Saskatchewan recognized ASL and Indigenous sign languages as official languages — and resources are needed for services

• Saskatchewan recently became one of four Canadian provinces that recognize sign languages as official languages with the passing of the Accessible Saskatchewan Act or Bill 103 in December.
• The bill states, “Sign languages are recognized as the primary languages for communication by deaf persons in Saskatchewan,” including American Sign Language (ASL) and Indigenous sign languages.
• Nationally, the Accessible Canada Act was passed in 2019 also recognizing ASL, Langue des signes du Québec and Indigenous sign languages in Canada.

Access to services, opportunities

• A historic polarization between adherents of sign language and of auditory-verbal therapy (AVT) has hindered provision of educational services for DHH children.
• Under the belief that sign language would hinder oral development, many DHH individuals were forbidden to learn sign language — an attitude which still lingers among some today.

Human Rights Commission findings

• In a 2016 report, the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission (SHRC) documented that some health professionals were telling parents to avoid sign language in favour of cochlear implants, lip reading and AVT to achieve spoken competence.
• Adherents of sign languages argue in favour of giving children sign language instruction as early as possible.
• The lack of language during critical periods of development, some argue, can lead to language deprivation syndrome, isolation and mental health issues.

Parents need full range of options

• Regardless of good intentions on either side of the AVT versus ASL argument, the real need is to ensure DHH children can reach their developmental milestones.
• In an interview, Robyn Holmes, president of the Saskatchewan Deaf Association, who is also an early childhood and family services specialist for Saskatchewan Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services, said that rather than an either-AVT-or-ASL approach, parents should have a full range of options and that “sign language as the ‘last’ option is not acceptable.” The SHRC also notes parents of DHH children should be provided with a full list of options.

Compounded systemic failings

• In 2016, a case documented by the office of Saskatchewan’s Advocate for Children and Youth demonstrated how systemic failings in educational services are compounded for DHH Indigenous children and youth whose communities are drastically under-resourced.
• The report details cascading failures at multiple levels including the lack of access to language, barriers to health services and other systemic, procedural and policy issues.

Resources for deaf learners

It remains to be seen how K-12 school divisions will respond to making public plans to accommodate deaf students in light of the Accessibility Act. Some resources for DHH learners in Saskatchewan are appearing. For example:
There is a provincial curriculum available to teach ASL and Deaf Culture for high school.
The Children, Communicating, Connecting in Community (CCCC) preschool was opened in 2018 in Saskatoon that offers full access to ASL and English. The preschool serves children who are deaf or hard of hearing and those who have connections to the Deaf community.
St. Philip, a Catholic School in Saskatoon, offers a bilingual/bicultural program for DHH students and Henry Janzen School in Regina offers educational services for DHH learners from pre-kindergarten to Grade 8.
People can take ASL classes and access DHH-related services at the Saskatchewan Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services (SDHHS).

Accessibility plans needed

• Over the next two years, they must develop an accessibility plan that identifies, removes and prevents barriers.
• The bill currently offers no guidelines for the kinds of services or level of accommodations that need to go into the accessibility plans.

Classroom considerations, technologies

• Therefore, all teachers should have access to training in how to communicate with DHH students through both the ASL alphabet and basic conversational and classroom-related signs.
• I have used FaceTime and the Video Relay Services (VRS) to communicate with deaf friends, colleagues and fellow learners.

Money, time and effort needed

Teacher training, as well as reviewing, selecting and preparing both digital and non-digital resources for classrooms and for school-DHH community communication will take money, time and effort. Educational institutions will require support and resources to ensure our publicly funded educational institutions can provide the appropriate services and learning technologies.
Marguerite Koole does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.