How far can an Ausome Dad Go? The Final Story

 How far can an Ausome Dad Go? The Final Story

I really do not know to start this long message. With so many things in my mind, this might even turn into a book. Please be patient in reading until the last word. This is going to be a good story and we can all learn from it. I will also include unpopular opinion and insights, some may touch someone’s ego or pride but it’s all part of the whole story telling.

I am Dean Cuanso, a father of two autistic children diagnosed level 1 and level 3. Life was generally easy and good before my autism acceptance. I travelled a lot, business was good and there was so much free time. In 2015, Rogamus was born, the following year, 2016, Rhemus followed. I was the happiest father. At Late 30’s came 2 babies and I was thankful. When they (Roga and Rhemus) were babies, all was good until we noticed something off. They followed patterns uncommon to toddlers. At 2 and 3 years old, they were not talking, did not respond to their names when being called, tip toed a lot, hand flapping, covering of ears, do not like loud music, putting their toys in a straight line instead of playing with them and so much more. In my mind, something is off. But as the old people always say “late lang mga yan mag develop, magsasalita rin mga yan, meron nga 6 years old bago magsalita, hintayin niyo kasi”. So for 2 more years, I observed. But I cannot deny the fact that I see them acting differently from other kids their age. In my mind, I know there is something wrong with their development. I know and I see that they are delayed in terms of communication and their behavior is “funny”. Roga, by that time was 5 years old and Rhemus was 4. I did everything I can to start teaching them. I bought all the learning materials I can by at Tiongsan Department Store, posted them at the walls of the house. Showed them numbers and letters and animals and objects.

It was hard teaching them. “Autism” was running In my mind, it was very hard for me say it out loud. But my brain was flooded with the word “AUTISM”. It was hard to accept because me and my wife are both intellectuals. This was my stage of “in denial”. I was still hopeful that they were not autistic. I was praying for a miracle that they will become “normal” like any other regular kid their age.

In 2019, I “secretly” started reading, researching and watching videos about autism and saw similar traits with my kids. Slowly I was being convinced. My household at that time was still hopeful for change but I was not. I already knew and all I needed was confirmation from a Developmental Pediatrician. We were supposed to have an assessment in 2020 but covid happened. During that time, I devoted so much time learning everything I can about autism spectrum. I watched hundreds of autism related videos and started looking at my kids differently, now with sufficient information how to move forward. So in early 2021, we had our assessment and it was confirmed. Roga is Level 3 (severe) and Rhemus is level 1 (Mild). My world stopped for a while when the doctor explained her diagnosis. Just like what you see in the movies, my brain was thinking of so many things. The visuals, the what ifs, the needed finances, I was thinking of these while the doctor was talking. It was so painful for my brain. After the assessment, me and my wife were silent going home. It was hard to sink-in even though I already knew.

So in 2021 and 2022, I enrolled them in occupational therapy while we tried to do speech therapy at home. Therapy was expensive but we had no choice at that time. We were just lucky there was a therapy center half kilometer from our house. In early 2023, I went around our municipality and asked the different schools about enrolling autistic kids. To my dismay, they are also choosy in accepting students in their school. Only SPED school in Wangal responded in the positive, but only Rhemus can enroll at that time because Roga was really hard to control and cannot stay in one area even for a minute. So Rhemus started as non-graded in 2023 and 2024. This year, he is considered as “nursery” at 9 years old. Roga is home schooled mostly with computer.  

In 2021, together with a small team, we started to create autism materials for learning. I figured that visual learning is the fastest way to teach my kids. So we went to the Benguet vegetable trading post and took photos of the different vegetables. We went to the Baguio city public market to take pictures of the different fruits. We went around the municipality of La Trinidad and City of Baguio to take pictures of trees, jeepneys, buildings, flowers etc and went inside grocery stores to take pictures of goods like milo, milk, sugar, etc etc. Then we created basic videos that my kids would watch. Just basic elementary videos, not fancy, very basic. But we did it for the sake of visual learning. You can see some of the videos uploaded at the early years of the facebook page Benguet Autism which was renamed to Ausomenorth after I was called to do Autism Awareness talks outside of Benguet Province. This was also the time that I was looking for local organizations which was geared towards helping children with Autism. Sadly, there was none. I had the opportunity to work for some documentation project with DSWD CAR as early as 2021, 2022 and 2023 and I have been asking programs and activities specific for autistic children in the Cordilleras but sadly, they had none. They can argue that they had in their different programs etc etc but during those years, they had none. What they had was programs for mental health and calamities. For autism, they had none. It was not a priority and many of those working at DSWD only have elementary knowledge about what autism spectrum really is. That is a sad reality. For an agency tasked for social welfare, the entire structure top to bottom work with specific priorities as determined by the bosses in Manila. Kumbaga, taga implement lang ang mga nasa Field Offices. They have lists, yes until now they have lists of families who are in need, families who were given tupad, families who were given help during calamities, they have a list of families who were given financial aid, they have a list, in general. But that beneficiary list is only for their use.

In 2022, I started a Facebook page named Benguet autism. My aim was to share my experience as an ausome parent, the journey, the learnings and overall, awareness that we exist. We posted some basic materials for learning. Made videos, selfies and more. At first I was a little bit shy but eventually when other ausome parents started to communicate, I went all out. So in 2022, 2023 and 2024 I have been speaking in different venues, big and small. It doesn’t matter if it’s a group of 3 or a seminar of 50 attendees as long as I can do autism awareness.  In early 2024 I saw that something was missing – the actual support for the ausome kids. Everything we did since 2021 was out of personal pocket. Snacks during small group discussion, meetings and even the production (print and xerox) of my autism booklet was all personal money. 

I thought of running as councilor in our municipality for 2 reasons. First, I will use the campaign season to talk about autism awareness in all the barangays I will go (which I overly did hehehe) and Second, hoping that if I win  (I did not hahaha), through an ordinance, create a week or a month of “Ausome” awareness celebration and funding for subsidized assessment, therapy and multi-vitamins and “ausome hour” at the children’s park dedicated to ausome kids and children with disability. That was my dream. Unfortunately, advocacy alone cannot win an election. Money and machinery will. That was my first hand experience. I cannot donate perculators, chairs, tables, tents, sound systems etc. Because unlike most politicians, I have 2 special kids I need to take care of. I always tell anyone who will ask about this election experience. I lost but I won. Meaning, I was able to go around my town sharing the need for autism awareness and support and I was able to meet some parents who were in the “IN-DENIAL” stage.

2024. I am a familiar face in the Cordillera region when it comes to autism awareness. My posts and videos had reached tens of thousands of views locally but despite being an advocate for almost 3 years, I can clearly see what is missing – an organization. A group of like minded parents and individuals who will create an organization. So I talked to some ausome parents. I heard all the reasons in the world, valid or not. “busy sa trabaho”, “walang magbabantay sa bata”, “wala akong oras sa ganyan, tawagin mo na lang ako pag meron na”, “magastos”, ‘ikaw na lang, ikaw naka isip niyan e” etc. I felt sad. No wonder no organization was built. We all want help but only a few wanted to work a long term solution. Or I thought, maybe was just talking to the wrong people.

2025. June. I was thinking of a big gathering of ausome parents and parents with children with disabilities. As months passed, I shared the idea to a few close friends. Some of them had the same thought – that is a big jump! From awareness to organization. Many questions needed answers. How will you finance the event? Who will back you up? How about manpower? Logistics? Technicals? My answer: I don't know but I think I can do it. I will do it. Because nobody else will! The original plan was to conduct awareness campaigns in November through the watwatworld bridal fair and cultural show then end in December through an ausome gathering of parents and child.  It did not materialize because many of the event suppliers requested for another date particularly in the first quarter of 2026 because most of the were already booked. So we had to re-plan our calendar and came out with three events. First, November 29 – Database registration of ausome parents and kids. December 13 – a cultural performance of youth and students entitled “symphony of culture” and December 14 – December to Remember, an ausome gift giving activity. All these events had a particular purpose, all having a happy ending of grand awareness campaign.

So the plan was set into motion starting with the November 29 Data gathering and Ausome talks. I made a Facebook post about the planned ausome events and many responded and wanted to help which I was very thankful because I do not want to use my personal money for the December activity. I can work, I can plan, I can be physically abused (to the point of not sleeping) just to make these events happen because my goal was making these events successful without spending my money which is devoted to my own ausome kids. Thankfully, former clients saw my post and sent some amount as help.  It was first used for the reservation and payment of the San Jose gym (November 29) and BSU Gym (December 13 & 14). After the Venues were reserved, the call for the November 29 registration fully started. 

A copy of the letter/post is reproduced below for better understanding:

“ How far can an ausome dad go?”

Probably in my case, until my last days on earth. Lately a lot of things has been happening. Rhemus, my 9 year old bunso who has mild autism is becoming talkative. Since he discovered talking 3 years back, he has been talking and talking and kept on asking questions and repeating what he is saying, sometimes to the point of being annoying. But as an ausome parent, you develop this loooong patience towards his kakulitan. He is 9 years old physically but his mental age is at 4 to 5 years old. Still, we are happy for his development, even if delayed.

Roga, my 10 year old (4 years-5yearsold mental) is another story. We can see that he is becoming more attentive to things. Our main problem now is puberty. Roga is entering the puberty stage and his body is developing from a kid to a boy. This is another learning stage for us ausome parents because we have to explain the changes to him in a manner that he would understand. Lately, he has climbed our gate 2x in this week. Thankfully our neighbors are alert whenever they see him at the road. They go get him before he can again go to the highway. He has this “ninja” attitude that scares us. We try our best to be always 100% alert and conscious about his whereabouts even if inside the house. I have read that parents with children under autism spectrum are like soldiers on the battlefield, always physically and mentally alert. That is for One child. Imagine us having Two, or other parents having three!

Not only ausome parents but parents with children with disabilities (cwd’s) share the burden. Both physically and mentally. We are all burdened, stressed and we do not know who really are the people there to support us. We all have this bad feeling or thought “what will happen to my kids if I am gone?”. Are my siblings physically, mentally, emotionally, financially prepared? My relatives? The Government? Nobody is prepared to carry this burden. You cannot live a happy and stress-free life with this kind of obligation. One must learn to love this situation and love the children no matter what and live a life according to what you are given today.

I have heard of sad stories about autistic children and children with disabilities. How many people do not understand the suffering that both the parents and children are going through. People are also judgemental and if their eyes looking at you can hurt, we parents will be physically injured or dead. In 2022, I asked government agencies about their programs on Autism and sadly, it was not a priority. Much attention and budget was given to mental health but not to autistic children.

So in 2022, I stepped up and started our own autism awareness campaign through a facebook page benguetautism which later on I changed to AusomeNorth. We had so much time during the pandemic to learn what we can about autism. I devoted 3 years studying, reading and learning with actual daily experience. So in 2022, I became an advocate. It was very hard at first because I had to completely swallow my pride because everyone, as in everyone, will know that I have 2 autistic kids and to the people who do not understand, they will pity me, look down on me, avoid me or laugh at me behind my back – which I actually experienced and continue to experience. But I told myself, I will do this for my children, for my community, for the parents and families who cannot talk like me. Those who are silent and does not want to talk about autism because of the “stigma” OF BEING TALKED ABOUT specially here in the Cordillera region. I became an advocate, a face talking about autism. I conducted seminars and talks about autism and I am thankful that the Province of Benguet, through the PWDO gathered 2 or 3 representatives from each municipality to listen to my lecture about Autism and many of them had a positive response – the term is “nalawlawagan”. With our research and everyday hands on experience, we also came up with a booklet that we distribute to those who are interested to learn about autism. Actually, my main purpose at first was to teach my family, relatives and friends about autism and it is hard to teach specially family members so I cam up with the idea of having a booklet available for them to read, specially the oldies.

In 2025, I asked permission from my family to run as an independent councilor of La Trinidad. They were hesitant. I do not have the money and machinery to win. But I told them, win or loose, we will have a win. My chances of winning the election was slim, but I was motivated! Everywhere I go, I talked about autism awareness plus other plans. I was so passionate about autism awareness that sometimes I forgot it was an election campaign. Anyway, to those who supported me and my campaign, we lost, but we won many hearts of the community. My advocacy has reached friends as far as Ifugao and I was invited by Mayor Raldis of Kiangan to conduct a lecture-seminar about autism awareness. It was attended by barangay officials and key officers of the municipality, again – it was a success! Many of them are now equipped with proper knowledge about autism.

All of this are just a part of being an advocate for autism awareness. BUT as a father, I need assurance, long term that even if I am gone, I will leave something – an organization, an event or something that will benefit my children and those children with special needs. I thought of many programs, many sleepless nights thinking what to do. Sometimes looking at my children sleeping and just thinking blank. I need to do something. I am Dean Cuanso – a father of two ausome kids and I need to do something!

So I came up with numerous ideas but decided to do two workable ideas (I think). I came up with two programs, FIRST, a cultural performance dubbed as “Watwatworld Symphony of Culture”. It will be a learning session and gathering of cultural performers from the different schools of La Trinidad. This will be an event where the performers can showcase their cultural dancing skills as a group BUT the twist is that after their performances, there will be an exchange through a paper ballot. Example, the boys of Team A will dance with the ladies of Team C. The Boys of team C will dance with the ladies of team B. etc. This will form camaraderie and networking between and amongst all the performers from different schools and organizations. Yes, this is going to be a happy and energetic crowd of young people – the crowd that we need to help us spread the word about Autism. With this kind of activity, we learn about our culture and tradition, we conduct a cultural exchange and we can talk about proper autism awareness. This Symphony of Culture is supposed to be on November 29, 2025 at the San Jose gym, Poblacion, La Trinidad but we decided to move it to December 13, 2025 to properly prepare for the big event. I have been talking to many key people and I am thankful that the Mayor’s office of La Trinidad is giving us support for the activity. Many of those who I have talked too are quite. I just hope that Schools, organizations and sponsors will help us realize this and make it a yearly event.

SECOND that we will do is more aggressive and I do not know if I will be supported by people or not. But the process has already started. On November 29, 2025, at the San Jose Gym, we will conduct  two activities. From 8:00am – 12:00 will be gift dropping. Everyone who would like to give “gifts” of whatever kind to special children are requested to drop the items at the gym in the morning. In the afternoon, from 1pm – 5pm, we will have an autism awareness seminar and the most important thing, registration and documentation of our autistic kids and/or children with disabilities. This is very important for all of us. I will share an actual example, a few months back, my ausome kid Roga jump out of the window and escaped the house. He made a seen at Mcdo, Tiongsan, km4. Police responded and brought him at the municipal police station. There, the police personnel were asking him questions, but most ausome children, specially level 2 and level 3 cannot talk or comprehend what is happening. It is really helpful if the Police and the municipality will have an UPDATED list of special children and the contact numbers of parents or caregivers. This will help everyone tremendously. So on November 29, from 1pm – 5pm, I am calling on all parents, caregivers in La Trinidad and even those from other municipalities to please come and register your children. I will ask my photographer friends to take photos of them (it will not be posted online unless needed). Fill up forms. A birth certificate will be helpful too. Now with this data in hand, they will be the recipients of the “GIFT GIVING” project scheduled on December 14, 2025. Venue is being discussed but it will be in La Trinidad.

So I encourage all parents and care givers of kids with autism and special needs to come and register your child. There are many good people out there who would like to help and give useable gifts. This project is the first of its kind. Gift giving for Autistic children and children with special needs, I hope people, families and organizations will heed my call.  We will also continue accepting gifts, donations or whatever you want to give. You can drop your gifts at Kai Café in km. 3, just please log your gifts at the counter. OR you can deliver to us directly at km4 (message me please). We will gather all gifts, distribute and pack them individually and on December 14, we will distribute your gifts to the children on December 14 at a designated venue. You can personally come and volunteer to help in the distribution.

I am also looking forward to the creation of the “Birds Nest”, a symbolic representation of the children with special needs and how parents tend to take care of their children. The birds nest will be made out of vines in a circular pattern like a birds nest and it will big enough (4ft) for parents and child to fit in and take a picture. The Birds nest is symbolic of parents and children with autism. We provide the best home, care, food and warmth to our special children who are dependent on us, the only difference is, they will forever be in the birds nest and we will forever provide for them. This is the love that we special parents have for our kids. But this would depend on the availability of materials (vines).

So, back to the question, How far can an ausome dad go?  Limitless. I am already at the stage where I do not mind what people will say. As long as I am doing something for my kids and the community, I will go for it. This two activities are new and I am begging for your kindness and support. I am also looking for volunteers, those who will work with me on their free time. I am hoping that this activity will succeed so it can be replicated in other municipalities and provinces with their own versions of the activities. All gifts, donations, food etc will be properly documented.

To those who would like to sponsor gifts, preferred gifts would be Vitamins, OTC meds, med kits, first aid kits, milk etc.

Thank you and I am sorry for this long letter.

I am an ausome dad. I have nothing to hide. I am legit and I am asking for your help.

Dean Cuanso

Fb.com/ausomenorth

Fb.com/deanlegit

 So many people responded to this post. I was overwhelmed. The post above was shared numerous times and messages of support were written. The November 29 activity was a success!

November 29 article: “Sometimes you have to be a crazy person to be able to create something out of nothing. Going outside of the usual comfort zone to be able to do something that many people do not want to do. Yeah, probably I am crazy – crazy enough to do something beneficial – long term for my ausome kids and for other ausome kids and children with disabilities as well. When I started to advocate autism awareness in 2021, I also came to know of other parent’s struggles. Often times, I take the lead in sharing our experiences with our kids. I share the times when they jumped out of our gate and went to the national highway then picked up by concerned people and the police. The times when our kitchen almost got burned, the meltdowns, their special diet and etc. I share the stories and our struggles so vividly that people who listen can imagine what we are going through. Then comes the stories of other parents… stories that far exceeds what we are going through. There are stories broken families. The other parent leaving because he/she is having a hard time accepting that their child is autistic or the other parent is always angry and blames the other parent why the child is autistic. There are also stories of puberty and adulthood. My ausome kids are both boys aged 9 and 10. They are entering the stage of puberty and their bodies are developing. Having erections in the morning, becoming bigger kids but with delayed mental age. It’s going to be another new learning for us ausome parents. I thought we had the worst struggles and mental stress. But we came to realize that there are other parents who sacrifice more than us. I had talked to some parents who also have level 3 , non verbal autistics kids who are girls. The story is different. You see, I have boys. The development of their body from toddler to puberty is more manageable that autistic girls. Having an ausome girl is another level because of many factors like menstruation, ovulation and body development. Just imagine (looking from the eyes of an autistic girl) looking at your body transform and you have no idea what’s going on. It is really hard for both parent and child. The parents will need to find ways to show what to do during these developments and usually it will take months or even years before a pattern, routine or schedule is established. These are things that we parents with ausome boys do not experience. That is why I give high regard and respect to parents and caregivers of ausome girls.

There are many Autistic children in the Cordillera and many parents struggle to keep up. All ausome parents conform to this saying “only fellow ausome parents actually know how to deal with ausome kids and the best real and workable advices come from experienced parents with ausome kids too, all the rest are textbook advices”. And yes, sometimes ausome parents shuts the door  to other people or even relatives who say “i-parti-an tayu man dayta ta kastuy, kasdiay”. Sorry to say, but even if we butcher hundreds of pigs and cows, an autistic child will not suddenly become a normal kid. Only advances in science, research and medicine sometime in the near future can determine or provide a solution to the increasing number of autistic children. The Philippine government came up with a number. According to the government, 1 out of 100 Filipino has some form or type of autism, So if we are 120 million Filipinos, just imagine having 1,200,000 million autistic Filipinos and many of them, probably, are in the cities and outskirts of the Cordillera Administrative Region, undiagnosed, unchecked and just left behind. Case at point, reality check, there are no established medical assessment centers with DevPed doctors for example in Mountain Province, Ifugao, Abra, Kalinga, probably only visiting. Financially able parents need to travel to Baguio City, Benguet or lowland provinces for this purpose. Sigh…

When I planned for the December 13 and 14 Ausome events. I was thinking of a wholistic approach. Something that will involve the community and maximum people awareness. First was the need to gather the parents of the ausome kids and children with disabilities which happened last November 29 at the San Jose Gym. With the help of numerous private individuals, we had a successful gathering. We had Ausome talks, Sharing and Registration. It was a good day. In a post I made in  November 30, 2025, 19:39pm I said: “Successful ang ating unang event kanina sa San Jose Gym. Yung ating ausome talks at database registration ay may 51 parents and caregivers na nagparticipate at marami pang gustong iregister ang kanilang mga ausome at special kids.Nuong una, hinde ko alam kung papaano sisimulan ang adhikain na ito. Pero sa tulong ng mga mabubuting loob, ito ay nasimulan. Sa mga sumuporta, sa mga volunteers, sa mga nagsponsor ng pagkain, sa mga nag donate, sa mga dumalo at nag participate, maraming maraming salamat sa inyo! Naging successful ang event natin!” Indeed, it was a good start. Until now, many parents are still asking for the registration form though messenger.

So on December 13 We were looking forward to have a gathering of the different school cultural performers, young and old, from different schools and organizations in La Trinidad. We gave invitation letters to different schools. The cultural performances aims to highlight the knowledge of the youth, organizations and the community on the different cultural dances of Benguet and the Cordillera region. The idea of the gathering is having a venue where everyone, particularly the students can showcase their dancing skills for free, it will be video recorded and they will also have a copy of the video for future practice and enhancement reference. The event will also have a sharing and learning activity amongst the teachers and participants. And as active students in their own respective schools and youth organizations, they are the best students to teach key points about autism awareness. However, I was inclined not to continue for two reasons, first, I was asked by some organizations if they will be paid to “perform” and second, we will still have to follow up on the different schools for confirmation on Tuesday, December 9 because last week was District meet and every school was busy. I just hope that there will be schools/organizations that will confirm. If none, we will move the date early next year and will find funding for those who will be paid to perform. I am not against the “for the allowance” system because I am familiar with that specially in wedding and corporate performances. It’s just that as of now, I do not have the money to pay for performances, and with that, I am sorry. Let’s just see what will happen on Dec 13.

And so, on December 14 we will have a GIFT GIVING activity not only for ausome kids but also for children with disabilities. When I started to campaign for this “a December to Remember, Ausome gift giving”, some friends told me I am crazy to organize this big event. It will be hard because it is not a common “cause” or “festivity”. “You will need to explain to every person your autism awareness cause and that is tiring” also, you are “alone, sino ngay kadwam?” Indeed, I am feeling the stress and burden of organizing this campaign. Some nights, I cannot sleep thinking of what more to do? Then words of encouragement came. Then volunteers came. Then donations came. Then gifts started to come. But We are still far from our target gifts and we need donations for logistics and food. Truth is, we gave letters of activity support to many La Trinidad Establishments and only one responded. We gave letters to politicians too and only one responded (LT Mayor’s Office).  I don’t know with the rest. They may or may not help. For sure this letter will reach them, it shows that our “small people movement” is growing.  But if the need arises in the future, for the creation of Ausome North, our organization for ausome kids and children with disabilities, I will bow down and beg to these people for the benefit of our special children.

As of now, we have 60+ ausome kids and children with disabilities who are registered and the list is growing everyday. For smooth flow and to avoid confusion, only those who registered, signed and submitted the form will join the December 14 gift giving activity together with their parents and carers at the BSU Open Gym. Majority of the children are from La Trinidad and neighboring towns of Benguet. Some are from Baguio too. When I made the call for “gift giving”, I am happy that people I do not personally know brought their love gifts for the children at the designated dropping areas (Kai Café m3, Barteak Café km4, Brewrific km4 and Upland Café m5) Toys, cookies, notebooks, papers, stuffed toys etc. Me and the small group of volunteers are happy. If you want to give a gift, we would very much appreciate those that can be used like  Omega 3 EPA DHA, multivitamins, off lotion, milk, over the counter meds, first aid kid, medical kits, cool fever, alcohol, cookies, socks (assorted sizes) clothes (assorted sizes), towels, cornbeef, rice etc. You can give 1 piece , 1 pack or 1 box or whatever you can, regardless of the volume, what matters is the love for these kids and the growing ausome awareness in all of us.

You are also invited to join us in the gift giving activity and witness something special you became a part of. My only request in this part is that we all go as equals. No positions attached. We are all parents and caregivers to ausome kids and children with disabilities.

Those who would like to donate food and snacks for December 13 and 14, please PM me personally.

Again, thank you very much for all the love and support. Kitakits sa December 13 at 14!

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The November 29 Database registration was indeed a good start but I was really tired. Yung typical na “pa-hero” mode. From purchase to carrying. From our house to loading at the Garage taxi, unloading and carrying the things inside the gym… it was a “pa-hero” mode. Physically stressful (this was my pa-hero mode, I just needed to tell kasi nga hero and part ng story) by 9am, the volunteers came at the gym and I was really thankful. The volunteers exceeded my expectation! They carried their assigned tasks very well! Thank you to everyone who donated cash for food and logistics to make this November 29 activity a success!

Now here comes the better part of the reality story. We went around schools to give our invitation letter for the Cultural performance but we had to postpone the December 13 Symphony of Culture performance because of three reasons. First, some of the groups invited were asking for “allowance” for their performance and sadly we had to decline because we do not have that kind of funding. Honestly, walang problema yan kung may pondo tayo or may political, private or corporate sponsor. Second, Some of the schools said they cannot join because they have their own Christmas activities and the students are incomplete. Third, no one confirmed. It was already December 11 (Thursday) and still no one confirmed, that is why I had to make a decision and postponed the Cultural gathering to a later date, most probably in March 2026. We talked to the suppliers earlier contacted and they understood. We all had to make sacrifices. Then something funny happened, By December 12, one organization texted in the afternoon that they were coming and another one messaged in the evening. I told them we had to cancel because no one contacted me ahead of time. They were also sorry because no one from them contacted me. I told them we will plan for a bigger and grand event for Symphony of Culture. To me this was a blessing in disguise because now I know people who can help me make this Symphony of Culture better! Moving forward,  We then converted the December 13 venue (BSU Open gym) into the final gift dropping center and packing area because I was also looking for a big area to pack the gifts. The Symphony of Culture activity is moved to the 3rd week of March 2026.

Kudos! We appreciate very much the help of our four gift dropping centers. Kai café, Barteak Café, Brewrific Café and Upland Café. For three weeks they opened their café as dropping areas for the gifts. Me and my staff took turns in getting the gifts and bringing them home. In the meantime, support and donations for the activity was coming in. Online registration was being requested. Almost 20 more parents signed up their ausome/special kids online. In total, we had 68 registered gift giving beneficiaries. Most are from La Trinidad, some from Baguio and neighboring municipalities. We also prepared 2 extra gift packs just in case.

Earlier, in November and December prior to the gift giving activity, we gave letters of invitation and support to numerous offices, establishments and people. It was so frustrating. Let me enumerate.

1.       We gave letters from  groceries to department stores, restaurants and pharmacies. Sadly, not one of them responded. On follow-up, many of them said there is no response yet from management.

       I personally went to the Municipal Police Station and gave a letter addressed to the current COP requesting for police support during our events specially in the security of our ausome and special children (just in case some will wander off). The letter was received but there was no answer. A friend joked, I should have used my channels of influence rather than the formal letter of request. It works that way.

3.       We went to the office of Congressman Yap, gave letters and followed up. This was before the freezing of his assets. No response whatsoever, kahit text man lang. Every year since he became the congressman of Benguet I suggested activities, wrote letters for the community and msmes. It all went to deaf ears. Maybe the kids and the boss at his congressional office just threw it away. I was not surprised.

4.     Gave letter of invitation and support to the Governor’s office and Vice Governor’s office too. They simply said “no budget”. Period. Buti pa yung dalawalang elementary student nakapag donate ng two pcs ng alcohol.

5.     People from the FO of DSWD CAR messaged me and was asking what they can do. So I explained. I gave them the list of our ausome and special children. However, their hands are tied because the allotment of aid or whatever giveaways is only for those affected by calamities, typhoons, earthquakes etc. None for ausome and special children who are always at risk. I understand this and I do not want their jobs to be at risk just because they did not follow orders or protocol. The request was then forwarded to another office and someone texted me last December 15 asking how many family food packs will be distributed… I simply texted back, “tapos na po kahapon”. Still, I appreciate the follow-ups. It is better than not having any at all. 

      Simply put, we did not receive any support from the government except for one. They had no money daw and no time. They have resources but we lack influence to reach those resources. Only the office of the Municipal Mayor of La Trinidad responded in the positive and with that, we are thankful. (Wherever you are, public or private, If you have reached this far in this letter and you think you can help sometime in the near future, please message me at Facebook, I would appreciate it very much)

     

Moving forward, gifts and database registration forms were being dropped and collected everyday. We collect the forms everyday because we need to manually type them at our template. Once every form is saved electronically and the latest photos of the ausome kids and CWDs are in, we can schedule a date to give the “data base” to the Police and Health department. This Ausome North project is not just about gifts, it is more than that. It has a long term vision of help and support and the Data base gathering is something I believe that is needed NATIONWIDE. I just need to be very vocal about the idea and really do something about it, hinde puro salita. Of course, we need people to collect and encode, lunch and snacks provided.

December 12. Final gathering of gifts from the 4 drop centers. Together with 5 people, we gathered the gifts until 6:00pm.

December 13. By 6am, We rented a jeep to bring the gifts to BSU Open Gym together with the speakers, tarps, water, tables, boxes of juice, snacks etc. After loading them inside the jeep, we went to do a final sweep at the drop centers. One plastic of bags were dropped at Kai Café and 2 boxes of pillows and blankets at Barteak café. We were a team of 6. When we reached BSU open gym, the rest of the volunteers were waiting. We unloaded everything and started to prepare the gifts. We also bought items to make into first aid kits, assorted toys, food, snacks etc. 

 

We also received pahabol gifts from Ingrid.  It rained so hard in the afternoon. I was worried if it will rain the next day. By 5:30pm, the rain stopped. We secured the gifts and went to have dinner. Everyonewas excited for the next day.

December 14. Woke up, looked outside the window and the sky was clear. It was going to be a good day. We assembled at the BSU open gym at 10:00am. Fixed the gifts and placed them on top of the Boxing Ring for security purposes. By 11:40 I told the volunteers to go eat lunch and I will stay to guard the venue. By 12:30N, parents and kids started to arrive. Since I was alone that time, I prepared the attendance sheet and registration forms. I asked those who are early to sign and by 12:45N, the volunteer team was complete. One by one parents and ausome kids/cwds came, registered and had a photo at our symbolic “Birds Nest”

In the second quarter of this year, I was thinking of a Logo, something that would represent what we are going through and if people will see it, they will instantly understand why. After contemplating, I thought of the birds nest. The “birds nest” is a symbolic representation of the children with special needs and how parents tend to take care of their children. It presents a situation where children even if they age are completely dependent on their parents or care givers. As parents, We provide the best home, care, food and warmth to our special children who are dependent on us, the only difference is, they will forever be in the birds nest and we will forever provide for them. This is the love that we parents have for our ausome and special kids. Many parents said that the birds nest was indeed a good symbolic representation of an ausome family. In this way, we can show to the world that we EXIST.

 

After the picture taking at the birds nest, everyone was requested to gather at the center of the gym so that the program can start. But since our participants are both parents and ausome kids, it is given that the kids have a short attention span and to them, wandering and playing is a better thing to do. I thought of this when I was looking for a venue. The children cannot be confined in a tight space. They need to roam around safely, they need to be free to run and play. So I thought of the BSU open gym because it has gates all over and the nearest exit area the kids can go to is the BSU Oval. Even if the Police did not act on our request for support, a group of riders volunteered to look after the children and made sure no child went missing. Even the chairs were arranged in an alternate pattern not a classroom type so that the kids can move freely with their parents. The program was set to start by 2:00pm but we had to start earlier because I was worried about the rain. Here was the program:

AUSOME NORTH

A DECEMBER TO REMEMBER

GIFT GIVING

December 14, 2025

 

PROGRAM

 

1:00 – 1:40 Registration, picture taking and sharing

1:40 – 1:50 Gathering

1:50 – 2:00 Prayer: LhaLyn Casi-Chinaman

2:00 – 2:15 Opening Remarks : Dean Michael Cuanso – Ausome North and the “the birds nest symbol)

2:15 – 2:30 First Raffle draw (minor)

2:30 – 2:45 – Gem Bugtong – Benefits of having an ausome community / cwd

2:45 – 3:00 – Second Raffle Draw Gifts ( Major)

3:00 – 3:15 - Snacks / food

3:15 – 3:30 Mam Jael Pinkihan - Latest Updates on autism spectrum

3:30 – 3:45 – December to Remember Gift Giving

3:45 – 4:00 – Grand Raffle draw (Gifts)

4:00 – Closing / Picture taking

5:00 End of Program

 

HOST: Prime Cuanso

 

Our attendance will show a number close to 200 but many supporters and donors also dropped by during the program but did not register. It is safe to assume that we had an attendance of more than 200 people and 58 of them were ausome kids and children with disabilities. People in the government will always use the term “beneficiaries” like “ilan ang beneficiaries mo dean?” Or “ilan ang beneficiaries sa listahan mo dean?” Something I do not like to hear at times because I feel like our children are being reduced to mere numbers. But I am also guilty sometimes in using the word “beneficiary” if only to push the message or idea to the listener. Yes, we had 58 kids who were given gifts and surprise items. Parents and children enjoyed the gift giving and raffle draws. Everyone went home with a smile and a hope that next year, this event will be bigger and better.

 I am thankful to everyone who supported our autism awareness and support activities. We were able to successfully implement three big activities for our local community (La Trinidad, some from Baguio and some from neighboring municipalities).  November 29 – Ausome talks, Database and registration at San Jose Gym. December 13 Gift gathering and packing. and December 14 gift giving ausome community get together.

 

But it didn’t end there. Last December 18, 2025, we brought the remaining gifts to Benguet SPEd in Stockfarm, Wangal. The first aid kits and towels were to be given to the classrooms while the toys, snacks etc were distributed to the students. I was a little bit ashamed because I was not able to bring more, maybe next year. 

 

At this point, We would like to say thank you to all our sponsors, donors and supporters. For privacy reasons and personal requests, we cannot divulge publicly the amounts that each individual has contributed. Many of them are private people and do not want the attention, they just wanted to help. The amount received in total was P68,700. Contributions varied from two hundred pesos to thousands. If this was a government led function, the amount used for these three day activity could have been hundreds of thousands or millions even hahaha (JOKE!) This is one thing we can be proud of. A private, community led activity for the people, by the people. Just imagine, we were able to have three big successful activities at this small amount. Try to imagine the disposable money of government people and elected officials. They have disposable millions and billions in the comfort of their homes and offices. Samantalang tayo nagmamaka awa na bigyan ng support! SIGH. Anyway… moving on.

 

I want to thank everyone who donated cash. It was helpful in the successful implementation of the three events -  gym rentals (San Jose Gym , BSU Open Gym 2 days), transportation, labor, back office expenses, tarps, prints, xerox, booklets, snacks, food and gifts!

Kai Café – 5,000

Konverge Sweets & Pastries – 5,000

VTWPH Realty- 4,000

Anonymous – 5,000

Anonymous – 5,000

Pay it Forward – 5,000

Anonymous – 1,000

Torogi Kapi – 1,000

Tala – 1,000

Eheys Prints and Gowns – 1,000

Doc Po (XCIV) – 2,500

Anonymous - 2,000

Anonymous - 1,200

Anonymous - 1,500

Dear Craig - 2,000

Private Individuals with a good heart who wishes not to be named – 27,000.

 

We also wish to acknowledge the following individuals and organizations for their generous gifts:

 

Ingrid Payaket and Jammers – bags and lunch boxes

Derek Kyle,  MMB-LT 2024 and Rotary club of Makati Central – sensory pillows and blankets

Christian Faith Cawis-Gabat – gifts and books

Joyce P. Dulnuan – snacks at the ausome talks and registration

Lorraine Taltala / Salaco Pampanico – snacks at the ausome talks and regiastration

Kristia Andres Tanelon – pre loved stuff toys

CONCHILIG DENTAL CLINIC - dental kit (toothbrush and toothpaste)

Paul Brian Tulioc Baldoza – Cakes

Lorieka Cachero-Makin - cookies and juice

Ronald McDonald's House of Charity – mcdo gift checks

Ausome GIFT Packs from ausome friends (Mariecris Panayo, Guia Angyok, Laarni Ganayan, Mia Lamsis, Jamie Pal-ang, Gyver Angyok and Durex Dulinen)

Lydz G Dictaran – caps

Shane D. Wakit –  towels, papers and toys

Kristia Andres Tanelon – preloved toys

Shan Shan Aglano – toys

Loraine Taltala and Mishima Soliba – toys

Young ladies association of charity ( YLAC) – pancit

Anonymous (38 pcs dishwashing liquid)

From merchandising (delivered 10:00am, December 14 at BSU gym)  – 30 toys 

 

It does not end here. Next year, with the new organization and community that will be built, I want to register Ausome North into a Non Government Organization. I will need help from a volunteer Lawyer, Social Worker,  and Organization Officers. Let’s do this! Let us do this for our ausome kids and children with disabilities. Let’s create a big voice and representation for them!

 

Our work is not yet done, we are on the process of encoding the details of the registration forms in the online template and including the photo of the child. This is the biggest project. Creating a searchable data base that will be submitted to the Police and Health authorities by first quarter next year. It is my dream that one day, someday, every city, every municipality will have a connected database of ausome kids and children with disabilities. It will help a lot in emergencies. 

Lastly, in the holiday spirit, Me, my family and my kids would like to greet you a merry Christmas and a happy new year!

 

If you wish to give a Holiday gift for my kids Roga and Rhemus, Thank you very much!

I would prefer Bank Deposit at: 

Bank of the Philippine Islands, SA 1219015395, Dean Michael Cuanso

or 

Gcash/Maya Philippines - 09178504955, Dean Michael Cuanso

 

Thank you! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and your family!