Winter 2005 Vol.14 No. 4

CAD Welcomes New CAD Chat Editor TABLE OF CONTENTS (April 1, 2005 - Ottawa) Elliott is looking for- New CAD Chat Editor The Canadian Associa- ward to working with ... p. 1 tion of the Deaf (CAD) all of you, our faithful is pleased to introduce readers, to make CAD CAD President to be Honoured Elliott Richman as the Chat an informative ... p. 1 new CAD Chat Editor. e-zine enjoyed by all Elliott currently lives in Deaf . ISL Must be Recognized Halifax, Nova Scotia ... p. 2 and works as a compu- Please contact Elliott ter programmer for the at [email protected] if ISL Could Open Courts to Deaf Nova Scotian provincial Elliott Richman, you would like to share CAD Chat Editor ... p. 2 government. Elliott served news from your area as a CAD Director in 1996 – 2000 or if you would like to write articles Congratulations to and is now serving his seventh year for CAD Chat, your e-zine. Henry Vlug, Q.C. as the President of Deafness Ad- ... p. 3 vocacy Association Nova Scotia, a Welcome Elliott! long-time provincial affiliate of Bridge of Signs Report CAD. ... p. 3 CAD President to be Honoured for Jubilee Award World Federation of the Deaf (Ottawa - February 16, 2005) have been honoured. Mr. Kenopic’s (WFD) in South Africa Chris Kenopic, President of the Ca- plaque will be located at the Jubi- ... p. 5 nadian Association of the Deaf lee Woodlot in South Georgetown. (CAD), is one of 50 Deaf Canadi- Publisher ans who were awarded Golden Ju- Approximately 46,000 Canadians Canadian Association of the Deaf bilee Medals in 2002 as part of Ju- received these awards and included Suite 203, 251 Bank St. bilee year celebrations to com- people who have made significant Ottawa, Ontario K2P 1X3 th memorate the 50 year of Queen contributions to over the last Tel: (613)565-8882 TTY Elizabeth II’s reign. To further com- 50 years. The Canadian Associa- Tel: (613)565-2882 Voice memorate this milestone award, Mr. tion of the Deaf identified 50 out- Fax: (613)565-1207 Kenopic’s hometown of Halton standing Deaf Canadians to be rec- Email: [email protected] Hills, Ontario is creating a plaque ognized for their contributions to the www.cad.ca to recognize local residents who Canadian Deaf community. ISBN 1199-0538

Page 1 (ISL) Must The Inuit culture and the use of Inuit Sign Language must not be overshadowed by Be Officially Recognized (ASL) or by Langue des Sourds du Québec (LSQ), used widely in other parts of Canada. People who use (February 11, 2005 - Ottawa) The Canadian Asso- ISL as their first language must be given every right ciation of the Deaf (CAD) recognizes that the sign and must be accommodated in the use of this language languages of Deaf people are true languages and must with qualified and trained ISL interpreters. be given the same status and respect as any other lan- guage. The CAD completely supports that Inuit Sign The lack of availability of ISL in ’s legal sys- Language (ISL) be recognized as the first language of tem raises questions about whether Charter rights are Deaf Inuit people. CAD promises to provide informa- being met. For more information about ISL and Char- tion and assistance to help promote the visibility of ISL ter rights, please read: “Inuit Sign Language could and to build interpreter training programs for wider use open courts to the deaf,” originally printed in the of ISL in the region. Nunatsiaq News.

Inuit Sign Language could open courts to the deaf Official recognition, interpreter training only way to guarantee Charter rights By Sara Minogue 2000, the same specialist found that an Inuit sign lan- From Nunatsiaq News, Canada, February 4, 2005 guage exists, and could be used to offer trained court Source: http://www.nunatsiaqnews.com/news/ interpreters for deaf Nunavummiut. nunavut/50204_10.html Using video to capture signing, Jamie MacDougall The case of Bobby Suwarak, a deaf man from Baker found that signers in two different communities shared Lake who communicates with gestures not related to similar gestures for certain words, such as walrus or standard sign language, has raised the possibility of an polar bear. indigenous sign language known to Inuit for centuries. He also found that several people - not just the deaf - And that has raised the potential for training legal in- use, or recall elders using, what one participant called terpreters who can assist deaf Nunavummiut, whether “Inuk sign language.” accused of crimes or victims of crimes, in the courts. The existence of such a language would be consistent According to David Kautaq, who grew up with Suwarak with documented cases of several aboriginal peoples and has served as his interpreter several times, Suwarak that use a signing system to communicate. can hear if you stand directly behind him and yell into his right ear at the top of your lungs. In a report presented to Justice Canada five years ago, MacDougall recommended that, in order to meet the However, he prefers to communicate with his friend Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the court can and using the language he learned from Suwarak’s family, should provide trained legal interpreters for the esti- which he describes as “basically like charades,” a ges- mated 155 deaf people in Nunavut, who currently rely ture system made up of English and . on family and friends for the service.

In court-ordered assessments, a hearing specialist from He also recommends that work begin towards offi- Montreal has determined three times that Suwarak cially recognizing ISL as a language. cannot communicate effectively in court using his lan- guage through an interpreter unfamiliar with the legal See INUIT on page 4 system.

But after meeting deaf people and their families in Baker Lake, Pangnirtung, Iqaluit and in * People from Nunavut are called Nunavummiut.

Page 2 CAD Congratulates Lawyer Henry Vlug, Q.C. Pioneering Legal Advocate Appointed to Queen’s Counsel

(Ottawa) The Canadian Association of the Deaf would they have earned the respect of their colleagues and like to congratulate Henry Vlug Q.C., a deaf lawyer demonstrated leadership in their profession. who was appointed a Queen’s Counsel by the Cana- dian Bar Association of British Columbia in December Mr. Vlug Q.C., an expert in Estate Law, Family Law 2004. Over 10,000 lawyers practice in British Colum- and Criminal Law, has been a long-time advocate and bia but only 30 were selected in 2004 for this prestig- prominent member of the Deaf communities provin- ious honour. This appointment makes Mr. Vlug Q.C. cially and across the country. He has worked tirelessly the first Deaf lawyer in Canada and around the world to advance human rights issues for Deaf Canadians in to be awarded the Queen’s Counsel. a number of areas from closed captioning in media programming to equal accessibility in the availability In British Columbia, the Queen’s Counsel Act allows of TTY devices in public places. the Lieutenant Governor in Council, with the Attorney General’s approval, to bestow the honorary Queen’s Mr. Vlug Q.C. is a member of the CAD’s Hall of Fame, Counsel (Q.C.) designation to exceptional lawyers who winner of the 2000 CAD Award of Merit, and has have made outstanding contributions in the legal field. served as CAD’s President from 1986 to 1988, Vice- Lawyers who receive this honour are selected because President, and Treasurer.

Bridge of Signs:

Toth©2001

Can Sign Language Empower Non-Deaf Children to Triumph over their Communication Disabilities? Dr. Anne Toth, R.S.W., Project Director, Bridge of Signs, Canadian Association of the Deaf The past three months have been busy ones for the accomplished without the support of the CAD Board launching of the Bridge of Signs project. Developed in of Directors, or the CAD office staff, Jim, Evelyne collaboration with Jim Roots, Executive Director of the and Scott. While Tamara Witcher left her position as Canadian Association of the Deaf, Anne Toth, Project research assistant in favour of a full-time teaching po- Director and Michel Lelièvre, Project Coordinator, the sition, we were pleased for the continued assistance Bridge of Signs model has brought together basic vo- of Christina Hodgins, project assistant. As a result of cabulary under daily themes that include greetings, feel- the countless emails, faxes, and phone calls she has ings, items of food, clothing, activities, and simple verbs. made it has been possible to ensure that the sites have Challenged with the question—“Can sign language had the necessary forms and have returned consents, empower non-deaf children to triumph over their com- base data questionnaires and performance logs on a munication disabilities?”—implementation and data monthly basis. Thanks to the months of preparatory collection has begun. work done to ensure compliance with research stand-

Work to bring us to this stage could not have been See BRIDGE on page 4

Page 3 INUIT from page 2 Suwarak through signs.

MacDougall compares this process to the still recent Kautaq himself is an advocate. “You can communi- recognition of Inuktitut in the courts, and the steps that cate with him yourself if you have the patience,” he have been taken to document and promote the lan- says. guage over the last 20 to 30 years. And many people do. “[ISL] is a language spoken by a small number of peo- ple, but under the charter and so on, I believe it has to Outside of courtroom number one in Iqaluit last week, be recognized,” MacDougall says. Suwarak was chatting, laughing and joking with a man who was also released from custody last week. Recognition of the language could have a huge impact on deaf people across Nunavut. “We first met in BCC in 2000,” said Inusiq Shoo. “When I first met him I didn’t know the language.” MacDougall estimates that 30 per cent of Nunavut’s deaf rely on ISL to communicate. Many others, how- Similarly, Suwarak has no trouble communicating with ever, are sent south to learn American Sign Language. Kautaq’s 16-month-old son in their hotel room the next day, just as the small child will probably have no trou- That has the benefit of offering them a legally recog- ble learning to speak Suwarak’s language as he gets nized language, but they often return home to find few older. people can understand them. At the same time, MacDougall found that almost 75 Reprinted with permission per cent of the population of Baker Lake can speak to

BRIDGE from page 3 St. John’s, NFLD, and a school in Montreal, Que.) who had not attended the training in Halifax received an on-site orientation as to how to use the model. Then ards of the various school boards and the contacts made the children were videotaped for a pre-evaluation us- by this director, the coordinator, and the assistant, ing the Bridge of Signs model. Of special note was the Bridge of Signs continues to meet its objectives. agreement of the sites to use the model generally in the classes of the identified students over the six months Building on what we had learned from the feedback of implementation. received at the training conference that had been held in Halifax, N.S. this past November, the model was While hearing children from English- and French- further developed by the literature reviewed and the speaking families compose the majority of participants expertise of our consultants. As a result, a kit contain- and the experimental group, we were pleased to be ing a written manual, CD of forms, and DVDs of the able to include children who are Deaf from one Deaf model was produced in English, American Sign Lan- day care centre in Toronto and one school for the Deaf guage (ASL), French and Langue des signes in Montreal. In all cases, the standards for research Quebecoise (LSQ). With that kit in the hands of the protocol were met to the satisfaction of all school boards parents, teachers, and resource staff of children af- and the consents necessary for participation in the fected with Autism, Down Syndrome, Fetal Alcohol project were received. As mandated by research pro- Spectrum Disorder, and Learning Disabilities, the model tocol, all consents, baseline information and progres- came to life. sive data has been stored with respect for confidenti- ality and security. On January 12, 2005, Eldorado School, Drayton Val- ley, Alberta became the first site to implement Bridge As data continues to be compiled we are excited by of Signs. Parents and staff from Drayton Valley (as the interest that has been generated and the benefits well as those at three schools in Ottawa, Ont., a day that have been realized for children, professionals, and care centre and community home-visiting program in See BRIDGE on page 6

Page 4 World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) Management Committee in South Africa by Len Mitchell

The WFD Management Committee (President Markku Jokenin, Vice President Feliciano Sola Limia, Kobus Kellerman [WFD Director] and Len Mitchell [WFD Di- rector]) and Carol-lee Aquiline, WFD General Secretary, met in South Africa for our management meeting.

South Africa Tourism and Durban Convention Centre invited us to South Africa as their guests and arranged the itinerary (travel plans) October 10 – 17, 2004. June 16, 1976 - Hector Petersen, a 13-year old South African student is shot and killed during a massive demonstration to

th protest apartheid laws in South Africa. The photograph of the On October 9 we arrived in Johannesburg (15-hour fatally wounded Petersen being carried from the scene appeared direct flight from New York City) and joined the Deaf throughout the world and he became a symbol of the anti- Association in South Africa (DEAFSA) for a Gala din- apartheid . A generation later, June 16 is still a day of ner to celebrate its 75th Anniversary. remembrance, particularly in Soweto, where Petersen was killed.

The gala launched its new logo – DEAFSA.

DEAFSA announced On October 11th, we traveled to the Lesedi Cultural that Wilma Newhoudt- Village with our guide to learn different cultural expe- Druchean became the riences and enjoyed a traditional African feast there. first female National In the evening, we had dinner with Bongi Mosia, South President of DEAFSA. African Tourism Director and Henriette Greeff, one of the staff from South Africa Tourism. On October 10th we visited the National On October 12th, we flew to Cape Town and visited Apartheid Museum and the South Africa Parliament. We met Wilma Newhoudt- now we understand Druchean, M.P. who gave us a tour of the parliament better the country’s his- and had lunch with her and Bruno Druchean, National tory. I am impressed Coordinator of DEAFSA. Wilma is the first Deaf poli- with the people in South tician in South Africa and has won a second five-year Africa. It is already 10 term. She faces several challenges like interpreting years since Apartheid was broken down and they have costs paid by her political party not the government. forgiven each other and go ahead with new chapter. After lunch, we went to the top of Table Mountain and had an excellent view of Cape Town and Robben Is- We went to Soweto, the most famous township and land Prison where Nelson Mandela spent 27 years be- the home to two Noble Prize winners, Nelson Mandela fore he was released. We explored the Victoria & Al- and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. After we had lunch at fred Waterfront. the Nambitha Restaurant in the town, we stopped at the Hector Peterson Museum area and the museum On October 13th, we had our management committee guide taught us who Hector was. meeting all morning and then flew to Durban. We met the delegate from Durban Convention Centre (DCC) The Management Committee had a short meeting in the evening. See WFD on page 6

Page 5 WFD from page 5 viewing vehicles. We had safari experience that morn- ing and came back for breakfast. We spent almost all and toured the centre. We went to the Famous Fish day focusing on our WFD businesses. We went out Co. Restaurant with Sally Pillay, Marketing & Sales again for safari trip for two hours. We were surprised Executive and Alec Gilbert, C.E.O. from DCC. to have a BBQ dinner outside (10 minutes away from the lodge). On October 14th, we visited VN Naick School for the Deaf in the morning and toured the school. We had On October 17th, we got everything ready for Durban lunch at the Cargo Hold Restaurant hosted by Durban and drove to the airport for 5 hours. We then flew to Africa. After lunch, we had a site inspection of Ushaka Johannesburg (1 ½ hours) and spent 3 hours to chat Marine World. Then we went to meet the Deputy before I caught my plane back to Canada. My flight to Mayor and discussed about a possible World Congress Dakar was 8 hours and then I waited for two hours in the future in Durban. We had a city orientation tour before flying to New York City (8 hours flight). I had and attended an evening performance at the Fulton to transfer from JFK International Airport to LaGuardia School for the Deaf. Airport to catch the flight to Toronto (1 ½ hours). Fi- nally I flew home (2 ½ hours). The total of my flight October 15th, we drove to the Zulu Cultural Village was 20 hours. and enjoyed some cultural experiences. We had a de- licious lunch. We went to the Phinda Private Game Editor’s note: The places Len went to – Durban, Johannesburg, Reserve Lodge. We continued our meeting all after- Soweto and Cape Town are all in South Africa. Len made a stopover in Dakar, the capital of Senegal also in Africa. noon before dinner. Apartheid was South Africa’s official policy of segregating (keeping apart) whites from nonwhites. Apartheid is no longer in On October 16th, we got up at 5 in the morning and force in South Africa. had a cup of coffee before going out in 4 x 4 game

BRIDGE from page 5 Of special note has been the involvement of CAD board parents. Comments from teachers, resource staff, and members and a Deaf parent who donated their time to parents attest to the effectiveness of the use of ASL support teachers and parents as they spent time in and LSQ as a means of overcoming communication classrooms with the children and their peers, gave mini- barriers. Teachers say their children ask for the Sign courses to staff and parents, and provided on-site liai- language time in their schedule and are responding to son between the participants and myself as project di- the opportunity to complete a task on the basis of pro- rector. While the full support of the CAD Executive ducing a sign. Speech language pathologists have noted and Board has been felt, special thanks is extended to an improvement in the production of speech with those Directors Brenda Mulley-Rose (NFLD) and Aaron children who are being taught sign language. Parents Montney (ALTA), and parent, Gwen Lathe (ALTA) have noted communication has improved between for the efforts each of them has made to support the themselves and their child as well as between the child Bridge of Signs project . and his/her siblings—in both amicable conversation as well as conflict. Even when the ability of the child to Given that we are half way through the implementa- utilize DVD representation of sign has been found to tion, Michel Lelièvre and I look forward to reviewing, be low, teachers and parents have taken the cue of the synthesizing and analyzing the data. We are also ea- pictoral and verbal representations shown on the DVD ger to share insights gleaned and tools developed by to present signs face to face with the children. While our partners. For this purpose, we hope to make a pre- some children continue to have difficulty in producing liminary presentation of the findings at the CAD AGM verbal or signed language, the use of the DVDs along and conference to be held in July 2005 in Edmonton. with this modeling—sometimes with the actual items Be looking on the CAD website for information as to and hand-over-hand gestures—has witnessed the in- how to register and attend this conference. We hope creased appropriate and accurate use of sign language to see you there! for a number of the children involved in the study.

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