Deaf Newcomer Needs Assessment in Ontatio
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DEAF NEWCOMER NEEDS ASSESSMENT IN ONTATIO PRODUCED BY: THE BOB RUMBALL CENTRE FOR THE DEAF FUNDED BY: DEPARTMENT OF SECRETARY OF STATE OF CANADA: CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION CANADA MARCH 1995 DEAF NEWCOMER NEEDS ASSESSMENT IN ONTARIO MARCH 1995 PRODUCED BY: THE BOB RUMBALL CENTRE FOR THE DEAF PRINTED BY: DEAF TRAINEES IN THE VOCATIONAL TRAINING PROGRAM OF THE BOB RUMBALL CENTRE FOR THE DEAF Director: Cindy Woon-ling Tam Assistant Director: Delilah Simoes-Shand Coordinator: John Taylor Research Worker & Writer: Vasanthi Valoo Referral Guide Researcher: Alistair Vogan Editors: Sarojini Pillay/Suzanne Nelson TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... 1 lNTRODUCTION............................................................................................................. 4 DEAF CULTURE AND AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE: A BRIEF OVERVIEW ........... 11 METHODS OF INSTRUCTION IN DEAF EDUCATION................................................ 13 PROCEDURE ............................................................................................................... 17 DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION ON DEAF NEWCOMERS IN ONTARIO ................. 26 IDENTIFIED NEEDS, BARRIERS AND SOLUTIONS .................................................. 34 Language Training................................................................................... 35 Mode of Communication ............................................................... 35 Effectiveness of ASL..................................................................... 39 ASL and learning .......................................................................... 41 Solutions ....................................................................................... 44 The Need for Access to Social Services.................................................. 47 The Need for Life Skills Training.............................................................. 49 Vocational Training.................................................................................. 52 Family Support......................................................................................... 55 Social Integration ..................................................................................... 57 Interpreting Services................................................................................ 58 The Need for Counselling Services ......................................................... 62 PERSPECTIVES OF DEAF NEWCOMERS – WORKSHOP IN OTTAWA .................. 64 EVALUATION OF EXISTING PROGRAMS AND SERVICES FOR DEAF NEWCOMERS ................................................................................................... 67 KEY FINDINGS............................................................................................................. 79 RECOMMENDATIONS................................................................................................. 83 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................... 88 Appendix A.................................................................................................................... 91 Appendix B.................................................................................................................... 96 Appendix B-1: Original Interview Schedule............................................. 96 Appendix B-2: Original Questionnaire Mailed to Organizations.............. 99 Appendix C.................................................................................................................. 107 Appendix D.................................................................................................................. 110 REFERENCE GUIDE: SERVICES FOR DEAF PEOPLE ACROSS ONTARIO.......... 116 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration Canada has made this Deaf Newcomer Needs Assessment Report possible through funding for delivery assistance. The Adult Education Progam at the Bob Rumball Centre for the Deaf received a great deal of support during the report’s development. First and foremost, I am indebted to all the deaf agency representatives who participated in the survey and the interviews. Thanks must go to all the advisory committee members for dedicating their time and expertise to this survey. Their valuable input and revisions provided in the meetings and on the phone for the first, second and third drafts of this report are deeply appreciated. Special thanks must go to the advisory committee member, Carol Musselman, for her extra efforts in the analysis of the statistical data and in creating the graph which summarized the training needs of deaf newcomers. Thanks must also go to Delilah Simoes-Shand for her work on the Glossary section. Special thanks are extended to Pat Hatt, Program Leader of the Division of Special Education, North York Board of Education, for her suggestions and advice on the area of learning disability. Pat used to visit the Adult Education Program in BRCD to meet with learners who have learning disabilities when the North York Board of Education operated a partnership literacy program in the centre. The contribution of Barrie Cheifetz during the writing stage of the project is also appreciated. Thanks are also given to Reverend Robert Rumball, Executive Director of the BRCD, for his guidance and advice to facilitate the completion of the project. The advisory committee consists of the following people: Shirley Cassel Program Supervisor, The Bob Rumball Centre for the Deaf 1 Philip Daniels Instructor, Adult Education Program, The Bob Rumball Centre for the Deaf Norman Ferguson Coordinator, IMPACT-ASL Program, The Canadian Hearing Society, Toronto Gilbert Lillie Community Worker, Silent Voice Canada Maureen Mitchell Coordinator, LINC Program, The Canadian Hearing Society, Peel Region Carol Musselman Professor, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education Delilah Simoes-Shand Assistant Director, Adult Education Program, The Bob Rumball Centre for the Deaf Cindy Woon-ling Tam Director, Adult Education Program & Coordinator, LINC Program, The Bob Rumball Centre for the Deaf Norma-Jean Taylor Chair, Deaf Education Centre, George Brown College Cheryl Wilson-Lum Coordinator ,Go-Goal Ontario Literacy for Deaf People (G.O.L.D.) Thanks to the committment of the research worker, Vasanthi Valoo, for the preparation, writing efforts and changes that were made. The research for this project could not have been completed without the efforts of the volunteers involved. Suriya Veerappan, Preshilla Veerappen and Premilla Veerappen devoted their time to organizing the distribution of the questionnaires, providing support for the personal interviews and assisting with the myriad of clerical duties involved in this report. Grateful acknowledgement also goes to Suren Valoo for his expertise in providing technical support, Alistair Vogan and Sherman Lam for graphics and Devan Veerappan for the maps. 2 The staff and volunteers in the Adult Education Program at The Bob Rumball Centre for the Deaf are thanked for their continuous interest and support throughout the development of this project. Finally, I would like to offer a critique of this project itself. Undertaking such a project in just four months was necessitated by the urge to address the needs of deaf newcomers whom we serve. I share the feelings of all advisory committee members, who stated that they felt inadequate about making recommendations on the report in so short a time. Remaining confusion and errors can be attributed to the time constraints. Nonetheless, this report provides an important guideline for developing appropriate programs and services for deaf newcomers. Cindy Woon-ling Tam Project Director Adult Education Program The Bob Rumball Centre for the Deaf 3 lNTRODUCTION The Deaf Newcomer Needs Assessment has been made possible through funding from Citizenship and Immigration Canada. The objective of this assessment is to evaluate the need for language training programs for deaf newcomers. It is also necessary to identify barriers which impede community integration and to recommend policies, programs and solutions which will improve the integration of the deaf newcomer into the community at large. This assessment is the first to target this group and to attempt to gain solid statistics on the challenges that deaf newcomers face when they enter Canada. Statistical results and analysis obtained from this research have been distributed to all service providers. It is hoped that this assessment will be used as a reference for accommodating the needs of the deaf newcomer. For the purposes of this study, a deaf newcomer is defined as an individual who is not Canadian-born, who is 16 years of age and older, and who has lived in Canada for 10 years or less. A glossary (Appendix A) is included for further clarification of the terms used in this report. 4 PROCESS OF THE GRANT APPLICATION The Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) Program at The Bob Rumball Centre for the Deaf was started in November 1993. LINC provides language training to deaf and hard of hearing students from inside and beyond the Metropolitan Toronto area. Instructors in the program have identified a number of needs affecting the students within the program. With input from LINC instructors, Cindy Woon-ling Tam, Director of the Adult Education Program, put together the framework of the Deaf Newcomer Needs Assessment research plan