As part of the Educational Assessment and Formulation of Individualized Educational Programs for Indigent children with Special Needs Project funded by the Gawad Metronian Educational Fund, Inc. (GMEFI), ASP conducted a Workshop on Assessment and IEP Formulation for Public School Teachers at the Autism Society Philippines National Headquarters last 19 March 2016. A total of 38 public school teachers and parents participated in this workshop conducted by Dr. Elizabeth Rey-Matias, Dr. Antonia Blanca and Mr. Jason Reyes.
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| Public school teachers were immersed in the theoretical principle and hands-on exercises in educational assessments and crafting individualized education plans for learners with autism and other disabilities. |
The aim of the workshop was to simplify the process of assessment and IEP formulation so that it can be doable and functional in the public school setting. It also aimed to test a simplified assessment and monitoring tool, get feedback regarding its usefulness and improve it to make it relevant to public school special education teachers.
Parents of students who benefited from the free assessment and IEP done by the resource persons were also invited to the seminar-workshop so they could better follow-through the implementation of the IEP at home.
Dr. Elizabeth Rey-Matias gave an overview of autism and how its characteristics affect their ability to learn. Dr. Antonia Blanca introduced the assessment process and the assessment tool. Participants were then divided into 6 groups with at least one parent among special education teachers in each group. The participants used the assessment tool on actual cases as presented by the parent-participant. The resource speakers facilitated group discussions and answered questions from participants. Group presentations followed which highlighted their case’s strengths and main needs as determined by the assessment tool.
In the afternoon session, Mr. Jason Reyes gave guidelines about how to formulate and prioritize educational goals from among the skills that the students needed to learn. The second workshop gave the participants the opportunity to apply the guidelines on the simplified IEP form. The form did away with cumbersome narratives which made the IEP process difficult for special education teachers to do in the public school setting. Aside from reporting results of the workshop, participants also gave feedback about the tool and the process itself.
“As a student, the conference or sharing after the activity was very helpful. It widens our perspective and knowledge in handling children with special needs in real life context.”
“Very effective tool to know better the needs of the students. They are able to help teachers to be more equipped. Very informative and impressive lecture and workshop.”
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