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This is DeafDots, 9, December 2022.
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[ANSELMO]: In DeafDots report last month on the impact
of the Carter Churchill vs. Newfoundland Labrador English School District
human rights complaint will have on Deaf Education across Canada.
This case is about a family who has been fighting the NLESD
for the last five years for full ASL immersion for their deaf son
named Carter. The Human Rights hearing took 9 days and
had over two thousand pages of testimonies from Carter’s parents,
student assistants, teachers, principals and
the CEO of the school district and expert witnesses.
[ANSELMO]: This person, Carey Majid, executive director of Newfoundland
and Labrador Human Rights Commission pointed out that there are
two parts of the case. First part is the Churchills needed to prove
that the school district discriminated against Carter and denied
access because of his disability. Then the second part is the school
must prove they did everything to accommodate Carter and if doing
anything more would cause financial hardship on the school.
[ANSELMO]: The Churchill lawyer, Kyle Rees says the school refuses
to admit they discriminated against Carter. To better understand
how this case is unusual, DeafDots spoke with Joanne Weber,
Canada Research Chair in Deaf Education regarding this case.
The Churchill human rights case in Newfoundland is an important case.
The parents took on an entire system - meaning teachers, principals,
administrators, the whole hierarchy, that has never happened before.
It’s obvious the parents did their research “homework” and prepared well.
They found a good ally, Dr. Kristin Snoddon. What’s important
about this case is that it is the first time to see how language
deprivation cannot be blamed on one person, teacher or speech therapist.
It is systemic oppression - we see how it first started with
one interpreter with inferior signing skills which the teacher accepted,
which the principal accepted as well as the senior administration
who were okay with it. That means the whole system accepted
it and made language deprivation “normal”.
[ANSELMO]: What was the school system’s biggest argument,
and how did Churchill's lawyer argue against it?
They have arguments about lacking resources and not having people that can sign,
not being able to find interpreters skilled enough, and many issues related
to finding resources. Dr. Snoddon pointed out that the Deaf community
resources for Deaf community were limited and the need to solidify training,
ASL instruction and teaching and interpreters were all limited,
not ready or not built up because of the systemic oppression
of the Deaf Community also.
[ANSELMO]: Churchill's lawyer said the family wants the school district
to guarantee an educational program for Carter that meets the bare minimum
of his human rights to language access. This is considered important
to overcome language deprivation which their expert witness
Dr. Kristin Snoddon testified at length. When we discuss language deprivation,
can it happen only with children who are ASL users, or is this something
that you’ve seen happen with a large number of students?
As a past teacher of Deaf children for many years, I have seen many,
many situations of kids having language deprivation. It is very common,
it doesn't matter if kids sign or are oral. Both groups are language
deprived and it becomes worse over time while growing up and it impacts
emotional, social and intellectual development and ability to succeed
at school. It is so sad. I have seen many students go with an interpreter
to classes which does not solve issues of language deprivation.
Many people think getting an interpreter is adequate and would solve
the problem. It does not. What I would do when responding to that issue,
deciding on using an interpreter to get an education is a model that
does not work. They need to establish a congregated program where
students learn from the teacher directly in signs, and learn from
Deaf community role models so the students can build language through
interactions. It is important to support the deaf kids to solve problems
together and in groups or complete homework together, help each other
and explain to each other and there will be a lot of growth in language.
Also providing and encouraging students to ASL in a high school
curriculum is critical to understanding that language has rules,
structure and grammar that really help address language deprivation.
[ANSELMO]: The Churchill family is accusing the school system
of not doing ASL proficiency tests on people who are teaching their child,
as ASL is his primary language. While the school argues that they followed
his IEP/ISSP, his mother stated that there were things that she asked
to have put in his IEP/ISSP that were often not documented. Is this
something that happens to parents all the time or is this a unique case?
Most school districts don’t have good data about the students who are
their responsibilities. Without doing language assessments yearly,
they can’t measure progress in language acquisition to compare with
their peers. They don’t have all that data research and evidence
so when problems appear, the principal doesn’t understand and
senior administrators don’t understand because there is no data
on the students to really understand what language acquisition means.
Parents have to learn to demand these language assessments be done
yearly, year after year. With accumulated data there would be evidence
that administrators cannot deny or say they don’t understand
the conversation, or point fingers at others.
[ANSELMO]: The school administration is doing exactly what Weber
said happens at other schools. They are telling people they were
not equipped and did the best they could with what they had.
This is often something that happens throughout the Deaf community
with students who are mainstreamed. Language deprivation is a real
issue in the Deaf community. Right now, Carter, an 11 year old boy
is reading at a Kindergarten level and is currently just now starting
to get the immersion he needs in his classroom. Carter’s parents
are concerned that after this year, there is no confirmed plan
for Carter’s education. They also want to see the school
make plans for other children too.
[ANSELMO]: A new viral infection outbreak hit Canada last May.
Called “Monkeypox” (MPX), there are now over 1,445 cases across Canada.
No deaths but 42 people were hospitalized up to October.
What exactly is MPX? I asked a Deaf registered nurse in Ontario.
Monkeypox is an illness caused by monkeypox virus. In more detail
it is a zoonotic infection meaning an animal with a disease could
pass it along to a human. A human can also pass on the disease
to another person. Even the environment would pass on to the human.
This is monkeypox.
[ANSELMO]: When and how did MPX come about?
When, how and where monkeypox comes from? Did it appear recently?
No, it first appeared a long time ago in Africa but now it has
spread around the world, this is the latest. Where from?
A rainforest in central-western Africa where animals were infected
and this is how it spread throughout cities and areas where people live.
It all came from the rainforest and now it is worse because people
on vacation traveling to different countries pass it around the world.
Really it all started in Africa.
[ANSELMO]: How can we protect ourselves from MPX?
Four factors - if the person has symptoms of infection that match monkeypox,
encourage them to stay home, not go out and spread it.
Stay home until you feel better 100% and completely resolved
before going out. Secondly, avoid body contact including sex.
If one person has an infection and the other doesn't, getting
together could pass along the infection. Thirdly, it is important
to wash hands thoroughly and also wear a mask tightly and
not let the air go out. If you keep sneezing or coughing,
you could spread it so cover your nose with your arm to reduce
the spread. Fourthly, if you have belongings like a table
that could be touched, it is important to clean them before
visitors see you at your office, work or home...
wherever you are. It's important to keep clean.
Also after they leave, you should clean again.
[ANSELMO]: Monkeypox is not a new virus but it is less common
than COVID-19. Symptoms usually show up within 3 weeks and
it takes 2-4 weeks to recover. We need to take care of ourselves
such as continuing to wash our hands and keeping clean.
[ANSELMO]: On November 16th, Canada Video Relay Service announced
that Sue Decker, executive director of CAV-SRV will retire on March 31, 2023.
Jordan, our street reporter will share a little more with us!
[JORDAN]: Thank you Anselmo!
As CAV’s first Executive Director and CEO,
Sue led the design, structure, and launch of Canada’s first Video Relay Service.
David Joseph, Chair of CAV’s Board of Directors says “Sue has been
an inspiring leader who was able to bring Canada’s Deaf Community’s
vision to reality. We wish her the best as she transitions
to a well-deserved retirement”.
[JORDAN]: Sue had been with CAV since April, 2015 - nearly 8 years.
Before that she was involved in several communication ventures
most notably as general manager of AT&T's Accessible Communication
Services for just over 7 years where she managed AT&T's telecommunications
relay service, state relay services, Operator Services for the Deaf,
Internet Relay and Video Relay Services.
[JORDAN]: Sue has a bachelor's degree in Marketing from Shepherd
University, a public liberal arts college in West Virginia.
What’s next? CAV has contracted with LHH Knightsbridge,
a talent and leadership recruiting firm to manage the
search for a new Executive Director.
[JORDAN]: The CAV executive director position posting says
Canada VRS platform, which has connected over 3.5 million
VRS calls since 2016, connects to over 300 sign language
interpreters both ASL and LSQ. The executive director,
who oversees a budget of up to $30 million dollars from
the National Contribution Fund, would report to the CAV board
which has nine board members. Priority will be given to Deaf
or hard of hearing candidates who meet the criteria listed
in the posting. No application deadline has been set.
[ANSELMO]: Thank you Jordan for this update. If you’re interested
in the position, apply as soon as possible!
[ANSELMO]: Canadian Association of the Deaf (CAD) has received
a "Digital transformation development" grant of $127,915 to research
the experiences of deaf consumers in the financial sector to better
understand the level of accessibility available to deaf Canadians
in both in-bank and online banking services. The study will also
focus on the experiences of deaf Canadians with financial fraud.
[ANSELMO]: CAD hired Scott Simser, a Deaf lawyer, professional
accountant and past Green Party candidate, as Project Manager
for this Financial Sector research project. Scott will explore
barriers and adaptation needs for Deaf people, and obstacles
they encounter when dealing with banks.
Does banking fall under the Accessibility Canada Act?
Yes. Banking is under federal jurisdiction so yes, banking does
fall under the Accessible Canada Act law.
[ANSELMO]: What led CAD to apply for a grant in this project?
For many years CAD-ASC has gotten many, many complaints from Deaf
Canadians about barriers to financial services in Canada for example banks,
getting a loan to buy a house, which investments to make so CAD-ASC
decided to apply for the grant to research how to improve access
by Deaf Canadians to the financial sector in Canada.
[ANSELMO]: What kind of research are you doing in this project?
Interviews are underway with many people including banks,
Deaf people themselves, Deaf financial professionals and
Deaf service agencies. Interviews have been conducted and
met with banks on how they can improve their service accessibility.
[ANSELMO]: What is the focus on - customers doing banking,
or also employment for Deaf people in banks?
The focus is not on employment for Deaf people in banks.
The focus is on Deaf services… entering a Bank, requesting
service assistance or meeting for mortgage application
or invest money, stocks, bonds, mutual funds
and all financial aspects are the focus.
[ANSELMO]: CAD uses the term “Financial Sector”, does it mean only banks?
No, it is more broad… more areas will be covered,
financial services including as examples… insurance companies,
mortgage companies, investment firms, credit unions and,
yes banks too are included.
[ANSELMO]: This is one of several research projects funded
by the Government of Canada to help put together accessibility
standards in federal services or areas regulated by the government.
Banks are regulated by the federal Bank Act.
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