Advertisement

Concerns raised over sign language used in Saskatoon schools

Click to play video: 'Concerns over sign language used in Saskatoon schools'
Concerns over sign language used in Saskatoon schools
WATCH ABOVE: Group expresses concerns over the way children who are deaf are taught in Saskatoon classrooms. Stu Gooden reports – Mar 10, 2017

Saskatchewan Deaf & Hard of Hearing Services, a Saskatoon organization providing services for the deaf, is expressing concerns over the way children who are deaf are taught in the classroom.

Public schools offer one form of sign language, while the deaf community advocates for another.

Noah Van Ee was born with profound hearing loss and has a cochlear implant. He communicates by using American Sign Language (ASL).

“We started with ASL and we watched our son blossom,” Noah’s mother Sonja said.

READ MORE: Saskatoon students remember Raoul Wallenberg and his life-saving legacy

The three-year-old will be starting school in the coming years, so it’s something his parents have begun to plan for.

“The Catholic school system does have a program that’s just started in the last two years, where they give specifically ASL support. So at least for elementary [school], that is hopeful for us,” Sonja said.
Story continues below advertisement

ASL is preferred by many in the deaf community. They believe it’s a better way of communicating, but the language is not offered in public schools.

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

Get daily National news

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

“A lot of children don’t have access. They don’t know their culture, they don’t know their identity, they don’t know their language,” John Warren, a counsellor with Saskatchewan Deaf & Hard of Hearing Services, said through an interpreter.

The group says ASL not being offered at school has forced many families to leave the province, as they feel their child is being denied a basic right. The Saskatoon Public Schools division says signed English is a better form of communication.

Signed English uses exact English vocabulary and grammar.

“We are very proud of our program. When we look over time at what our students are able to achieve in school and beyond, we see demonstrable success,” Cathy Gaudet, a hearing resources teacher with the public school division, said.

READ MORE: Saskatoon teachers use stationary bikes to help students concentrate

In public schools, deaf children are integrated in the classroom along with children who can hear, something that many feel can threaten their learning, Warren said.

“You have this view of yourself that hearing children are smarter than you: ‘I don’t seem to be able to learn as well as everyone else.’ And that starts to become my belief system about myself,” Warren said.

Story continues below advertisement

“Our students feel part of their community. They feel part of their classroom and they’re just like all their other peers,” Gaudet countered.

For Sonja Van Ee, offering her son ASL training is top of mind.

“My wish is that there wouldn’t be the approach that every child has to do this [only] one way,” she said.

Sponsored content

AdChoices