DepEd ORDER No. 44s. 2021 POLICY GUIDELINES ON THE PROVISION OF EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS AND SERVICES FOR LEARNERS WITH DISABILITIES IN THE K TO 12 BASIC EDUCATION PROGRAM

2. ● This DepEd Order sets the policy guidelines for
providing educational programs and services to
learners with disabilities.
● It is specifically for the K to 12 Basic Education
Program.
● The order outlines the necessary accommodations,
adjustments, and support to ensure that learners with
disabilities have equal access to quality education.
● It emphasizes the use of inclusive practices and
specialized instruction to support the learning of these
students.

3. ● This policy is issued in accordance with Section 3 of
Republic Act No. 10533, the Enhanced Basic Education
Act of 2013, and its Implementing Rules and Regulations.
● It provides direction and guidance for the organization,
management, and implementation of programs and
services for learners with disabilities.
● The policy is set to be implemented in the upcoming
School Year 2021-2022 in both public and private
elementary and secondary schools, with provisions for
private schools to contextualize as needed.

4. RATIONALE
● The high prevalence of disabilities among the
global and Filipino populations necessitates
specialized educational interventions.
● The Magna Carta for Persons with Disabilities
establishes the rights of individuals with
disabilities and the obligations of the State to
provide support and access to education.
● The policy is designed to provide guidance and
direction for the implementation of inclusive
education programs, services, and
interventions at all levels of the education
system.

5. Legal Foundation and Rationale
● The right to accessible and quality education for
learners with disabilities is a fundamental
mandate, supported by multiple laws and
commitments.
● The Education Act of 1982 mandated the State to
promote the right of every individual to relevant
quality education, regardless of various factors
including physical and mental conditions.
● Internationally, the Convention on the Rights of the
Child and the Magna Carta emphasize the rights of
children with disabilities to education and to enjoy
all human rights and fundamental freedoms on an
equal basis.

6. Legal Framework for Education
● RA No. 10533, the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013,
emphasizes the creation of a functional education system
that includes inclusive education as an imperative.
● Republic Act (RA) No. 9155 reinforces the constitutional mandate
and vests DepEd with the authority, accountability, and
responsibility for ensuring access to quality basic education.
● The 1987 Constitution mandates the State to protect and promote
the right to quality education for all citizens, with appropriate steps
to make it accessible to all.
● The Education Act of 1982 had mandated the State to promote the
right of every individual to relevant quality education, regardless of
age, creed, or other factors.

7. ● The Child and Youth Welfare Code
(1974) and the Convention on the
Rights of the Child (1989) establish the
legal framework for protecting the
right to education and non-
discrimination for children in the
Philippines.
● The provisions in these legal
documents set the foundation for
promoting the rights of children with
disabilities, including the right to
education and the elimination of
discrimination.
Legal Framework
for Protection

8. RATIONALE ● Under the Magna Carta, the State is obligated to
establish and support special education for visually
impaired, hearing impaired, mentally retarded
persons, and other exceptional children.
● The National Government and local government
units are required to allocate funds for the
effective implementation of the special education
program.
● The State is mandated to provide educational
assistance and develop non-formal education
programs for persons with disabilities.
● Recent laws, such as RA 10754 and RA 11510, have
been enacted to expand benefits and privileges for
persons with disabilities and design specialized
learning programs.
Summary
of
Legal Obligations

9. SCOPE
● Educational services
● Assessment and evaluation processes
● Curriculum and instructional materials
● Qualified teachers and specialized
staff
● Learning environment and resources

10. Understanding Key Terms:
Assessment, Accommodations,
Accessible, Assistive Devices
● Assessment is the process of gathering
information to ascertain a learner's current
level of functioning for educational planning.
● Accommodations are adjustments made to the
learning environment and materials to support
learners with disabilities.
● Accessible or accessibility refers to measures
that ensure persons with disabilities have
equal access to various facilities and services.
● Assistive devices and technologies are
resources designed to maintain or improve an
individual's functioning and independence.

11. Key Definitions
● Educational Placement: The process of placing
a learner with a disability in an appropriate
learning environment based on assessment
results.
● Educational Assistance: Includes monetary and
non-monetary support for learners with
disabilities to complete their education.
● Disability: Refers to a long-term condition that
limits an individual's function or activities,
resulting in limitations in executing tasks or
actions.
● Individualized Education Plan (IEP): A document
designed to meet a learner's special needs and
ensure mastery of learning for target skills and
behaviors.

12. DEFINITION OF TERMS
Learning
Environment
Curriculum
Modifications
Multidisciplinary
Team
Facilities,
resources,
technology.
Changes for
learners with
disabilities.
Professionals
supporting
health & well-
being.
Educational
equity
program.
Transition
Program

13. Special Education Program (SPED) for Learners with Disabilities
● The SPED Program is designed to help
learners with disabilities realize their
right to education.
● The assessment and evaluation
process is crucial for determining
eligibility and placement in the
appropriate programs and services.
● The program includes a range of
educational programs and services
tailored to the needs of learners with
disabilities.

14. Adaptation of the K to 12 Curriculum for SNED
● Identifies essential adaptive skills for the
curriculum, such as communication, self-care,
and social skills.
● Highlights the necessary pedagogy
adaptations in content, instruction, and
assessment to support the curriculum for
Hearing/Visual Impaired.
● Provides an overview of the additional support
and resources incorporated into the basic
education system.
● Filipino Sign Language inclusion in the
curriculum.
Key Adaptations

15. Identification and Referral Process
● The SPED Program serves as the
avenue for learners with disabilities
to realize their right to education.
● The process of identifying learners
for the SPED Program starts with
recognizing students who exhibit a
typical needs compared to their
peers.
● The school offers a range of
programs and services to address
the needs and learning preferences
of learners with disabilities.

16. Assessment and Referral Process
● Assessment tools like MFAT, ECCD checklist,
and others will be used for the evaluation of
students.
● Specialists from ILRC or health center will
assess learners with atypical needs.
● The process includes an Identification and
Referral Process.
● Confidentiality of learner information will be
strictly maintained throughout the process.
Process Overview

17. Assessment Services for Learners with Disabilities
● LWDs will have access to psychological and
multi-disciplinary assessments to establish
and monitor their strengths and weaknesses.
● The assessments will be conducted by a
multi-disciplinary team, including specialists
such as medical doctors, therapists, and
psychologists.
● Progress evaluation of LWDs shall be based
on their Individualized Educational Plan (IEP)
and goals, with a focus on formative
assessment, modifications, and
accommodations for demonstrating learning.

18. Institutionalizing Filipino Sign Language in Basic Education
● Provide specialized curriculum
content for hearing and visually
impaired learners
● Utilize Alternative Delivery Modes
(ADMs) for flexible learning
● Focus on essential adaptive skills
and competencies for learners with
severe to profound disabilities

19. Learners in the transition program are
equipped to move into more inclusive
and integrated learning provisions, with
support for transitioning from home to
school, class to class, and school to
employment.
The transition program is designed to help prepare
learners with disabilities for the future, focusing on
life and career skills, socio-emotional skills, and pre-
vocational and livelihood skills.
Transition Program for Learners with Disabilities

20. Transition planning includes engagements with
community partner-industries and businesses
to provide work immersion and employment
opportunities for the learners.
Transition Program for Learners with Disabilities
The K to 12 Basic Education Curriculum
for the Alternative Learning System (ALS-
K to 12) offers opportunities for learners
with disabilities to develop basic and
functional literacy skills, serving as an
equivalent pathway to complete basic
education.

21. Partial Inclusion with Resource Room Services
● The K to 12 Basic Education curriculum will be
adapted or modified based on the learning
needs of LWDs as specified in their
Individualized Education Programs (IEPs).
● Collaboration between the general education
classroom teacher and the Special Education
(SPED) teacher will be ensured to create a
tailored learning plan and lessons for the
LWDs.
● The learning environment, including the
physical arrangement of the classroom, will
be prepared to promote acceptance and
respect for LWDs.
Key Provisions for Educational Placement

22. Partial Inclusion with Resource Room Services
● LWDs will be registered in the general
education class and marked for their
performance in consideration of their
IEP. They shall be tagged in the Learners
Information System (LIS) as LWDs.
● Specialized support for sensory
impairments will be provided in the
resource room, including FSL and Braille
training for teachers.
Key Provisions for Educational Placement

23. Transition Program for Learners with Disabilities
● Schools with LWDs enrollment have a resource room for
additional support services, including specific instructional
interventions, therapy services, and assessment services.
● All persons involved in the program ensure that the IEP is
carefully planned, constantly monitored, and periodically
reviewed.
● The IEP includes goals for the transition program,
preparing the learner for the K to 12 curriculum and
transition program.
● Adaptations in resources are made to ensure that all
learners with disabilities can participate fully in all learning
experiences, aligned with the curriculum standards.

24. Full Inclusion ln the general education classroom
● Adaptation of the K-12 Basic Education curriculum to
support the Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) of
learners with disabilities.
● Providing assistive devices, technologies, and
appropriate learning resources to support the needs of
learners with disabilities.
● Applying instructional strategies that address the
specific and additional needs of learners with disabilities.
● Preparing the learning environment and teachers for the
inclusion of learners with disabilities.
● Collaborating in the preparation of plans and lessons for
learners with disabilities.
Provisions for Inclusion

25. Self-Contained Class
● LWDs aged 5 to 14 are placed in elementary
school, while those aged 15 to 24 are in
secondary school. Those 25 and above are
referred to other programs.
● LWDs receive specialized instruction in adaptive
essential skills, self-help, daily living skills, and
social communication skills, including vocational
training.
● LWDs are included in school and community
activities, closely supervised by teachers and
parents.

26. ESSENTIAL ADAPTIVE SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES
Essential adaptive skills and competencies help LSENs manage schooling
and day-to-day activities. These are necessary skills for functioning daily, as follows:
● Self-Care/Daily Living Skills - bathing, dressing.
grooming, and feeding one's self.
● Communication Skills — understanding and using
verbal and nonverbal language.
● Self-direction - problem solving, exercising
choice, and initiating and planning activities.
● Social Skills - maintaining interpersonal
relationships, understanding emotions and social
cues, understanding fairness and honesty,
obeying rules and laws.
● Leisure Skills - taking responsibility for one's own
activities, able to participate in the community.

27. ESSENTIAL ADAPTIVE SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES
● Home or School Living - housekeeping, cooking,
doing laundry, maintaining living space.
● Functional Academics - using reading, writing, and
math skills in everyday life.
● Community Use - shopping, using public
transportation, using community services.
● Work - ability to maintain part-time or full-time
employment, either competitive or sheltered; ability
to work under supervision, cooperate with
coworkers, be reliable and punctual, and meet work
standards.
● Health and Safety - ability to protect one's self,
responding to health problems.

28. ● Serve as receiving teachers
in the general education
classroom for learners with
disabilities. Rejection of
LWDs in the general
education classroom shall be
strictly prohibited.
● Implement strategies or
pedagogies that facilitate the
inclusion of learners with
disabilities in the classroom.
Responsibilities of Teachers

29. ● Collaborate closely with SPED teachers,
non-teaching personnel, parents, ILRC
Coordinator, Resource Room Teacher, and
other professionals in responding to
specific and additional needs of LWDs for
their success in learning the K to 12
Curriculum.
● Practice the principles of Universal Design
for Learning in delivering the K to 12
curriculum. This includes differentiation in
presenting information, content, and
learning materials, and strengthening
formative assessment.
Responsibilities of Teachers

30. A. The general education teachers shall:
● Strictly prohibit the rejection of learners with disabilities
in the general education classroom
● Facilitate the inclusion of learners with disabilities by
implementing appropriate strategies and pedagogies
● Collaborate closely with SPED teachers, non-teaching
personnel, parents, and other professionals to respond
to the specific needs of learners with disabilities
● Practice the principles of Universal Design for Learning
in delivering the K to 12 curriculum
● Provide additional instructional support and
opportunities for learners with disabilities to
demonstrate what they know and have learned

31. Responsibilities of Special Education Teachers
● Design the learner's Individualized Education
Program (IEP) based on inputs from the
learner's family and multidisciplinary team.
● Plan appropriate interventions and activities
based on assessment results.
● Collaborate with general education teachers to
update and encode data on Learners with
Disabilities (LWDs) in the Information System.
● Ensure provisions of programs and services for
LWDs are included in the School Plan.

32. The school, through the leadership of the school head, shall
● Ensure that DepEd Order No. 40, s.2012,
as amended, and D.O. 55, s. 2013 shall
be observed in the school
● Set up a system to support schools in the
mobilization of SPED teachers to support
general education teachers in other
schools with no SPED teachers
● Establish and sustain strong partnerships
with families, government agencies, local
government units, non-government
organizations, and medical and allied
medical institutions
Responsibilities of the School Head

33. REFERENCES ● Five Year Development Plan for the Education of
Children with Disabilities (CwD) SYs 2O14-15
through 2Ol& 19, Advisory Council for the
Education of Children and Youth with Disabilities
(ACECYD) and Asian Institute of Management
● Incheon Strategy to 'Make the Right Real' for
Persons with Disability in Asia and the Pacific,
United Nations ESCAP, 2O12
● Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development,
United Nations, n.d.
● The Salamanca Statement and Framework for
Action on Special Needs Education, United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization, n.d.

35. THANK YOU!
● We appreciate your time and attention
during this presentation.
● Your engagement and thoughtful
questions have made this a valuable
experience for us.
● Thank you for the opportunity to share
our ideas and insights.
● We look forward to future interactions
and collaborations.
Gratitude and Appreciation