Deaf student unable to attend school

News

WHILE thousands of children return to school on December 6, for the start of the new term, Abby Lincoln, 15, will not be joining them.

Lincoln, 15, a student of the Toco Secondary School (TSS) is deaf.

She has all her school supplies and uniform but was not able to attend school since September because there is no sign language interpreter for her.

In August 2024, Abby and her mother Abigale Lincoln were excited about her from Cascade School for the Deaf (CSD).

This excitement was short lived when one of Abigale's feet had to be amputated from the knee down.

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She recently told Newsday, "We registered at Toco (Secondary School) and the ministry (of Education) should have known we Iive Toco and I need her to go to school there (at TSS).

"All of this was in the request to the ministry before SEA. I did speak to someone at the ministry who promised to organise an interpreter, but I don't know what is the issue and why they are taking so long.

"The only people helping right now are Qushiba La Fleur and her people from We Care Deaf Support Network (WCDSN)."

"Abby has been hearing impaired from birth and is ninety-five percent deaf, so she needs an interpreter. While she knows sign language, there are words she won't know in sign and would have to spell it out (in sign language). That is why essay writing has always been a challenge for her."

"We don't move around much and if I have to go to the hospital we hire somebody. I don't go anywhere really. I just try to do some maths work with her but my eyesight is failing. I have diabetes. Children will get idle if you are not there to supervise. It's hard to get them do stuff and I haven't gotten any calls from the principal of the school (TSS) either"

In a telephone interview, La Fleur said, "Things are really not going as smoothly as we think it should in education. It's heartbreaking but it's also something that needs to be made public."

"In this instance (Abby), we supported this child's needs and the MoE would have been aware that these students were sitting SEA, that they were deaf and they would be zoned based on the areas that they live in.

"Therefore, we should not have a challenge where a child sat SEA and because she does not have the necessary support required in the school, the child has been home since September. "

"As a parent with a deaf child who is sign language-dependent, this situation is not sitting well with me. Her parents have been very frustrated and we all have been thinking of ways to get the support that she needs.

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"There was a consideration for her to stay at the dormitory in CSD, and possibly get a transfer to South East Port of Spain Secondary School. It is unfair to her and her family that we have to make all these adjustments because of a lack of preparation on the side of the MoE."

Her organisation considered paying for a sign language interpreter, but La Fleur said she was not that the rules prevented it.

"We did recommend someone to the Ministry of Education but that person was out of the age range. Some consideration should be given because we do not have many interpreters who are willing to take the trek from Port to Spain or wherever to Toco every single day.

"Most interpreters are already gainfully employed and the financial remuneration for accepting such a job is not much.

"When you get that salary or stipend the ministry pays, it's just enough to pay for transportation. Even my NGO doesn't get government subvention. This treatment is unfair to deaf children.

"It goes back to language deprivation, academic deprivation...The MoE needs to put a lot of effort into ensuring they have the support that they require. Not just deaf children in the school system, but children with disabilities as a whole."

Toco/Sangre Grande MP Roger Munroe said he would look into the issue.