Republic of the Philippines ts ’ RECEIVED

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 2 or 19 JUL 208
Quezon City OAT
TNE.
SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
Second Regular Session
nouse BiLNo. 1324

Introduced by HON. TRICIA NICOLE Q. VELASCO - CATERA

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The purpose of this bill is to institutionalize a national screening program for
children with special needs and physical disabilities that focuses on the importance of the
early identification of such conditions.

There is an abundance of research documenting the value of early identification and
intervention for children with special needs. Professionals in psychological, medical,
scientific, and educational fields are in agreement as to the importance of the years between
birth and the age of four for learning. If there is any risk of disability, these early years
become even more critical.

Children with special needs who are not properly diagnosed and identified risk
missing some of the most important learning and developmental milestones. Early
intervention helps keep these children on a path to making the most of abilities and skills
developed during the early years.

Early intervention is forward looking, even into adulthood. It has been shown that
early intervention therapies do far more than provide for immediate benefits during the
developmental years. They significantly increase the child’s ability to integrate in future
social environments, including schools, communities, and ultimately places of employment.

However, intervention can only be administered if there is proper screening and
identification of children with special needs first. Thus, the significance of instituting a
national screening program cannot be underscored enough especially for the members of
our population who do not have the financial means to seek professional advice.

In view thereof, passage of this bill is earnestly sought.

TRICIA NJCOLE Q. VELASCO - CATERA


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
Second Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 7929

Introduced by HON. TRICIA NICOLE Q. VELASCO - CATERA

AN ACT ESTABLISHING A NATIONAL SPECIAL NEEDS

SCREENING PROGRAM, APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR,

AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress

assembled:

SECTION I. Short Title. — This Act shall be known as the “National Special Needs
Screening Act”.

SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. — \t is hereby declared the policy of the State to
protect and advance the rights of Persons with Disabilities by formulating policies, creating
programs, and implementing initiatives that will enable the early detection of disabilities
and special needs in children, thereby allowing for earlier intervention, assistance and
treatment, as well as the provision of special education and healthcare for them.

SEC. 3. Definition of Terms. — As used in this Act:

(a)

Children with special needs refer to children who are gifted or talented, or
with neuropyschological retardations, learning disbilities, emotional or
behavioral disorders, speech and language disorders, hearing impairments,
visual impairments, autism, phyiscal or health disabilities, deaf-blindness and
multiple handicapping conditions and are in need of special education as well
as services for rehabilitation. They differ from average children in
neuropyschological characteristics, sensory abilities, neuromuscular or
physical characteristics, and social attributes to such an extent that the use of
modified school practices or special education services are required to
develop them to maximum capability. They may be classified as children
with exceptionalities such as the following:

(1) Autism — those with developmental disabilities. marked by
disturbances in development, language and relationship with persons,
activities and objects and which may coexist with intellectual
disability and epilepsy. Children afflicted with this disorder have
perceptual, cognitive, communication and social difficulties that
change over time;


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Behavior problems — those who cannot adjust to the socially-accepted
norms of behavior and consequently disrupt their academic progress,
the learning efforts of their classmates, and their interpersonal
relations;

Gifted or talented — those who are capable of superior performance
including those with demonstrated achievement or potential ability in
one or more of the following areas: general intellectual ability,
specific academic aptitude, creative or productive thinking abilitiy,
leadership ability, ability in the visual or performing arts,
psychomotor ability; or, those individuals who consistenly manifest
the following cluster of traits: above average ability (including
intelligence), high creativity (implying the developmental
appreciation of innovative ideas) and high task commitment (related
to a high degree of motivation); and those who by reason thereof,
require services or activities not ordinarily provided by a school;

Hearing impairment — those who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. Deaf
persons are those whose hearing is non-functional for ordinary
purposes in life; the hard-of-hearing have a defective sense of hearing
but are still functional with or without a hearing aid;

Learning disabilities — those who, although normal in sensory,
emotional and intellectual abilities, have a condition that causes an
impediment / impairment in perception, comprehension, listening,
thinking, reading, writing, spelling or arithmetic;

Multiple disabilities — those with more than one disability such as the
deaf-blind or those diagnosed with autism and intellectual disability;

Neuropsycholofgical retardation / intellectual disability - those who
have substantial limitations in present functioning characterized by
significant sub-average intellectual functioning, co-existing with
other limitations in two or more of the following applicable adaptive
skill areas: communication, self-care, home living, social skills,
community use, self-direction, health and safety, functional
academics, leisure and work;

Orthopedic / physical disabilities — those whose impairment
permanently or temporarily causes difficulties in mobility and all
activities of daily life;

Special health problems — those who have health conditions that tend
to keep them out-of-school, or those with chronic and/or debilitating
illnesses such as cardiac disease, asthma, diabetes, tubercolosis and
other respiratory ailments, carcinoma, epilepsy, and malnutrition;

Speech impairment and delays — those who have difficulty in
expressing or articulating words in a manner understandable by others;


(11) Visual impairment — those who are blind or have low vision. Persons
are blind if they have a visual capacity of 20/200 or less in the better
eye after maximum correction. Low vision persons retain relatively
low degree of vision and can read only enlarged print or regular print
under special conditions;

(b) Handicap refers to a disadvantage of an individual, resulting from an
impairment or a disability that limits or prevents a function or activity that is
considered normal, given the age and gender of the individual;

(©) Impairment refers to any loss, diminution or aberration of psychological,
physiological or anatomical structure or function; and

(d) Special education refers to the customized instructional program / service
designed to meet the unique needs of individual learners who differ from
societal or community standards of normalcy because of differences due to
significant physical, sensory, neuropsychological, cognitive or behavioral
characteristics that may necessitate the use of specialized materials,
equipment, services and/or teaching strategies. It is geared towards the
integration of children with special needs into the education mainstream.

SEC. 4. Establishment of National Special Needs Screening Program. — A
National Special Needs Screening Program (NSNSP) is hereby established under the
Department of Health (DOH) which is primarily intended to screen children between two (2)
to four (4) years of age for any physical disability, impairment or special need.

SEC. 5. Program Objectives. — The objectives of the NSNSP are:

(a) To conduct a simple special needs screening test on children between two (2)
to four (4) years of age through health care workers and practitioners to
identify children with physical disabilities, impairments or special needs;

(6) To provide immediate attention to identified children with physical
disabilities, impairments or special needs and create a referral system so that
they may be evaluated further and treated by special needs specialists;

(c) To develop a special needs screening results database for all children
nationwide; and;

(4) To conduct continuing research on improving the methodology and
implementation of early detection of special needs among children
nationwide.

SEC. 6. Special Needs Screening Kit. - The DOH, with the cooperation of the
National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA), shall create a Special Needs Screening Kit
which shall be formulated through extensive consultation with Specialists, Experts and
Academicians in the field of Special Education. The Special Needs Screening Kit shall take
into consideration the natural gradual development of the child and shall incorporate
practical tests and assessments that the health worker or practitioner in the field may


administer. Such tests and assessments shall include an age-appropriate developmental
achievement checklist and shall be simple enough to guide the administrator to make a
fairly accurate decision in endorsing identified children for further evaluation of licensed
special needs experts.

SEC. 7. Program Implementation. - \n the implementation of the NSNSP, the
DOH, in coordination with the NCDA, shall:

(a) Administer the special needs screening program to all children between two
(2) to four (4) years of age using a Special Needs Screening Kit;

(b) Train and certify health workers and practitioners in conducting a special
needs screening program;

(©) Develop a system of referral and corrective measures for children who are
suspected or diagnosed to have possible special needs:

(4) Create a Special Needs screening database containing the results of the
screening per child diagnosed by the practitioners; and

(©) Monitor and evaluate the implementation of the NSNSP.

SEC. 8. PhilHealth’s Benefit Package. — The Philippine Health Insurance
Corporation (PhilHealth) shall develop a benefit package for the consultation and treatment
of Children with Special Needs.

SEC. 9. Special Needs Screening Training. ~ The DOH shall be mainly responsible
for the training of Special Needs Screening Trainers for purposes of quality assurance.

SEC. 10. Research. ~ The DOH and the NCDA shall conduct research and provide
evidence-based recommendations pertaining to the NSNSP. Furthermore, they shall
perform continuing research on childhood related Special Needs.

SEC. 11. The Special Needs Screening Continuing Research Fund. — There is
hereby created a Special Needs Screening Continuing Research (SNSCR) Fund to be
sourced from any donation or bequest made to the DOH in favor of the NSNSP. The
SNSCR Fund shall be used to fund the continuing research program of the DOH on
childhood related Special Needs.

SEC. 12. Tax Exemption. — All grants, bequests, endowments, donations and
contributions made to the DOH or the NCDA for the NSNSP or the SNCR Fund and to be
used actually, directly and exclusively by the DOH or NCDA for the NSNSP and the SNCR
shall be exempt from donor’s tax and the same shall be considered as allowable deductions
from the gross income of the donor, in accordance with the provisions of the National
Internal Revenue Code of 1997, as amended.

SEC. 13. Appropriations. - The amount necessary to cover the implementation of
this Act shall be included in the budgets of the DOH and the NCDA in the annual General
Appropriations Act.


SEC. 14. Implementing Rules and Regulations. ~ Within six (6) months from the
effectivity of this Act, the DOH, in consultation with the NCDA, shall promulgate the
necessary rules and regulations to implement the provisions thereof.

SEC. 15. Separability Clause. - If any provision or section of this Act is held invalid
or unconstitutional, such invalidity or unconstitutionality shall not affect the other
provisions or sections thereof.

SEC. 16. Repealing Clause. — All laws, decrees, orders, rules and regulations or
parts thereof inconsistent with any provision of this Act are hereby repealed, amended or
modified accordingly.

SEC. 17. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its
publication in the Official Gazette or in two (2) national newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,