Mother worried about focus of deaf preschools
REGINA Noah Van Ee has learned four years’ worth of language in the past two years since learning to sign using American Sign Language (ASL).
The four-year-old was diagnosed two years ago with profound hearing loss. Using ASL has helped him grasp English and “come alive,” says his mother, Sonja Van Ee.
It’s why she’s concerned that, as the provincial government seeks to open deaf preschools in Saskatoon, Regina and Prince Albert, the new preschools may have an oral focus.
“As long as it’s a preschool that isn’t oral emphasized, I am excited,” said Van Ee, whose family moved to Saskatoon from Moose Jaw to access more deaf supports for Noah.
The government opened its request for proposals (RFP) process on Thursday, to begin piloting preschools this fall in three cities with funding from the CanadaSaskatchewan Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, which is committed through 2019-20.
This comes more than a year after the Regina Public School Division decided to close its communication preschool for deaf children, citing a lack of designated funding from the Education Ministry. At that time, Saskatoon Public discussed, but decided against, closing its language learning preschool.
The RFP lists four “mandatory requirements” to which the potential preschool operators must agree.
One is that the “staff team must include members who are able to provide clear speech models for children who are auditory/oral.”
“If a child’s first language is ASL,” the RFP states, “or the parents would like their child supported by ASL or signed English, at least one staff member must be competent in the preferred mode of communication or interested in being trained in that area (preferably a native or fluent signer).”
Van Ee has qualms about this. “There is no child in Saskatchewan who actually has ASL as a first language unless they have deaf parents. And 90 per cent of deaf children are born to hearing parents who aren’t fluent in ASL,” said Van Ee, who is taking ASL classes from the Saskatchewan Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services along with her husband, Ryan.
“It disappoints me that they are emphasizing spoken language again. Just because you can say something doesn’t necessarily mean you know the meaning of it. I can say lots of Spanish words, but I don’t know what they mean.”
Van Ee said Noah is learning English with the help of ASL.
ASL is a language with a distinct grammar. It uses expressive hand and facial gestures to communicate words or ideas, also employing finger-spelling.
In Saskatchewan, according to the Deaf community, there has long been a top-down emphasis on teaching deaf children to read lips and speak, and using signed English, which replicates English vocabulary and grammar through tight hand gestures.
Donna Johnson, an assistant deputy minister in the Ministry of Education, said she couldn’t yet say what kind of programming would be the focus.
Through public consultations and a survey that closed May 3, Johnson said the feedback indicated that families are looking for “options.”
In preschool, “Families are still sorting out what kinds of communication methods they want to use, whether that’s Signed English or ASL or cochlear implants and working to become more verbal with cochlear implants,” said Johnson.
“In some cases, some of the families are not interested in the ASL being provided to them.” Melanie Hack is not one of them. She said her three-year-old son Gideon would benefit from both ASL and oral.
“I think he finds the signs easier to do,” said Hack, who lives in Regina.
“He seems to be picking up better on the ASL. I do think a combination would be good for him.”
Van Ee said when Noah was diagnosed, her family was told not to sign with him, lest he reject speech altogether.
“We have found the exact opposite with our son,” she said.
“Parents, when they come out of Royal University Hospital with a diagnosis and have just been told by the professionals ‘don’t sign with your child,’ that’s not all the information. Parents don’t know what’s best for their child then because they aren’t informed.”
She said consulting with deaf people is the best way of knowing what’s best for a deaf child. That’s what she did, speaking with an adult who, like Noah, has a cochlear implant and uses ASL.
“She said do both, because she’s so isolated in so many situations,” said Van Ee. “I’ve seen it bring him to life and it also helps him attain English.”
Van Ee said she knows of several children who are faltering after the strictly oral route.
One of them is five and “doesn’t know their name, doesn’t understand their mother when she says I love you.”
If offering bilingual instruction (ASL and English, as well as signed English), Johnson said she “would have to defer to the knowledge of the educators in the field who are able to tell us exactly how that would be delivered in a formal setting.”
The program will be designed to “reduce communication barriers for children who are deaf and hard of hearing when communicating with their families, their peers and the larger community,” according to the RFP.
The plan is to open the preschools this fall, with RFPs awarded in early June, giving the service providers (which may include school divisions and deaf organizations) the opportunity to hire staff over the summer.
The government is asking for half-day programs to run four days a week, with the fifth day allowing for family and community events, including sign language or communication courses.
Each program should have at least three staff members, to comply with a ratio of one adult per five children.
That should include a “lead educator (ideally a certified teacher with specialized training as a teacher of deaf and hard of hearing and/or experience in which these skills have been attained) and two educational assistants.”
The program should include deaf children, but also make room for children who can hear and have a familial connection to a deaf person.
The pilot places a priority on four-year-olds, with three-yearolds included “where possible.”
An applicant can apply to open a preschool in any or all of the three cities.
Johnson said she can’t predict what will happen at the end of the two years, although the federal funding agreement likely will be renewed at that point.
The deadline for submissions is May 28. Details are posted to sasktenders.ca.
Although it’s not common, the government has used the tender process for education programming before, said Johnson — usually in professional development or consulting scenarios.
The RFP recognizes the terminology related to deafness, per the Canadian Association for the Deaf:
“Deaf” is a medical term for those who have little to no hearing, or a collective noun for a group of deaf people;
Capital-D “Deaf ” is a sociological term for deaf people who embrace the related culture and language;
“Deafened” means someone who has acquired deafness later in life;
“Hard of hearing ” means someone with mild to profound hearing loss.