5496 for more information.
2 comments:
This is very inspiring.. I know it may be a long shot for my kid since not everyone who has ASD achieve this (based on their condition and success of intervention/exposure/opportunity).. I will still continue to dream of this someday..
Can I know the background of these athletes w/ ASD? That may be the difference..
Many Thanks!
"dear sh3rw1n, you can try calling Special Olympics Philippines for more details
http://www.sophilippines.org/
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