Not all heroes wear capes, some wear cochlear implants – and, well, hearing aids. On April 21, 2018, Saturday, the Civil Law Auditorium of the University of Santo Tomas became the venue for learning beyond, entitled, “Learning Beyond Impossibilities”. 

The event was created by the 4SLP students of the UST SLP Department, Batch 2019. The event aimed to equip its audience with facts and stories about hearing loss and the measures we can take. Posters were put up near the UST Botanical Garden to aid the presentation of awareness towards the Thomasian community.

Starting the afternoon, Santino Palafox shared his experiences on dealing with hearing loss. Palafox was diagnosed to have profound hearing loss and was fitted with hearing aids at 5 months, and then experienced a cochlear implant surgery at 13 months. He said that, “My wish for all hearing loss kids is to have easier access to hearing aids, cochlear implants, and therapy classes.” 

Palafox told the audience his journey with hearing loss. “Don’t let anybody tell you [that] you can’t because you can”, he stressed. Palafox has just graduated from Ateneo De Manila GS with Merit awards/Co-curricular awards showing the audience that family support and early intervention can provide a more optimal life for the individual with hearing loss.

Games where presented afterwards: the whisper challenge and the classic “hep-hep hooray” with the Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) students and the Health Allied Strand students of the Senior High School. Palafox also became one of the participants.

The next speaker was Dr. Benedict Baguyo from the Better Hearing Philippines, Inc. (BHPI). BHPI, formerly called Task Force on the Prevention of Hearing Loss, assists in the prevention of hearing loss, primary health care-based control of hearing impairment, and the community-based improvement in the quality of life for the hearing impaired and their families. 

The speaker shared that 28% of Filipinos have hearing impairments with ear wax  or impacted cerumen as the most probable cause. He also shared the laws, policies, benefits, and packages that exists for hearing loss. He shared that hearing aids and speech therapy may soon be accessible to all with its inclusion in PhilHealth packages. He shared the ways to advocate for the hearing loss regardless of the age. 

Another intermission number was presented, wherein 4SLP students, Junella Mendoza and Ann Abanilla serenaded the audience with their own version of Paramore’s “You are the Only Exception”. They were followed by the performance of Maby Bagalay, Rain Laurel, and Maki Solomon (4SLP) as they sang, “A Million Dreams” from the Greatest Showman soundtrack. The audience sang along with enthusiasm. 

The last speaker of the day, Dr. Lloyd Crizaldo, presented the Dos and Don’ts of Listening. He presented the factors that causes the probable hearing losses. “Noise induced hearing loss is preventable,” he reminded. He also shared the ten facts about hearing loss from the World Health Organization (WHO), saying that though all of them are important, the tenth step should never be ignored: Hearing loss is preventable through public health actions. 

Crizaldo then emphasized that every single individual from health professionals to manufacturers should act out their role to assist the prevention of hearing loss. 

Phyllicia Mercado, the leader of the 4SLP project, presented the closing remarks for “Embracing diversity and overcoming adversity”. She concluded that the program was about finding our roles and finding light to the cause. She shared that through an outcome may seem impossible, to overcome an adversity, the only need is to embrace the diversity.  – Madelyn Escario