SPLAT: The Official Newsletter of the Ateneo Special Education Society Sept. 2013 | Page 14

EXCLUSIVE

SPEED E XPERIENCE
By Tan Ho
An exchange student from the United States shares his experience with SPEED.
As an exchange student, I was looking for something to occupy my time while studying at the Ateneo besides classwork. I was extremely excited to find out about this organization that does amazing work for amazing kids with special needs. Although I haven’t been able to do as much as I would have liked to with SPEED, my favorite memory would be my first area visit to The Child’s World. The other Speple were very friendly and nice and it was easy to fit in. However, the best part about the area visit was interacting with the kids. I have never felt so warm and happy inside; spending a few hours with the kids was really a delight (for both parties involved). Even though there was the communication barrier (I’m not Filipino), it was great to know that I could still interact and play with the children even though I could not directly talk to them. It definitely tested my patience because on top of the special needs that you have to take into consideration, I could not talk to or understand them. However, I was so moved because they were just ecstatic to have us visit them and spend time with them. This organization does

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