‘She’s being put on the back burner’
Mother says deaf children on west coast are overlooked
For seven years, Samantha Brown has had to fight for her daughter to get the services and assistance she needs to be successful in school.
Lilly Brown is 11 and in Grade 6 at Eastside Elementary in Corner Brook. Lilly is deaf and nonverbal, and combined with some other medical issues, she needs some extra supports in the classroom — supports that a frustrated Brown said are not always there, and, if they are, they’re at a very reduced capacity.
NO ONE TRAINED IN ASL
It all started when the family, including dad Brian Hedderson, moved back to Newfoundland from Alberta in October 2017.
It took until February 2018 for things to be put in place at Eastside Elementary so Lilly could start school.
Lilly is the only deaf child at the school, and whenever the family requested a student assistant or teacher learning assistant with certification in American Sign Language (ASL), the response from the then Newfoundland and Labrador English School District was that they didn’t have anyone trained, Brown said.
Brown said she doesn’t fault the school for anything, and staff there have gone beyond to do everything they can to help Lilly, including requesting more services from the school board on her behalf.
NO MEANS OF COMMUNICATION
Lilly signs with her parents at home and uses pictures to communicate, but at school, it was like starting from scratch, Brown said.
For the first three years, Lilly had no means of communication.
“I can’t imagine what she went through. For her to be so isolated and not anybody be able to communicate with her in those few years, it set her back so far,” said Brown.
GOING WITHOUT
In Grade 3, Lilly was assigned a deaf and hard-of-hearing support person who uses ASL to work with her and her family. It’s programing offered by the Atlantic Provinces Special Education Authority (APSEA), but it’s not regular.
“She only gets it twice a week and it’s not in person. It’s over a webcam,” Brown explained.
It’s also something the family has to reapply for every year, and only two weeks ago received the approval for this school year. So, Lilly has gone without it since September.
COULD LOSE TRAINED ASSISTANT
Brown said they’ve been lucky — Lilly’s instructional resource teacher took it upon herself to learn ASL and get certified so she could communicate with her. The student assistant who has been with her since kindergarten has also learned ASL.
Unfortunately, that student assistant won’t go with Lilly when she moves to junior high next year.
Brown has already pleaded for that to happen, but has been told student assistant positions are based on seniority and someone could apply for the position with Lilly and get it even if they are not trained in ASL.
“Which blows my mind,” Brown said.
“They just expect her to adjust to the environment, but can a deaf kid adjust to an environment that’s new, for one, and then she can’t communicate with anybody that’s there.”
DISCRIMINATION
If the family lived on the east coast of Newfoundland, things would be different.
Brown said it was recently brought to her attention that deaf and hard-of-hearing classrooms have been opened in St. John’s with ASL instructors. The classes are a result of the Human Rights Commission complaint filed by a Portugal Cove-st. Philip’s couple.
Kimberly Churchill and her husband, Todd Churchill, alleged the school district failed to implement appropriate accommodations so their son, Carter, could access the same education services it offers to the public.
The commission ruled in their favour in February 2023.
“What they did, basically, they put in place something for the kids in St. John’s and they hoped that would be enough,” Brown said.
Brown said children across the province are still being discriminated against because they’re not getting the same services as those in St. John’s.
“They should be able to have the same services as the kids in St. John’s, but nope, we’re still overlooked on the west coast. There’s nothing out here for deaf kids,” she said.
DESERVES BETTER
“My issue is that Lilly is basically not getting hardly any services to be able to progress. She’s being put on the back burner. It’s sad because a hearing child gets put in a classroom and they know they’re going to learn. Whereas you have a deaf child that’s being put in a hearing class that’s expected to adjust to the environment,” she said.
“It’s so frustrating. She deserves to have that support five days a week, every day, like every other kid like her in her situation. Hearing kids get every resource they ever need, but when it comes to a deaf child, they’re just overlooked. They’re just extremely overlooked, unfortunately.
“They miss out on so much. She’s been isolated from everyone for so long,” she said.
FRUSTRATING FOR MOM AND DAUGHTER
It’s also hard for Lilly, who gets frustrated when people she is trying to communicate with can’t understand what she’s trying to say.
Brown says there should be resources for training teachers, teacher assistants and student assistants in ASL. Even if it has to happen on the job, she said, it might not be perfect, but it would be a start.
She also says ASL should be taught to other students so they can communicate with their peers.
Brown has expressed her concerns to Premier Andrew Furey. An emailed response she received from his office says her concerns have been made known to the Department of Education for their information and attention.
Saltwire contacted the department for comment but did not receive a response by deadline.