AAAP Today

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Abi C. Dango

Miriam College

Bridging to the Norm through AAAP

December 2014, our Public Relations class met two groups that had the same advocacy – to help raise awareness regarding people with special needs. The first one to present was Best Buddies, an organization that focuses and caters to children who are diagnosed with autism. They showed videos in class and presented their different activities that promote a buddy system. Some could go to different activities, have bonding activities, and mostly attend events that are created by this organization and other groups which have the same plea. What touched me the most, while the Best Buddies were presenting, was when a speaker said that their goal is to soon be not needed in Philippine society, and eventually, the whole world. At first, I got confused because how can an organization have a mission to soon not be around? Each company should have an ambition to stay for a very long time. However, when the speaker explained why, I got shocked. She said that in the future, they envision a world wherein, an organization like this would not be needed anymore just for people to be around children with special needs. It may be just from my perspective, but I saw the pain in her eyes when she said this. Her plea was real and sincere. And that’s when I realized that I want to lend a hand to people with special needs.

Having experienced this and while going through the Public Relations class at the same time, the main application that I have realized is that in each event that we have to create, our main goal is always to get to the other side, how to reach the other end of the road. In every step that we make, we have to keep in mind that everything that we do shall always benefit the audience or the target market. In that way we will be able to achieve our advocacy, and at the same time have more people on our side.

After going through all the tasks for AAAP, the second advocacy group, I have realized a lot of things, learned many important lessons, and I got to meet a lot of people with very pure hearts and passionate souls. But the one that I will treasure the most is how I understood why these kinds of organizations exist. It is for us to bridge out to the norm. For us to realize that in this world, differences will always be present and will be seen on each and every one of us, and that’s nothing to be ashamed of. We have to build bridges to develop a society wherein we will be comfortable of our variations. ­Unity among diversity, that’s the goal.

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Arianne Grace A. Ardenaso,

Miriam College

EXPERIENCES AND LEARNINGS AS AN AAAP INTERN

Growing up with a younger brother who has autism, I’ve always wanted to dedicate myself to the cause for autism. I know the challenges that comes with autism but I still felt that I have a lot to learn about it. I also knew in my heart that I wanted to reach out to other people with autism like my brother and help them, too.

During my freshman year in Miriam College, I was able to work with children with autism at a SPED school in Quezon City for our MC-102 class as part of our advocacy. It was a very fulfilling experience because I learned how to interact with different kinds of children with autism. I found how diverse they are, each of them has their own talent or skill, and of course they also had their own weaknesses. When the semester ended, I told myself that it would not be the last time that I would work with people with autism.

Fast forward to junior year, another opportunity to work with people with autism came. Our Public Relations professor, Mr. Bagaman, gave us the option to volunteer as interns for either Best Buddies or the Association for Adults with Autism as an alternative to presenting a PR plan for the finals. When he introduced the two organizations, I knew I had to join. However, I was in a bit of a dilemma because I wanted to join both organizations, as they were both dedicated to the cause for autism. Of course, we could only choose one. Best Buddies is more focused on the younger ones, on the children with autism. AAAP, on the other hand, is more focused on the “grown-ups”, the adults with autism. In the end, I chose AAAP.

I chose AAAP because I wanted to experience something new, as I’ve already worked with children with autism. I also thought about my own brother who has autism because he is also nearly on his way to adulthood. I felt that by joining AAAP, I would be able to learn about adults with autism, and that these learnings would be very helpful for my brother.

I did learn a lot with AAAP. I met a lot of incredible people, especially the adults with autism themselves! Meeting them was inspiring, especially the fact that some of them are working. It gave me hope that my younger brother would someday be like them too, successful despite having autism. Meeting the parents and the other people behind AAAP was wonderful, too. They are all nice and warm and they made us feel welcome. I can say that the AAAP is a family and I am glad to be part of it.

Attending and helping in the activities was very fun and at the same time I was able to apply what I learned from PR class into the internship. I enjoyed creating the ID design for the Autama Trivia Night event and one of the posters for the Mindfulness seminar. Designing is one of my favorite hobbies and being able to use my creative skills for AAAP was very fun.

My favorite event with AAAP was the Autama Trivia Night because we were the ones who organized the event and we were also the ones who prepared and set-up the venue. It was very tiring because it was a lot of work but at the end of the day, it was a huge success and knowing that everyone had fun, all the stress and tiredness went away. It was a very, very fulfilling experience for me and I want to do more activities like that in the future.

The semester may be ending but my dedication to the cause for autism is not. I hope to still be able to join in the events of AAAP and ASP in the future despite having the busy life of a college student. I consider my internship at AAAP to be one of the most significant parts of my life because I was learning, applying what I learned from class, having fun, and most of all, doing something that I love. I’m very thankful for the experience and I believe it helped me grow as a person.

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Raya Eruma

Miriam College

The AAAP Experience

Working with AAAP for about three months didn’t seem to be work at all. The parent members and their children with autism were very warm and welcoming. In those three months I observed how dedicated and loving the parents are to their children by spreading autism awareness and aiming for complete autism inclusion through the organization. That love did not only touch the lives of those with autism, but also touched a neuro-typical person like me who didn’t usually mingle with persons with autism (PWA) until I learned about AAAP. Somehow I felt like I was part of the family, the AAAP family.

Whether I was asked to organize or just to participate in events, I always got excited. Meeting PWAs has always been an honor for me. One of my most humbling encounters was with Vico. I first met him during the orientation for the Angels Walk. Ms. Cathy would usually tag him along during our meetings in Lucca at UP Town Center and show us samples of his artworks. He doesn’t talk much, but he sure is a very talented guy. And he even gets international acclaim for his work! Another one I’ll always remember is Clarence. Unlike Vico, Clarence is the ultimate talker. It was easy relating to him because we both love films; it’s just that he knows a lot more than I do. He even memorizes probably all the lines in the movies he watched!

Every event of AAAP I was part of has a special place in my heart. I participated at the Angels Walk, played DJ at the AUTAMA, scored the game and took charge of the karaoke at the organization’s anniversary, and wrote names for ID tags and passed raisins around at the Mindfulness talk. I wouldn’t trade those experiences with anything else. I would like to continue working for AAAP even after my Public Relations internship, with the best that I can. I am one with the cause, after spending quality time with many PWAs. Like every person on earth, PWAs deserve to be loved and accepted for who they are.