DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 17 October) – More healthcare professionals are needed for the close to 1,000 clients at the Davao City Special Needs Intervention Center for Children (DCSNICC).
Dr. Melody B. Pardillo, overseer of DCSNICC, said that after the center became fully operational since its opening in March this year, a total of 975 clients have enrolled but only 695 of them are being catered to due to lack of personnel.
Pardillo said they were only expecting around 300 clients to enroll.
She added the center needs more speech pathologists as only one is currently on board.
The city government has allotted a budget for additional hiring after DCSNICC raised this concern but the center has received no applications as of the first week of October.
Pardillo expressed her elation over the efficacy rate of the speech-language therapy conducted at the center, especially for those clients with speech defects.
”You’d be amazed by our speech therapy. When they first entered here they could not speak, but now they can speak, they can already communicate after twelve sessions in our speech therapy,” she said mostly in Cebuano.
The center has three full-time physical therapists, who, Pardillo said, have been crucial in helping children with physical disabilities.
She remembered a three-year-old client in the center who could not walk when he first came into the center. But after a series of therapy, Pardillo said, the child is able to take a few steps now.
The center only has two occupational therapists who cater to two clients in the morning and another two in the afternoon. It’s still in the process of hiring three more.
Pardillo said they can cater to more clients if they can hire more occupational therapists. She added they also offer aquatherapy weekly for clients with cerebral palsy.
DCSNICC also needs special education teachers as they still lack teachers for children with special needs who are enrolled in schools but referred to them after being assessed by the Department of Education (DepEd).
Pardillo said some of these children were enrolled in daycare centers but were found to have “red flags” during the assessments done by DepEd.
DCSNICC services are exclusive for Davao City residents and are free of charge provided they can present a certificate of indigency and proof of residency. (Daniel Jamito/MindaNews)
