The Rest of the Story ...

I was very honoured to be asked to appear on the Global Morning News show yesterday (July 30, 2013). Many thanks to fellow advocate, Krista Lettues, and Rhonda Brown, executive producer of the Morning News show and a true friend to the disability community.



BUT.

Now why is there always a BUT??

I really wish we could have had more time to get into more detail on these issues. I really wish I had the chance to share the rest of the story.

You see, as part of my preparation for the interview, I went back and reread the original news article which led to this blawg post, which, of course, led to the interview.

But this time was different. This time, I also read the comments following the article. If you haven't read them, please go do so. It's okay, I will wait for you.

Now, if you're here reading this blawg, I am going to assume that there's a very good chance that you were as upset by some of those comments as I was. But after I calmed down a bit lot, it got me thinking. There will always be idiots out there. I know that and you know that.

But some people aren't *idiots* per se; I would say they are more "ignorant", in the true sense of the word.

ig·no·rant 

/ˈignərənt/

Adjective

Lacking knowledge or awareness in general; uneducated or unsophisticated. Lacking knowledge, information, or awareness about something in particular: "ignorant of astronomy".

Yes, ignorant as in simply not knowing. As one simple example, witness the comment of *myop*:

Animals should not be part of the welfare systems resopnsibility at all no matter what reason people have them other that assistance for the blind. 

Now here's a person who has obviously heard of service dogs for the blind. And only dogs for the blind. He or she remains blissfully unaware of all the other service animals out there - hearing dogs, dogs for persons with physical disabilities, dogs for persons with autism, seizure dogs ... I am sure the list goes on. But *myop* is blissfully unaware.

Here's another comment by *myop*:

IT SHOULD ONLY BE USED FOR THE BASIC NECESSITIES OF LIFE

Do you think he/she has any concept that what constitutes the basic necessities of life might vary between a person with no disabilities or chronic health conditions and those who live with these conditions? I guess not.

And you just can't beat the comments of *KannH*:

Correct me if I am wrong but wasn't Welfare created to help people get through bad times until they get back on their feet? When did Welfare become a career? I was on it once for 2 months between college and my first job starting but I have worked full time ever since. I am greatful it was available back then to help me but I would have never wanted to be on it long term...I had way more self respect.

Yes, dear, you are wrong. So consider yourself corrected.

For far too many people welfare is, indeed, a career. Not their chosen career but the only one our society leaves open to them. I would not choose for my daughter to be a social assistance recipient for the rest of her life. Nor would she choose this for herself. In fact, she desperately wants to have a job, live in her own place, be like everyone else her age. But that, quite simply, is just not in the cards. And yet, as hard as this might be to imagine, *KannH*, this doesn't mean she has any less self respect than you.

I could go on, of course, but snark only gets one so far.

So here's the point I really wanted to make.

After reading those comments, I got to wondering just what percentage of the social assistance caseload in Nova Scotia consisted of persons with disabilities. So I did some research and came up with some very interesting facts. In 1996 (the most recent year with available statistics), fully half of the welfare case load in Canada was made up of persons with disabilities. That's right - half of the case load. And in Nova Scotia, that figure was even higher - 57.5% of the people in receipt of social assistance in Nova Scotia had a disability.

It's funny how many people seem to have that visual of a single mom popping out baby after baby after baby to take advantage of the "generous" welfare funding or only see those in receipt of "welfare" as neglecting their children while watching their large screen TVs, doing and/or selling drugs and spending all their tax money on cigarettes. I suppose there are some people like that - there must be, considering that everybody seems to know at least one such person.

But how ironic, considering that over half of the people in receipt of social assistance in Nova Scotia are disabled. The majority are not, in fact, scamming the system. They aren't there to take advantage of the *generous* benefits, because they're too lazy or don't have enough self respect to get out of the system - they are there because they are simply trying to survive and are pretty much literally trapped.

I am thinking it is high time people got a good education in exactly who is receiving their hard-earned tax dollars and exactly who should be subject to mandatory illegal drug testing. Because the other ironic thing I find is that if you mention persons with disabilities to the majority of the people who make those kind of nasty comments, they immediately respond along the lines of "Oh, I am not talking about those people. Those people are okay. I am talking about the majority ...".

The majority you say?

So now you know the rest of the story. Now you know what I wished I had had the chance to say on the Global Morning News show.

Oh well, hopefully there will be a next time ...

Not A Very Merry Christmas

We've talked a bit here and there about Nova Scotia's track record with institutions for the disabled - both the fact that more money seems to be going into them and how residents are treated.

Out this months is the Report on the Riverview Home Corporation released by the Department of Community Services.

As noted by the Nova Scotia Association for Community Living, this is most definitely not the time of year that we look forward to reading reports. That being said, it is requested that we take the time and reflect on our lifestyle in comparison to the descriptions given in this report.

The conditions described are appalling. It is unacceptable and unthinkable that citizens of this province should have to endure such lack of privacy, overcrowding and lack of service. They are unacceptable working conditions for staff as well.

Riverview is an institution outside New Glasgow. NSACL urges that you all take time to read the report and to take action. Please write or call your MLA , the Premier premier@gov.ns.ca or dexter@ns.sympatico.ca 424-6600 and the Minister of Community Services, Denise Peterson-Rafuse petersdi@gov.ns.ca or denisepetersmla@bellaliant.com 424-8296 to express your concerns.

We wish you all peace and health and joy for the coming year.

Nova Scotia Association for Community Living.

To which Dorothy of the Disability Rights Coalition adds this:

We who have loved ones or have a disability ourselves should really be alarmed about this report; our government is in the process of building and renovating more institutions in Nova Scotia. They do not seem to “get it”.

If Newfoundland closed down their institutions in 1996 and Ontario closed their last institution last fall why is it our government feels they have to continue operating these places, they bear no resemblance to a home; they are more like penal intuitions.

Every study indicates that with the right kinds of supports people with disabilities
not only are able to live in their communities they thrive there.

What more must we do to let our politicians understand. I hope as Mary suggests you will all take the time to write or speak to your MLA’s.

'Nuff said.

Crash ... and Burn

Which is about how I've been feeling lately.

There is a fair bit going on personally over here, not the least of which includes the battle to have my own child's EA hours reinstated for next year.

Can anybody out there please explain to me the rationale, the justification, for cutting the aide hours of a student in the very year she transitions from Middle to High School? More accurately, not just "cutting" those hours, but eliminating all EA support completely?

This for a student who has had intensive EA support throughout her schooling, for various medical and safety reasons. Not to mention the fact that it just might be useful if we would actually like her to learn something. Silly me, perhaps she has been *cured* and I missed it...

Anyway, the final report from the Nova Scotia Pro Bono Study is now available online. Which you're welcome to take a look at, if it tickles your fancy. Who knows ... someday I may even make it over there to read it myself.

Also of note, a new report from the United States Government Accountability Office, SECLUSIONS AND RESTRAINTS Selected Cases of Death and Abuse at Public and Private Schools and Treatment Centers, was released last month. Which might possibly be of interest considering our previous discussion on the use of time out rooms in Nova Scotia and elsewhere.

Have I read either of these, you ask?

Quite honestly, no. Haven't even skimmed them. But with any luck, I will get some time over the summer. Or better yet, how about if a few of you take a look and tell me what you think?

Thanks. I would appreciate it.

Belated Good News for Special Education

You might recall our review of the Special Education Report (more accurately the Review Commmittee Report and Recommendations arising from the Minister's Review of Services for Students with Special Needs) which was released in August, 2007. One of its many recommendations was that the Minister announce the end of the Tuition Support Program effective June 30, 2010.

And although it's never a good feeling to realize that you missed an important news item for your community, thanks to EEANS, at least now I know. As will you.

On November 7th, Nova Scotia's Minister of Education announced that she would NOT get rid of the Tuition Support Program. This was a long awaited and substantial win for EEANS, parents and their children who desparately need this program. We have been working hard to educate politians and the public on the TSP as well as putting pressure on government to reject the recommendation of the Review Commitee to cancel the program ever since it's release in September. We applaud Ms. Casey for doing the right thing by keeping the program.

In the words of Ms. Casey:

In the short term, we are not prepared to take away the opportunity for those who can benefit from the program. My commitment will be to continue the program until we are able to provide, in our public schools, one that is equal to it or better."

Well, that could take a while, couldn't it?

Unfortunately, the Minister refused to extend the three year time limit. And although I don't quite agree with Brian's analysis as to how helpful Ms. Casey's comment, above, might be to a parent wishing to litigate the matter of the time limit, it is good to see that the program will continue.

"Struggling in a world of 'normal' "

I see there's some nice front page coverage in today's Chronicle Herald on the "possible ramifications if the government decides to cut tuition subsidies for parents who send their special-needs children to private schools, putting more 'special' children back into the public school system".

In addition to the "Struggling in a world of 'normal'" article, there's also the "Self-proclaimed public school success" article, which details the story of a 23 year dyslexic University student who managed to make it through the system with a lot of help from the right kind of teachers. The kind we all pray for all our kids to have.

The first article details the concerns of many parents, including those associated with the Equal Education Assocation of Nova Scotia, if the Tuition Support program is discontinued by 2010, as is recommended in the latest Special Education Report. One of the many things that bugs me about the recommendation to end the Tuition Support program is the lack of logic involved. The article sets out the supposed "reasoning" involved in the recommendation to end the program:

The report says special-needs kids should have access to good education in public schools across the province, not just in private schools in the Annapolis Valley and metro Halifax.

"The Department of Education must adequately fund school boards to enable them to respond to the learning needs of all students, including those with special needs," the report says.

It would appear that the Department of Education agrees.

Department spokesman Kevin Finch acknowledges "there may be times where (such students) have to attend a private school." But "the ultimate goal is to have every student’s needs met in the public school system," he adds.

And even the Nova Scotia Teachers Union is in agreement, as it takes the position that "adequate funding should be directed to the public system".

"Our position would be to take that money, to put it back into the public system to address the needs of all students, along with additional funds that are essential to address the needs of special-needs students," says Donnelly.

. . . . .

But Donnelly says the money — $1 million for the support program this year — could go a long way in the public schools, from lowering class sizes to making sure schools with more learning-disabled kids get more direct funding. The money for public education," she says, "needs to remain in public education."

All right. Sounds basically okay. But here's where it gets cute. Watch the logic break down. Although it may be bad form to "quote oneself":

... the Committee then goes on to state that when it has been determined that a student's need cannot be met within the Board system, the Guidelines Regarding Tuition Assistance for Students with Special Needs should be followed. So, in other words, it is recommended that the Tuition Support Program be discontinued but the Tuition Assistance Program been left in place. This despite the same statutory obligation on the governmnent and the school boards...

The first problem with this scenario [putting aside the bizarreness of the result as noted above] is that the Tuition Assitance Program is not mandatory. Sec. 64(3)(c) of the Education Act gives authority for the Program and states that school boards "may offer tuition assistance". At present, only three school boards offer the program in the Province, namely HRM, the AVRSB and the CCSRB. If you reside under the jurisdiction of one of the other five regional boards in the Province, you are, quite simply, out of luck.

And the Committee had difficulty with the limited access to the Tuition Support Program?? At least with the Tuition Support Program, a student had the option of traveling to one of the three schools. But with the Tuition Assistance Program, willingness to travel doesn't help one bit if your school board chooses not to offer the program.

The second problem is that tuition assistance is notoriously hard to receive, even from those school boards that do actually offer the program...

Well, you can read the rest of it here.

At any rate, I do believe I feel a letter to the editor or maybe even an article for either the Daily News letterstoeditor@hfxnews.ca or the Chronicle Herald letters@herald.ca coming on. What about you?

Special Education Report ... Part III

"In Nova Scotia, are we waiting for students to fail and the gap between potential and achievement to widen before particular services
are offered?"

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *



• Government, through the Depts of Education and Community Services, collaborate to ensure that students with special needs have access and support for post-school learning options.

Perhaps one of the best sentiments expressed by the Commission:

"For a person to have been educated in an inclusive educational system not to be supported through post-school leaving options is unacceptable".

Perhaps one of their biggest understatements:

"This may be an area that presents another opportunity for inter-agency collaberation".

• The Department review the course options available to enable students with special needs to graduate with the skills necessary to be lifelong learners and contributing community members.

Its to state the obvious to note that academic and social inclusion work better in the elementary grades than at the middle and high school level. Have you ever felt concerned that your student was attending classes that were beyond his capabilities and that even with adaptations or an IPP, the course content had limited relevance for him?

All youth, especially those with special needs, must have access to a variety of programming options, such as service learning, work experience, co-operative education, apprenticeships and youth pathways. Would the Options and Opportunities (O2) Program be a suitable alternative for your child ... hands on learning opportunities to help with the transition from high school to work? If so, be prepared for the possibility of an uphill battle; you might just be told that "this program isn't meant for your child. You wouldn't him with those kids".

• The Department continue its promotion of substantive inter-agency co-operation that works towards intergrated services (IS) schools, as well as address the recommendations of the Nunn Commission.

Inter-agency co-operation? Why the words are enough to set a parent's heart all a' flutter...

Perhaps if we're very lucky the Nunn Commission report which emphasized the obvious gaps in jurisdiction, policy and practice between the Departments of Health, Education, Community Services and Justice will help the government realize that "considerations of human rights trump interdepartmental squabbles". An inter-agency protocol needs to be a priority for government departments responsible for children and youth in need of special services.

READ MORE

Special Education Report Released

The Department of Education released the Special Education Report (more accurately the "Review Commmittee Report and Recommendations Arising From the Minister's Review of Services for Students with Special Needs") on August 23/07. A full copy of the Report can be found here.For what its worth, the Report contains 27 recommendations, a significant number of which focus on issues surrounding students with learning disabilities. The initial focus of media coverage was definitely the recommendation to phase out the Tuition Support program but let's hope that "the rest of them" (students with differing special needs) don't get lost and forgotten in the shuffle.And its important to remember that the Recommendations are just that. Its up to the Minister of Education to decide whether to accept any or all of them. As an aside, pages 4-16 of new Report contain the government's resposes to the 34 recommendations contained in the 2001 Report.

Initial media coverage focusing on the potential loss of the Tuition Support program (as recommended in the Report) can be found here , here and here. The Daily News also has an editorial on the topic here.

Continuing highlights and commentary follow below.

Special Education Report ...Part II

Further Recommndations and Commentary from the Special Education Report ... See Part I, Below

• The Minister of Education enhance the resources and supports presently in place for the Severe Learning Disabilities (SLD) Program to ensure that all students requiring this program have access.
  

The Report notes that the funding for the SLD program has not increased for 10 years. Thus, many students who could benefit from the program are denied access. An "examination of service delivery models within each school board" is recommended "with a view to expanding more flexible placement and programming options".

And given the often tumultuous relationship between the educational system and the phsychologists at the IWK, it is interesting to note that the Commission acknowledges "the health professionals within the Clinical Neurosciences Centre at the IWK fHealth Sciences Centre for their succinct wording around this issue".

• The Department conduct a Board by Board audit of the role and assignment of teacher assistants.

Apparently the Committee is concerned that a "competitve educational marketplace" has been created around the assignment and supervision of teacher assistant services. "Competitive" ... sure, we can agree with that.

• The Minister enhance the services and supports presently in place for the Severe Learning Disabilities Support Program to ensure that all students requiring this service have access.

The Committee wants clarity brought to the role of teacher assistants and cautions that it would be detrimiental to the system if the number of teaching assistants were reduced without a corresponding increase in the number of teaching staff. I suppose it would be. And, as noted in the Report, it would be equally or even more detrimental to our children.

READ MORE

Thar' She Blows - Special Education Report Released

So. The latest version of the Special Education Report (more accurately the Review Commmittee Report and Recommendations arising from the Minister's Review of Services for Students with Special Needs) has been released.

The Report contains 27 recommendations, a significant number of which focus on issues surrounding students with learning disabilities. But its important to remember that the Recommendations are just that. Its up to the Minister of Education to decide whether to accept any or all of the Recommendations. Pages 4-16 of new Report contain the goverment's resposes to the 34 recommendations were accepted in the 2001 Report.

On a side note, I note that the preparation of the 2001 Report involved numerous intensive focus groups - with parents, educational assistants, teachers and others. In contrast, it is stated that this report was based upon "consultation via public meetings in all eight regional school boards" and "public consultation via on-line and written response forms".

At any rate, here are a few recommendations of note, with many, many more to follow in another post:

• The Department of Education appoint a provincial learning disabilities consultant by 2008




• The Department of Education develop a provincial learning disabilities strategy by the 2008-2009 school year

The Report notes that a Provincial Learning Disability Strategy would emphasize the importance of early identification and early intervention - currently, most school boards require a student to be 3 years behind in at least one subject area before they can even be considered for receiving servies from a learning disabilities program.

• The Minister announce the end of the Tuition Support Program effective June 30, 2010

The Report notes the limited access available to the Tuition Support Program [there are only 3 schools (two in HRM and one in the Annapolis Valley) eligible for the program] and uses the government's statutory responsibility "to provide a publicly funded school system whose primary mandate is to provide education programs and services for students to enable them to develop their potential and acquire the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to contribute to a healthy society and a prosperous and sustainable economy" [Education Act, s. 2] and the requirement that a school board "make provision for the education and instruction of all students enrolled in its schools and programs" [Education Act, s. 64(2)(a)] to find that the Tuition Support Program is not appropriate as the Department must adequately fund school boards to enable them to respond to the learning needs of all students, including students with special needs.

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