- Denielle Alvarez
Being one of only nine higher education institutions to offer courses specifically for the deaf community, De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) hosted the Inspire Change Be Extraordinary summit to instill leadership in the Deaf last March 21-22 at the School of Design and Arts theatre.
Daring to bed
The two-day summit consisted of different Deaf speakers who tackled various problem experienced by the Deaf Community. Some of which include the crisis among Deaf women, sexual abuse on Deaf children, and discrimination among the Deaf LGBTQ* community.
With these problems, the summit encouraged the Deaf to dare to be leaders in their own ways. reminding the audience that no one is born a leader, Mr. George Lintag. the General-Secretary of Philippine Federation of the Deaf and guest speaker in the summit, said that leader are forgod by courage and action, among other qualities. "You can be a leader as you grow... Do not afraid. Always be brave." he said performances by Deaf dance groups such as the Dulaang Tahimik Pilipinas and the Deaf Blazer Squad.
Because the summit was attended not only by the Deaf, interpreters were present to cater to the hearing community. "The leadership summit gave inspiration to lead Deaf people, to be empowered, and to be good leaders to others." shared Katty Jane Beatingo, a third year BAPDST student who attended the event.
A brief history of the Deaf
It was during the 1800's that the Deaf community came to rise. Althrough it was only then that Deaf education was made available, the use of sign language began way back in 1600's and traces its history to the early fifty century.
Since sign language differs per country and culture, the Philippines uses Filipino Sign Language (FSL) as the official language for the Deaf. Prior to this, the country employed American Sign Language.
It was in 1991 when Deaf education was included in the College under the Educational Development Department. According to such, the College's School of Deaf Education and Applied Studies offers Bachelor in Applied Deaf Studies where students "gain an in-depth understand of the Deaf community, Deaf identity, and deafness". After, they are given a choice of specialization in either computer graphics or entrepreneurship.
SDEAS has produced successful deaf leaders over the years. One of them is Ms. Anaditha Angcay, who works as a Credit Processor in Global Payments Inc., one of the top credit card companies worldwide. She was award last November 2011, Another Deaf leader is Mr. John Joseph Virina, who works as the Deaf Head Waiter in Ristorante delle Mitre, a restaurant ran by Catholic Bishops in Intramuros.
The College, which is one of only six tertiary schools to offer FSL, gives lessons to both the Deaf and the hearing community.
