Alberta government invests in more school help for students with visual, hearing disabilities

The Alberta government has almost tripled the funding for schools to accommodate deaf and hard of hearing as well as blind and visually impaired students for the remainder of the school year.

Education Minister Adriana LaGrange said the government will now give $5 million this year to schools to pay staff with specialized training and for assistive technology and resources for students with these disabilities. That's up from the planned $1.8 million.

"Sometimes there's a really high cost to a particular service, or a particular technology [or] piece of equipment," LaGrange said in an interview on Wednesday.

"We wanted to make sure no student was disadvantaged because of that high cost."

When school divisions began to send the government applications for specialized funding, LaGrange said it became clear the initial budget wasn't enough.

Shortage of specialists

Parents, students, school division leaders, teachers and advocates have been asking for more funding to level the playing field for deaf and hard of hearing and blind and visually impaired students, LaGrange said.

There's a shortage of specially trained teachers, sign language interpreters, orientation and mobility specialists and others who work with students so the cost of recruitment and retention is rising, LaGrange said.

And while the technology to help students adapt and participate fully in lessons is advancing, it's also increasingly expensive.

Just ask Rhonda Pigeon, a Calgary parent who has spent thousands of dollars on tablets, computers and text magnifiers for her 16-year-old son, Gabriel Pigeon.

"I feel slightly like a liability to my family sometimes," says Gabriel, who is a Grade 10 student at Robert Thirsk High School in Calgary and legally blind. "Because we have to sacrifice so much just to get me the equipment that I need to succeed in school."

The Pigeons say it's a struggle for Gabriel to get large print versions in a timely manner of material teachers hand out in class. Gabriel worries about falling behind in his classwork.

The school didn't have the budget to buy a laptop with a large screen allowing Gabriel to magnify the information on the smartboard onto a screen in front of him — so the Pigeons bought it themselves.

Funding advocacy

Gabriel works with a teacher for the visually impaired about once every one or two weeks, and he'd like more time with them to learn how to use assistive technology.

The Pigeons were among the families who advocated, alongside the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, for a funding increase.

"I'm so happy because the government is finally making steps in giving us an equal education to our peers," Gabriel said.

Kelly Baldock, president of the Alberta Society for the Visually Impaired's Edmonton district, said a big challenge is the inconsistency between schools. The amount of support students receive can depend on how insistently parents advocate, how many other students in class have unique needs, and the school's prior experience with visually impaired students, she said.

Although she appreciates the investment for this year, Baldock says the province needs a long-term plan to ensure classrooms are better equipped to accommodate visually impaired students. This approach should include specially trained teachers working directly with students, rather than a focus on consultants teaching classroom teachers how to adapt their lessons.

"Our children deserve the same sorts of support and services as students who don't have a visual impairment," Baldock said.

On the upcoming Feb. 28 provincial budget, LaGrange said she's optimistic about the education budget, both for addressing school enrolment growth and the demand to build new schools.

LaGrange said no changes are planned for the education funding formula, despite concerns from growing urban school divisions. However, schools can expect some investment in transportation, including growing demands for bus driver training.