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Deaf association urges gov't to improve sign language access
The Saskatoon signing community gathered at City Hall on Friday to support sign language and to promote better access to education for deaf children.
Tammy Benson, who is a hearing parent of a deaf child, noted the proliferation of baby sign programs for hearing babies.
"Think for a minute about the irony in that," she said.
She said that signing programs for hearing babies are seen as beneficial to their overall language development.
"This is seen as a really good thing. There is no comparable program for deaf babies. I don't get it," said Benson.
Programs and services that supported sign language were not available to the Benson family when their son, Adam, was young, she said.
"To realize for the first two years of his life, he'd never heard my voice. He'd never heard me sing silly little songs. He'd never heard me yell at him to stay off the street. He'd never heard me tell him to eat his vegetables. Or read him stories. He never heard me tell him that I loved him," said Benson.
Benson said she was eager to communicate with her son, but professionals in the city advised the family to attempt audio verbal therapy before learning sign language.
"A prominent physician in this city told me that I would subject my son to a life in the 'deaf ghetto' if I didn't do all I could to teach him how to hear and how to speak," she said.
"I had no way to comfort him when he was sick. I couldn't tell him he was going to get better."
Benson said her family eventually went to British Columbia to learn to sign.
Allard Thomas, president of the Saskatchewan Deaf Association, urged the government to require educational settings to provide mandatory staff training in sign language, as well as anti-audism education and anti-discrimination training.
The Saskatchewan School for the Deaf opened in 1931, but was closed in 1991 without the government instituting the recommendations of the deaf community. Sign language was prohibited for deaf children in most public schools, Thomas said.
"Now is the time the province, the government listen to us. They did listen to us in 1931, but since then, they've become deaf," Thomas said through an interpreter.
Crandall Hrynkiw, regional director with Saskatchewan Learning, said Saskatchewan Health gives options of sign language and audio verbal therapy to parents whose children are born deaf. He said that when deaf or hard of hearing children enter the school system, Saskatchewan Learning will consult with parents about their preferred method of instruction.
The rally was part of a global rally effort urging all levels of government to ratify The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The Saskatoon signing community gathered at City Hall on Friday to support sign language and to promote better access to education for deaf children.
Tammy Benson, who is a hearing parent of a deaf child, noted the proliferation of baby sign programs for hearing babies.
"Think for a minute about the irony in that," she said.
She said that signing programs for hearing babies are seen as beneficial to their overall language development.
"This is seen as a really good thing. There is no comparable program for deaf babies. I don't get it," said Benson.
Programs and services that supported sign language were not available to the Benson family when their son, Adam, was young, she said.
"To realize for the first two years of his life, he'd never heard my voice. He'd never heard me sing silly little songs. He'd never heard me yell at him to stay off the street. He'd never heard me tell him to eat his vegetables. Or read him stories. He never heard me tell him that I loved him," said Benson.
Benson said she was eager to communicate with her son, but professionals in the city advised the family to attempt audio verbal therapy before learning sign language.
"A prominent physician in this city told me that I would subject my son to a life in the 'deaf ghetto' if I didn't do all I could to teach him how to hear and how to speak," she said.
"I had no way to comfort him when he was sick. I couldn't tell him he was going to get better."
Benson said her family eventually went to British Columbia to learn to sign.
Allard Thomas, president of the Saskatchewan Deaf Association, urged the government to require educational settings to provide mandatory staff training in sign language, as well as anti-audism education and anti-discrimination training.
The Saskatchewan School for the Deaf opened in 1931, but was closed in 1991 without the government instituting the recommendations of the deaf community. Sign language was prohibited for deaf children in most public schools, Thomas said.
"Now is the time the province, the government listen to us. They did listen to us in 1931, but since then, they've become deaf," Thomas said through an interpreter.
Crandall Hrynkiw, regional director with Saskatchewan Learning, said Saskatchewan Health gives options of sign language and audio verbal therapy to parents whose children are born deaf. He said that when deaf or hard of hearing children enter the school system, Saskatchewan Learning will consult with parents about their preferred method of instruction.
The rally was part of a global rally effort urging all levels of government to ratify The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.