Photo by Ravali Yan on Unsplash
I was ready to take on the professional world as an income earner, having just earned my BA Philosophy degree from UP. But, alas, the very degree I felt proud of was not marketable at all. I spiralled down to a deep sense of lack of direction for a while: I was a solo parent with a baby to feed and with no job.
My mom caught me in deep thought as I watched the sunset from our beautiful garden in U.P. Campus. As if she heard my thoughts, she asked, “What are you going to do now?” Mom strongly urged me to call up the U.P. Vinzon’s counseling hotline.
I called and asked, “I would like to enrol in a master’s degree course. What should I take?” Right away, the lady said, “Go to the College of Education tomorrow, qualifying exams will be given for Special Education!”
The next day, I took the exams and found myself enjoying it. Done – quick! But on the way home, I wondered what that test was all about!
After a week, I got called in to get my test results. For the very first time, I entered the Special Education (SPED) Department of the College of Education. I brought along my son because no one could watch over him at home. Dr. Erlinda Camara, then chairman of the SPED Department, had a big, warm smile on her face as she sat me down and congratulated me for a test well done. My response was, “Ah, what is Special Education?” Her warm smile disappeared!
“It’s a specialization for you to learn how to teach children with with special needs, Ani – many developmental needs!” Both she and I wondered how I passed. I felt horrified at the thought! “No, I will not pursue it.”
“Look at your own son; he is alright! Give back to the Lord, Ani!” Dr. Camara’s short response gave me my reason to commit to educating children with learning needs. I finally decided to enroll to the masteral program for Special Education.
In the faculty room, Dr. Edilberto Dizon spent time playing with my son and observed that, at age two, he was gifted in numeracy! Unexpectedly, he advised me, “Do not put him in a school for the gifted. Let him enjoy the regular school program. Let him play with his friends so he won’t burn out.” His words bewildered me, but they made sense and challenged me. “I want to do this!” I said to myself while staring at the professors in the room.
But on my way to fulfilling this new path, my journey was caught in a terrible patch: my mom was diagnosed with terminal cancer, Stage 4.
After my mom passed, the next hurdle was to finally finish my M.Ed. Special Education degree, which by the grace of God, I did in two and a half years. I majored in behavior modification. I was blessed with excellent mentors in the department who were truly dedicated to children born with many difficulties, challenges, disabilities, and even abilities.
I was in a good place in my life, having accomplished something meaningful. Armed with my post-graduate degree and a desire to help learners with special needs, I pursued a career working with children.
My first responsibility as a new assistant teacher was to physically manage the behavior of 10 teenagers diagnosed with moderate (beyond mild) behavior difficulties. Class days were long, six-hour stretches. The most important rule was to always keep the students in full view, my back against the wall all the time. At the end of each day, if students soiled the bathroom, I had to clean the bathroom myself, scrub the walls clean.
I had colleagues working in their own assignments and this bathroom was our convergence zone, and I saw tears. I played it tough – but not for long. During my stay, I experienced getting punched by a student because of my make-up applied “wrongly,” my hair getting pulled because of the soda I drank in the classroom, and getting chased by a student hurling a steel chain in the air to hit me! I learned to strategize to save myself: climbing a tree because a student could not, jumping into the corner of a pool to keep from getting hit by the steel chain hurled at me – and many more.
I sought my adviser’s help, only to hear that it was my strategies that were in the wrong direction. Dr. Dizon told me, “It’s all part of your work. You stay put or you bail out, Ani.” More determined than ever, I decided to stay – but I needed to plan strategies for my students – more than for myself!
Along my life’s journey, I met Chris, also a solo parent, and eventually married him. I found myself blessed and pregnant but at a very precarious age. With all my experiences around special education, pregnancy at my age put everyone – especially my baby – at risk. I depended on God and His plans. I prayed for my baby’s healthy development as I committed to continue practicing Special Education. After nine months came a very healthy baby boy!
My journey as a SPED teacher continued on in the preschool setting. The school I worked in practiced inclusion when inclusion was still unheard of. In my classroom, a child or two with special needs would be with the other children. Facilitating in the direction of typical preschool instruction, I had the liberty of applying strategies appropriate for each child. These years proved fruitful in my exposure to strategic instruction and the children’s growth and development alongside their typical peers.
Following years of immersion in the classroom as a teacher of children with learning challenges, I was called to serve in the homeschool program of Homeschool Global, then known as the TMA homeschool. I presently work directly with both parents and their children diagnosed with developmental or learning difficulties, medical concerns, and even high achievement abilities. Years of classroom experience, expert mentoring, global education research, new learnings within the homeschool paradigm, and endless prayers led me to this. Working with a child with challenges, I first look at his God-given strength that drives at his uniqueness, then I work with the parents in planning and facilitating their child’s homeschool journey – pretty much like in the classroom setting where I used to plan and facilitate the child’s academic and non-academic journey.
Every child unique, just as every family is unique. Addressing such uniqueness is my big picture vision and goal as I design effective learning strategies for children with learning needs. Homeschooling a child with developmental or learning needs develops a special bond between family members and academic advisors who work together to reach one unified goal: to improve the child’s overall development and ability to enjoy education. This gives each family and child a quality of life worth living and a future worth looking forward to.
Ani Santos-Cuyugan Torres has had almost three decades of valuable experience in combined regular in-classroom and homeschool education. She focuses primarily on the behavior modification aspect of special education and creates customized educational strategies for learners with special education needs and their families. She is currently one of the academic advisors of Homeschool Global, where she handles the families of children with learning difficulties, abilities, and disabilities.
