State of the Deaf in Bohol The attitude of the Boholanos are reflected in their language pattern.

They refer to the Deaf using the wrong word. In Visayan deaf is translated as bungol. However when one hears the common Boholano speak about the Deaf they are referred to as amang which means mute. That's because Deafness is invisible. And people in general tend to be ego-centric. In the Boholano mind, "They're not talking to me, they must be mute or something." And that something could range from mental retardation to stupidity. It doesn't occur to people that the reason that they can't speak is because they can't hear. The common question is, "If there's nothing wrong with their mouth why can't they talk? Sure they can't hear but why can't they express themselves?" What people don't understand is that speaking is dependent on listening. My common example is, "Can anyone here speak Russian?" When the answer is no which is most often the case I reply that it's because they don't hear it often enough to repeat the language. And just in case there are, the reverse is true. They can speak it because they were exposed to it. Without auditory exposure there can be no spoken language acquisition. Well it is possible to learn to speak without hearing through intensive speech therapy and instruction. But that requires dedicated time and a speech therapist. And for most of the indigent parents of the Bohol Deaf speech therapy is out of reach. The only Deaf in Bohol that can speak are those with only mild to moderate hearing impairment, because they can hear a little. The most common cause of Deafness arise from exposure to childhood diseases like measles, or certain viral infections left untreated. Simply put, many cases of deafness is preventable. But due to poor prenatal care and ignorance of the need for early child health (like the need for vaccines and infant nutrition). Many of the Deaf of Bohol are from poor families many from illiterate or uneducated parents. There are also families with a predisposition for deafness. It is not uncommon to find families with two or three Deaf. They are sometimes siblings or cousins. Once the Deaf are branded as Amang many parents see no point to send their kids to school. Many of them stay at home and are delegated to menial housework. Most of these kids stay home uneducated until a teacher goes on a survey and discover them. The trained teachers can identify Deafness in the children and convince the parents to send their kids to school. Many times these children are found later in life, sometimes 8, 12, 15, 20 years old. Many not even aware that they have a name. While preschool is difficult for regular children, preschool for old Deaf is a whole lot more difficult. They go to school not even having a language, and along with learning to communicate they learn their lessons too. Back to the Russian analogy, imagine learning math and science entirely in Russian as a Filipino.

Even with the students already in school, the common difficulty with parents compound problems for the Deaf. It is common for parents to leave the education of their children entirely to the school and hope schools return their children already educated. Unfortunately that attitude causes a divide between the parents and children. As the children get educated, they learn sign language along the way. Unfortunately many parents don't see the need to learn to sign. This creates the situation in which parents will have absolutely no influence on their children whatsoever. Children will learn the good and bad from their teachers and peers and there's nothing they can do about it. This results in juvenile delinquency, premarital sex, unplanned pregnancies etc. And through blood sweat and tears the child goes on to graduate through the help of sponsors and educators. Sadly many of these parents who did not see it as their responsibility to participate in their child's education see it as their right to line up for payday, getting their child's hard earned money before the Deaf get to it. Not to take away anything from government efforts in educating the Deaf but DepEd special education as carried out by public schools are mostly inadequate. Normally teachers will translate a given curriculum in sign language to the children. Through the efforts of the International Deaf Education Association (IDEA). There are 4 elementary schools and one private high school, the Bohol Deaf Academy (BDA) that teach the Deaf from a curriculum made for the Deaf taught and not translated in a manner appropriate to their needs. Throughout the many years of IDEA assisted education for the Deaf and their putting up of businesses that employ the Deaf IDEA is approaching a saturation point. BDA has in its limited capacity been making connections with businesses within Tagbilaran city to promote to them that, YES the Deaf can. It's a hard sell. There are still misconceptions with the Deaf and obstacles to hurdle. The provincial government has been taking some Deaf students and graduates for clerical work in summer jobs. But by and large employment opportunities for the Deaf in Tagbilaran is limited. Some Deaf are well to do and have support from their parents. Some are able to go through college but these are the minority. Bohol has no certified pool of interpreters and so the Deaf need to make do with whoever they can get and can't even get themselves admitted in a hospital for emergencies because they can't relay their needs to the doctors. For civic needs the Deaf have no interpreters in Bohol except for concerned family and friends. For those without access to concerned individuals will have to get by on writing notes and gesturing for those that don't understand sign. But the inequity is evident in court, getting

medical services, and exercising basic rights like getting a driver's license. LTO in general does not permit the Deaf to get licenses, and yet there is a provision for disability in the license. In Bohol's Universities there are Sped courses but none of then specialize in the hearing impaired. It would be great to see Boholanos serving their own. To this end IDEA has published its own sign language dictionary which has the unique feature of being tri-lingual: Filipino, English and Visayan. It was intended for the use of the parents of the IDEA sponsored Deaf but it also has potential in becoming the sign language text book of Bohol sign language courses. Especially those in Sped.