Dear Editor:
I would like to comment on your editorial “Who Decided?” published on August
18, 2010.
Over the last few weeks there has been much discussion about the closure of the Newfoundland School for the Deaf (NSD). As a former student of NSD who was mainstreamed until high school, I feel compelled to speak out about my experiences as a student in the mainstream system and at NSD. I am not speaking for all students who are mainstreamed. I know many are and will continue to have success there. I am not one of those.
Lab. City School—Painful memories
I grew up with a severe hearing loss in Labrador City with some of the best schools and support systems outside of metro St. John’s area. Even with some of the best services, I was failed in this system and have many painful memories as one of the only hard-of-hearing students in my community. While the school board hired a part-time itinerant teacher when I was in Grade 5, this service was constantly threatened with budget cuts each year from the Department of Education. I wore bilateral hearing aids and was provided with an FM system, which was not always in working condition. To make matters worse, I had several teachers who refused to wear the FM system and some of my classmates would often make fun of me, bully me, and intentionally break the system. Broken systems would leave me for up to six weeks without access to what being said in the classroom by my teachers and fellow students, leaving me isolated. When I needed services for my hearing aids I would have to fly to St. John’s as the closest audiologist was at NSD or the Janeway.
Mainstream schooling: depressing, isolating, expensive
Such trips would cost my parents thousands of dollars. Mainstream schooling was a depressing and a very isolating experience where I was often made fun of and ridiculed. I had very few friends. I spent recess and lunch breaks in the library hiding from those who would hurt me or my amplification system.
In addition, I often pretended to be sick and stayed home. I did not participate in extracurricular activities because I could not access what was going on or what was being said.
First trip to NSD
When I was in 9th grade I had the opportunity to visit the NSD for the first time to attend a workshop for hard-of-hearing mainstreamed students so that we can learn about the higher education opportunities that were available to us. I was likely not even labeled as college bond at this point because my grades continued to slip and I was a C student.
It was at this workshop at NSD that I found a new world, heard stories, similar to my own. I was in a place with my PEERS and people who accepted me for who I was and understood my needs. Leaving this workshop was devastating. For the first time I had felt in a place of comfort and I had to return to the isolation. It was then I decided that I was going to attend NSD the following school year, and no one was stopping me. I spoke to the guidance counselor and my itinerant teacher and was told that NSD was not an option for me, and that I would have to stay at my mainstreamed school the following year.
My life-saving decision
I made it clear that if I could not attend NSD for high school, I would drop out of school, or even worse... I often look back and see that decision as the one that saved my life.
I feel fortunate that I was able to attend the Newfoundland School for the Deaf; it was at NSD that I discovered myself and was able to express my identity. NSD, its staff and the community gave me the support I needed not only with my hearing loss but it allowed me to learn about being an independent adult. It gave me social skills and opportunities I would never have dreamed of in mainstream school and my teachers would never have dreamed of for me there.
“It gave me social skills and opportunities I would never have dreamed of in mainstream school and my teachers would never have dreamed of for me there.” - Christopher Sutton, former NSD student.
A new world opened up
At NSD I was the student council president, I participated in the debate club, I spoke at the communication competition, I participated in a youth leadership week in Ottawa, and I had the opportunity to meet the Queen during her Royal Visit in 1997. I grew more in three years at NSD than I did during the too many years I spent in the mainstream system.
Importantly, NSD gave me the skills and confidence to be able to attend university. There, I obtained a degree and graduated at nearly the top of my class. This led me to successful work as upper management at two large national not-for-profit organizations in the United States and, now, in Canada.
Minister King is wrong
When I hear people talk about students being segregated at NSD I sigh in disbelief. These students are not segregated, they are in an environment with a staff and role models that give them the support and resources they need to be successful and educated adults. When I hear Minster King say these students will now be in the school system with their peers, I know he is wrong. These classmates in the mainstream schools will never be their peers. They do not share a language with them and they will not welcome and accept them equally as their hearing peers. When Minster King says they will receive the same support they had at NSD, I know this is untrue. While some of the students in St. John’s may have more access to services, many of these students will not have deaf role models, qualified interpreters, speech-language pathologists, or other professionals who understand their needs.
Cochlear implants—need services
And, as a person who received a cochlear implant as an adult, it upsets me to think that Minster King believes that it is these devices that have decreased enrollment. Having a cochlear implant DOES NOT make me hearing. A cochlear implant is a device that gives me greater opportunities to access communication. And while the cochlear implant has been a success for many others, and myself, this did not happen overnight or without support.
Children and adults who receive cochlear implants need aural rehabilitation services. They need professionals to provide these services and supports on an on-going basis. I highly doubt that these services and supports can be found outside of St. John’s and, may even be limited there. Simply think about the number of audiologists throughout Newfoundland and Labrador and you will have the answer.
Going backwards
By closing NSD the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador is going backwards 100 years when it comes to educating deaf and hard-of-hearing students. As a former mainstreamed student, I was left behind in the education system. It saddens me that so many children in Newfoundland and Labrador will never be able to experience the same kind of opportunities I had at NSD that led to the great achievements and accomplishments I have made in my life today. Thank you to the Newfoundland School for the Deaf.
Sincerely,
Christopher Sutton
Washington, DC. (formerly of Labrador City)
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