SITUATION:
The current situation in Ontario, Canada, centers on the future of local deaf children. The Ministry of Children and Youth Services has established the Infant Hearing Program (IHP) with three features: Auditory Verbal Therapy (AVT) which is a specialized type of therapy designed to teach a child to use hearing provided by a hearing aid or cochlear implant for understanding speech and learning to talk; dual services (i.e., both auditory oral and ASL); and ASL services. IHP provides funding for each of these programs. Parents wanting to utilize both the AVT and ASL options are not allowed to do so; parents must choose one or the other. Statistics from November 2001 through March 2008 show that 1,422 babies were identified as deaf; only 88 of these babies employed the ASL option. None chose Quebec Sign Language (LSQ). However, 96% of these babies represent the AVT option. Since AVT forbids sign language, those who are caught using sign language are disqualified from the AVT program. Discrimination is occurring within the program and the Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth Services is allowing this; they should not fund a program that discriminates deaf infants or children. This issue has impacted enrollment of deaf schools over the past eight years. There are three provincial deaf schools, in addition to another Provincial School for the Deaf that uses LSQ. Enrollment for these schools have declined from 500 students to less than 290 students. The total number of deaf and hard of hearing students across Ontario comes to 2,700 and yet only 290 are enrolled in Provincial Schools for the Deaf. The school board in Toronto has downsized Metro Toronto School for the Deaf. Sign language is diminishing in schools, which I am calling “Sign Language Cleansing.” Sign language is being eradicated all over. Many deaf teachers are being laid off, in addition to hearing teachers fluent in sign language. This has had a large impact on enrollment; one example is the E.C. Drury School for the Deaf (Jr. K through Grade 12) in Milton, Ontario. This is a large school but only one student was enrolled in the Jr. K program last fall. This is astounding, and I am concerned. The AVT program is growing within IHP and increasing their support for the 96% of deaf children that are in this program.
PROBLEM:
The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Children and Youth Services has not established a transition planning policy in which deaf children that do not benefit from spoken language can switch to sign language. There is no policy concerning this. Secondly, there are no policies or requirements ensuring that teachers in provincial schools for the deaf are fluent in ASL. Teacher training programs in universities do not require teachers of deaf to take ASL proficiency tests nor do they provide bilingual education training. Imagine the impact of these lax requirements in sign language on the children’s development. Enrollment in Provincial Schools for the Deaf has declined dramatically. Enrollment in school boards with sign language programs has also declined significantly. We are now also facing a serious decline in the number of deaf and hard of hearing students entering colleges and universities. This means there is difficulty in recruiting deaf and hard of hearing teachers and counselors. This particular impact on students and enrollment numbers have turned into a high demand for mental health services for deaf and hard of hearing children. New parents of deaf children are not accurately informed on the risks and limitations of programs such as AVT, and they have a right to be informed. This is the same as if you were going to the store for medicine; you’d want to know the benefits, risks, and side effects involved in this medicine. You have a right to know this, and so do parents. Parents are not accurately informed and this leads to language delays and emotional frustrations and it’s often too late to change this. Miscommunication occurs and it’s too late. There is no way of knowing of any language delays by the time babies are identified as deaf; it’d be too late. The window of opportunity for learning ASL has closed. If there are any additional disabilities such as learning disabilities, they are discovered later. If deaf children were exposed to sign language early, it’d be greatly beneficial. Additionally, those who receive cochlear implants are forbidden from using sign language and are instead encouraged to use AVT. In Sweden, 92% of deaf children with cochlear implants use sign language; this is highly encouraged. There are also less mental health issues. In Ontario, however, requiring the use of AVT has led to higher mental health issues and a higher demand for mental health services from The Canadian Hearing Society. What these deaf individuals endure and the cost of language delays and emotional impact, resulting in millions of dollars, is just shocking. There are no transition plan programs or any mental health prevention programs. However, Ontario does have numerous benefits: there is a law that recognizes ASL as a language of instruction under the Education Act, there is an ASL curriculum for students from Jr. K through 12th grade, there are deaf teachers, and numerous other resources. Ontario used to have a deaf MPP (Member of Provincial Parliament), and there are laws benefitting the deaf, sign language rights and successful legal decisions that support sign language rights and so on. Regardless of all these highlights, 96% of our deaf children are still oral-only. This tells me that I have to develop a strategy in educating the public through means such as the media. We need more allies such as CODAs to stand up and speak up. We need more people like them and others like linguists. We are starting to contact human rights organizations, ombudsmen, and others in order to gather support and gain allies. I’ve just established the Coalition on Well-Being of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children and Youth & Preventative Mental Health Strategies. This coalition is working to develop connections with the Office of Provincial Advocate for Child and Youth which reports directly to the provincial legislature and provides an independent voice for children and youth and protects the rights and interests of children and youth. We are working within partnerships to increase public awareness by sharing stories and experiences through media. There is also a need for a complaint process; currently there is no complaint policy established in the Ministry of Children and Youth Services. How can we educate parents about these issues regarding ASL? ASL is truly beneficial; there are so many benefits and no harm. ASL is strongly restricted and yet there has been a huge increase in hearing babies learning ASL in Ontario. Hearing babies are allowed to learn ASL and most deaf babies are forbidden to learn ASL. That is the greatest irony.
FUTURE:
What is happening now with our deaf youth? There is no hope. Vocational Rehabilitation programs are being cut. Student grants are turning into student loans. Gallaudet University’s surcharge for international students is high. In 1990, the number of Ontario students at Gallaudet was 90 and now it is down to 24. Within the number of newly enrolled students at Gallaudet last year, only one was from Ontario. At NTID in Rochester, New York, there were 79 students from Ontario in 1996 and now there are only 3 students from Ontario. These numbers are terrible. In the future, where do we find individuals to hire as teachers and counselors? We need role models for the deaf, especially to promote ASL, but where do we find them? The number of deaf children is growing but jobs for deaf youth are declining. This has impacted agencies like Canadian Hearing Society; we need to hire more deaf staff, but where do we find qualified deaf people? This is also starting to impact the deaf community, especially leadership organizations like Ontario Association of the Deaf, Ontario Cultural Society of the Deaf, Ontario Deaf Sports Association, and so on. It is difficult to find qualified deaf individuals that can take leadership positions. We are facing this crisis now. Now is the time to consider legal approaches towards people and organizations that contribute to what I call “Sign Language Cleansing,” eliminating or reducing sign language. I will be sure to develop strategies to bring these people and organizations to justice for their actions in preventing sign language. I will bring them to court and find them guilty of genocide, the crime against humanity as defined by the United Nations. We are working on this. It is essential that we have your support. We need CODAs for allies, linguists for research, and Gallaudet has an important role in spreading awareness of sign language benefits. There isn’t any research on the limitations and risks of AVT and other forms of oralism, which should be added as parents have the right to know. The research gathered would assist in making the government accountable for deaf children’s access to language. This is a human right- not an option, but a human right. Deaf children should have the right to learn ASL. Here’s an idea: deaf schools employing ASL do not enroll hearing children that have the desire to become interpreter or linguists; why not begin enrolling them? In Ontario, there is French Immersion School. In this sense, why don’t we also create ASL Immersion Schools? All would benefit from this and career opportunities would grow. It is essential to support our right to ASL. Deaf children deserve their right to ASL and LSQ. Our struggle continues. Thank you for your support.