Audiobook boom is good news for Canadian actors and listeners

 

Made-in-Canada audiobooks bringing Canadian voice to U.S.-dominated industry, as actors learn new skill

 

By Salimah Shivji

 

CBC News, Nov. 26, 2017

 

Salimah Shivji is a journalist with the national arts and entertainment unit.

 

In a downtown Montreal recording studio, seasoned actor Tom McCamus, known for his work on stage and in films such as Room and The Sweet Hereafter, put on his headphones, stepped up to the microphone, and heaved a sigh.

 

He was gearing up to breathe new life into Michael Ondaatje’s classic novel In the Skin of a Lion by turning it into an audiobook.

 

“It’s the first time I’ve done it,” an admittedly nervous McCamus said. “I called some friends who do [audiobooks] a lot and asked them and got some advice on what to do. I hope I do a good job for Michael.”

 

The project is part of a boom in Canadian audiobook production led by Amazon-owned Audible. Eighty per cent of its newly commissioned audiobooks of Canadian novels are being produced in Canada, and the company has pledged

$12 million over three years to develop new content.

 

In the Skin of a Lion is one of more than 50 audiobooks begun since Audible launched its Canadian website in mid-September to bolster its previous catalogue of around 100 Canadian titles.

 

The company has also partnered with Canada’s richest literary award, the Scotiabank Giller prize, as a sponsor. This year, according to BookNet Canada, sales of five Giller-nominated novels went up 1,115 per cent after they made the Giller shortlist.

 

Amazon Kindle Service

 

Amazon owns Audible, which recently launched its dedicated Canadian service, with $12 million earmarked to create audiobooks in Canada. (The Associated

Press)

 

Audible’s game plan is to use well-known Canadian actors to interpret classics of contemporary Canadian literature, hoping to capitalize on the popularity of audiobooks, particularly among young, university-educated women, and the nearly 20 per cent growth in sales over the past three years.

 

Add to that the estimated 35 titles being converted to audiobooks by Penguin Random House Canada’s brand new in-house audiobooks production division, and you have plenty of new work for Canadian actors.

 

Even the prime minister has signed up, reading the foreword of his 2014 memoir Common Ground, while the bulk of rest of the book will be narrated by actor Colm Feore.

 

Learning new craft

 

This fall’s surge in acting work is welcome, but it’s also opened up an awareness that the art of reading an audiobook is a skill that needs nurturing.

 

That’s where Braden Wright comes in.

 

The experienced voice actor first became interested in audiobooks while living in the United States two decades ago. He has been hosting training sessions for Toronto-based actors who want to learn the “acting acrobatics”

that it takes to successfully read an audiobook.

 

“It’s a one-person show,” Wright said, with the narrator in most cases changing pitch and accents to bring to life all of the book’s characters – male and female.

 

Toronto-based voice actor Braden Wright has been holding training sessions to give other actors tips on how to best perform an audiobook. (CBC)

 

“The funniest misconception is that it’s [simply] reading a book or that, ‘I can read, I can do well’ . when really there are things that are very specific about audiobook work.”

 

One major difference is that, unlike most acting work, the narrator must remain somewhat in the background.

 

“There’s a certain kind of neutrality that you have to do in reading the book, because you want the listener to create what’s happening,” McCamus said. “If I tell too much of the story through my own interpretation, then I get in their way.”

 

‘It’s like a marathon’

 

Another requirement is stamina, since an average audiobook takes at least 20 hours to record with retakes.

 

“It’s like a marathon,” said Sarah Mennell, who was recently in studio to read Michael Redhill’s Bellevue Square, rushing to get the Penguin Random House Canada audiobook ready in time for the Giller prize gala, an award that Redhill ultimately won.

 

“Halfway through, I think I’m not going to be able to finish this book, I’m not going to be able to finish this day, this hour.”

 

Recording the audiobook of Giller-prize winning novel Bellevue Square, Sarah Mennell said she would have to pause at times, not only because it was ‘a marathon’ session, but also because the author’s word moved her so much.

(CBC)

 

Despite the long hours, Mennell appreciates the creativity involved, and she’s building a bank of accents for future audiobooks gigs.

 

“I’m in the age range of my career where parts are declining,” she said.

“With audiobooks, I get to play all these different characters that I would not be able to play on film or television.”

 

A starry world unto itself

 

It’s not only Canadian actors opening up to a new world of audio opportunities, but also Hollywood stars.

 

Many, including Claire Danes, Nicole Kidman and Colin Firth, have twigged to the acclaim that can come from reading into an audiobook fan’s ear.

 

But there is already a star system in the audiobook world. Barbara Rosenblat may be familiar to Netflix fans as the actor who plays Miss Rosa in Orange is the New Black, but to book listeners, she’s the Meryl Streep of audiobooks.

 

She has narrated more than 500 and she literally wrote the book on it. It’s called Audiobook Narrator: The Art of Recording Audiobooks. (No, there’s no audiobook version of it yet.)

 

While Mennell hasn’t done nearly that many, she’s already won praise for her read, from fans as well as the author whose vision she interpreted.

 

“She’s really imbued the book with its tone, the tone that I wrote,” Redhill told CBC.

 

“I’ve listened to her read the book, and I feel like I’m entering it from a different direction,” the Giller prize winner added. “I can actually see and hear things in the storyline that I wasn’t necessarily aware of, because she picked out things of her own.”

 

Am I cheating when I listen to a book?

 

With the explosion in popularity of audiobooks and more people being introduced to the format, there’s also the niggling question that keeps coming back to torment fans of the medium: Is listening to an audiobook in some way cheating?

 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/audiobook-canada-actors-voice-1.4416845?cmp=news-digests-arts

 

 

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Accessing Education With a Disability Isn’t As Easy As We Think

 

Graham Robertson

 

Nov. 27,  2017

 

Lack of leadership in accessibility isnt just a problem for the University of Ottawa.

 

As someone who lives without a disability, a wheelchair ramp is one of the first things that comes to mind when I think of accessibility.

 

But accessibility goes far beyond this, especially in a campus context, expanding to measures such as proper snow removal in the winter and ensuring that students are able to see the text on a PowerPoint in class.

 

On Sunday, Dec. 3, it will be International Day of Persons with Disabilities. In light of this, I decided to investigate how accessible the University of Ottawa is for persons with disabilities for this weeks issue of the Fulcrum.

 

Whether its a physical impairment or special learning needs, the conversations that I had while writing this piece brought me to the conclusion that equal access to education, both here at the U of O and at postsecondary institutions across the country, isnt quite as easy as one would imagine.

 

Physical barriers to accessibility

 

Borrow a wheelchair one day or pretend that you cant walk on your two feet for one day or just an hour, and you will see how the campus is not made accessible, says Dr. Virginie Cobigo, an associate professor in the Faculty of Social Sciences School of Psychology, who specializes in intellectual disabilities.

 

For Megan, who is in her third and final year at the Faculty of Law, common law section, structural barriers are among the biggest challenges to accessibility at the U of O. Megan had requested that her surname be omitted from this story.

 

In my first year on campus, the elevator at (Fauteux Hall) was not working for about three months, which was obviously really challenging, she says.

Megan, who lives with a physical disability, notes that the accessible entrance to Tabaret Hall has been closed since January of this year.

 

I’m lucky that I dont have classes in Tabaret Hall, but that’s where you get your transcripts and student enrolment and all those kinds of things, and that’s been really, really challenging over the last year.

 

Dr. Cobigo believes these barriers to accessibility boil down to a lack of leadership among the university administration.She cites challenges such as a lack of accessible doors, round doorknobs, and hallways that are not wide enough for wheelchairs in some buildings, such as Vanier Hall where her office is located.

 

To be frank, I dont think that the University of Ottawa is doing much that is good in terms of accessibility. Of course, the new buildings are more accessible than the older buildings, but it is the law. So its not a leadership from the University of Ottawa, its just that the university has to make the buildings accessible according to some minimal standards and requirements, because of the Accessibility Act.

 

These older buildings, and the fact that they often fail to be modernized, pose one of the largest challenges to students and staff with mobility issues.

 

Leila Moumouni-Tchouassi, vice-president equity for the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO), shares these sentiments, saying that the buildings are very old and the university has yet to put investments after all of these years into making sure that the buildings are more accessible.

 

So often its the fact that a lot of buildings dont have buttons to be able to open the doors there arent ramps, there arent elevators, a lot of the classrooms themselves when it comes to seating arent accessible, she continues.

 

But Charles Azar, a subject matter expert in architecture for campus facilities at the U of O, explains that such problems are historic, as older buildings were not designed with accessibility in mind. According to Azar, campus facilities is trying to match or exceed current accessibility regulations using their existing budget.

 

It’s also worth mentioning that the definition of an accessible building is a moving target, he notes. As codes and regulations continue to evolve, it becomes increasingly difficult and costly to update old or existing buildings to the current standard.

 

It also extends to more than just accessible entrances and spaces, but to all related pathways, washrooms and even signage as well. We always try to find creative and budget-conscious ways to accommodate those with disabilities, but updated, older spaces can rarely match new ones and identifying alternative accessible spaces is often the simpler or only feasible way to address accommodation requests in the short-term.

 

Policies and attitudes towards accessibility

 

On another front, Moumouni-Tchouassi believes that leadership at the administrative level is lacking when it comes to university policies, the main issue being that they dont accurately reflect the diverse experiences of students on campus.

 

I think a long time ago (the U of O) started talking about an accessibility policy, and they still have yet to produce and finish it and make sure that students are being able to access it, says Moumouni-Tchouassi.

 

It’s up to the university to make sure that one, in policy, it forces itself and its stakeholders to properly accommodate students, but then also making sure that when it is building all of these buildings, and when it is putting all of this money into improving this campus, that that includes making sure that its more accessible.

 

But besides leadership at the administrative and policy-making level, Dr.

Cobigo believes that negative attitudes towards disability hinder accessibility at the U of Othis is especially true for students with developmental or learning disabilities.

 

I still hear some of my colleagues saying that if we use some universal design for education, the level and the quality of the education will be lowered, which is not true, she says. Making things accessible is not making things easier, its providing different formats so that the informationthe content of the coursewill be accessible to most students.

 

Some examples of this include students submitting an audio recording for an assignment as opposed to a written paper, professors complying with standard font sizes and colours on PowerPoints so that everyone in the room can read the slides, and ensuring that all students can see the professors lips during the lecture, for those who may have a hearing impairment.

 

Dr. Cobigo notes that it can be a challenge for professors to be conscious of the complex and diverse nature of accessibility, specifically for larger class sizes, and so there needs to be training and resources available to them to ensure that they meet accessibility standards.

 

She suggests that this can come through having a committee chair in accessible learning, and partnerships with disability specialists. Cobigo, who is the director of the Centre for Research on Educational and Community Services at the U of O, believes that by increased partnership with the Teaching and Learning Support Service, the centre can help disseminate resources and facilitate training workshops for professors to better meet the needs of their students.

 

How is the university tackling accessibility issues?

 

So, with these issues in mind, how is the U of O currently accommodating its students and staff with disabilities?

 

According to Megan, Protection Services has been helpful in making campus physically more accessible for her. One of the challenges she faces is that in the winter over the past two years, snow has not been cleared quickly enough, making her walk from the parking lot to Fauteux Hall cumbersome.

After speaking with Protection, they gave Megan the option of either designating a parking spot to her that would always be cleared of snow, or having her pay extra for a spot in the indoor parking garage.

 

I was sort of pleasantly surprised that they were amenable to that, she says.

 

At the student federation level, the Centre for Students with Disabilities

(CSD) facilitates programs and activities based on the requests and needs they receive from students. According to Moumouni-Tchouassi, this means being receptive and open to students, and tailoring accommodations and services to fit their diverse needs.

 

The thing about accessibility, especially when it comes to disability justice, is that there’s no one way to put it out for all people, because that in itself would be inaccessible, she says.

 

In addition, Moumouni-Tchouassi says that the SFUO brings what they find from their conversations with students through services such as the CSD to the university administration.

 

The U of Os Human Rights Office (HRO) also plays a major role in accessibility on our campus, through programming, training, and policy-based work.

 

Marie-Claude Gagnon, an accessibility policy officer for the HRO, says that the CSD has helped the office identify accessibility barriers, as well as retrieve documentation they have worked on during an accessibility awareness week (to) share with facilities.

 

Further, the (HROs) volunteers are stationed across campus to provide in-person accessibility assistance to students and staff, and help ensure easier access to resources and information available on campus. They are also responsible for identifying accessibility barriers and reporting them to the Human Rights Office, says Gagnon.

 

The volunteers wear black and white Accessibility Squad vests, which make it easy for individuals requiring assistance to identify them.

 

The HRO is also involved in relaying the accommodation requests it receives to campus facilities, which is responsible for areas such as construction and the campus master plan.

 

Mike Sparling, manager of facility conditioning and scheduling for campus facilities notes that they have just completed a campus-wide accessibility audit from 2014-17 that included stakeholders such as the Student Academic Success Service (SASS), the HRO, and the SFUO.

 

The process took three years to complete and will soon provide a gap analysis of our existing conditions vs. the current code requirements (that youd see in a new building), identifying which spaces are deemed accessible or not by todays standards, says Sparling.

 

These audits will also form the basis for a prioritized action plan to reduce barriers on campus, including providing accessible paths within buildings and barrier-free washrooms, classrooms, and public spaces.

 

Student success in the classroom and beyond

 

Despite the numerous challenges, Megan highlighted positive experiences with SASS, a campus service providing academic accommodations to students with disabilities and specific learning needs.

 

SASS academic accommodations follow a request-based model, receiving students concerns with accompanying documentation from a doctor, psychologist, or other medical professional, and from there (looking) at what courses theyre taking, what faculty theyre registered in, and (setting) up appropriate accommodations, says Sylvie Tremblay, director of SASS.

 

Examples of accommodations that SASS offers include extra time on exams, smart pens that record lectures, laptops with specialized software, and ergonomic chairs and desks. SASS also works with the Office of the Registrar and campus facilities to properly accommodate students in their classrooms, such as by ensuring that a student with a disability does not have class in an inaccessible building.

 

But Vincent Beaulieu, academic accommodations manager for SASS, says that all this can be a challenge particularly at the beginning of the semester as students rearrange their schedules.

 

Things change. Students will drop courses, register to new courses, so the beginning of each semester theres a lot of logistics involved, moving a classroom multiple times in some cases, and then as soon as you move one classroom you have to move the other classroom, and sometimes just swapping them is not possible, its a lot of logistics, he says.

 

And while both Tremblay and Beaulieu believe that SASS does its best to accommodate students, they recognize that they have to do so within their means. According to SASS 2016-17 annual report, roughly two-thirds of funding for SASS comes from the U of O itself, and only one-third from the provincial government.

 

One of the challenges were having provincially is that that funding hasnt gone up. In fact its gone down in the past 10 years, especially (with) the increase in student enrolment, increase in need as well. All campuses in Ontario are seeing much, much more demand for their services. So if you take inflation into account, if you take the growth of our services into account and all these other factors, the funding has decreased substantially, really, over the years, Beaulieu says.

 

This overall lack of provincial funding means that its not just the U of O that is experiencing a strain on their budget for academic accommodationsits a province-wide crisis.

 

As U of O president Jacques Frémont recently shared with the Fulcrum, decreasing government grants mean that the only place (the university) can get funding is through tuition. So with the university itself providing roughly 65 per cent of funding for academic accommodations, this money is largely coming from students. But, as Beaulieu shares, the need for such accommodations is ever-growing.

 

Moving forward

 

We have a bit of a dream around universal design, this idea that if learning outcomes and curriculums were more universal in their nature we wouldnt need as many accommodations in the first place, Beaulieu says.

 

Of course, this universal design, and any efforts made to make our campus and campuses across the country more accessible in the near future need to prioritize the voices and experiences of those students and staff with disabilities.

 

As Megan shares, a lot of times, those who dont have disabilities are the ones who are saying whether or not somethings accessible, but that doesnt really help when its not your experience, its not your lived experience.

 

And while stronger leadership at the administrative level is key to building a more accessible learning and working environment, this push for change starts with students. Moumouni-Tchouassi believes that its important that students come together to fighteven if we dont necessarily identify with those things.

 

Its important to make sure that we all just generally can access education in a more equitable way, and making sure that were all taken care of under the same system, because were going to be here for anywhere from three years to it feels like a hundred, so we might as well make sure that were all taken care of.

 

For students and staff looking to provide feedback and suggestions on accessibility at the U of O, please visit the Human Rights Offices Accessibility Hub.

http://thefulcrum.ca/features/accessing-education-disability-isnt-easy-thinkk

How sad is this?  When will we ever learn? I think someone wrote a song about that.

 

Scientists issue new ‘warning to humanity’; Global climate change tops list of planetary threats issued by 15,000 scientists

 

Sarah Kaplan The Washington Post

The Toronto Star , Nov. 14, 2017

 

In late 1992, 1,700 scientists from around the world issued a dire “warning to humanity.” They said humans had pushed Earth’s ecosystems to their breaking point and were well on the way to ruining the planet. The letter listed environmental impacts as though they were biblical plagues – stratospheric ozone depletion, air and water pollution, the collapse of fisheries and loss of soil productivity, deforestation, species loss and catastrophic global climate change caused by the burning of fossil fuels.

 

“If not checked,” wrote the scientists, led by particle physicist and Union of Concerned Scientists co-founder Henry Kendall, “many of our current practices put at serious risk the future that we wish for human society and the plant and animal kingdoms, and may so alter the living world that it will be unable to sustain life in the manner that we know.”

 

But things were only going to get worse.

 

To mark the letter’s 25th anniversary, researchers have issued a bracing followup. In a communiqué published Monday in the journal Bioscience, more than 15,000 scientists from 184 countries assess the world’s latest responses to various environmental threats. Once again, they find us sorely wanting.

 

“Humanity has failed to make sufficient progress in generally solving these foreseen environmental challenges, and alarmingly, most of them are getting far worse,” they write.

 

This letter, spearheaded by Oregon State University ecologist William Ripple, serves as a “second notice,” the authors say: “Soon it will be too late to shift course away from our failing trajectory.”

 

Global climate change sits atop the new letter’s list of planetary threats. Global average temperatures have risen by more than half a degree Celsius since 1992, and annual carbon dioxide emissions have increased by 62 per cent.

 

But it’s far from the only problem people face. Access to fresh water has declined, as has the amount of forest land and the number of wild-caught fish (a marker of the health of global fisheries). The number of ocean dead zones has increased. The human population grew by a whopping two billion, while the populations of all other mammals, reptiles, amphibians and fish have declined by nearly 30 per cent.

 

The lone bright spot exists way up in the stratosphere, where the hole in the planet’s protective ozone layer has shrunk to its smallest size since 1988. Scientists credit that progress to the phasing out of chlorofluorocarbons – chemicals once used in refrigerators, air conditioners and aerosol cans that trigger reactions in the atmosphere to break down ozone.

 

“The rapid global decline in ozone-depleting substances shows that we can make positive change when we act decisively,” the letter says.

 

The authors offer 13 suggestions for reining in our impact on the planet, including establishing nature reserves, reducing food waste, developing green technologies and establishing economic incentives to shift patterns of consumption.

 

To this end, Ripple and his colleagues have formed a new organization, the Alliance of World Scientists, aimed at providing a science-based perspective on issues affecting the well-being of people and the planet.

 

“Scientists are in the business of analyzing data and looking at the long-term consequences,” Ripple said in a release. “Those who signed this second warning aren’t just raising a false alarm. They are acknowledging the obvious signs that we are heading down an unsustainable path. We are hoping that our paper will ignite a widespread public debate about the global environment and climate.”

 

via A Disabled Person Refused Your Help? Keep Calm And Carry On

Source: How to accessibly and reliably spell check documents on iOS devices with VoiceOver

Source: ALL Blind People should Have a Guide Dog

Source: CITY OF NEW WESTMINSTER, BC ANNOUNCES EXCITING NEW SERVICE DESIGNED TO EXCLUDE, MARGINALIZE AND DISCRIMINATE AGAINST DISABLED PEOPLE. Excited?

Recognize Deafblindness as a single disability: Open Your Eyes and Ears

 

Introduction

Deafblindness is a unique disability, which requires a unique approach to support and a unique system to deliver that support.

At the Twelfth World Conference in Portugal (1999), Deafblind International (DBI), agreed to pass a resolution to appeal to governments around the world to use the following definition:  “Deafblindness is a combination of visual impairment and hearing impairment.”  Recognition for a common definition should be included in legislation and acknowledge the particular needs of individuals who are deafblind.

DeafBlind Ontario Services calls for official recognition of deafblindness as a distinct disability with equal rights and opportunities for individuals living with deafblindness in Canada. The organization advocates for: provision of appropriate lifelong supports of Intervenor Services; collection of data on the incidence of the distinct disability of deafblindness; recognition of the profession of Intervenor Services (starting with inclusion in the National Occupational Codes classification system); and, accessible environments to ensure that individuals with deafblindness lead a quality life and have every opportunity to fulfill their potential and enjoy independence.

Understanding Deafblindness

Deafblindness is a distinct disability.  It is defined as a combined loss of hearing and vision to such an extent that neither the hearing nor vision can be used as a means of accessing information to participate and be included in the community.

Individuals who are living with deafblindness do not belong to a homogenous group. Each person will experience their own specific degree of vision and hearing loss that will affect their individual access to information, communication and mobility. The two main types of deafblindness are acquired deafblindness and congenital deafblindness.

Acquired deafblindness is a description applied to people who experience both vision and hearing loss later in life.  Losses may occur at separate times or may occur simultaneously.  They may also be progressive.

 

Congenital deafblindness is a description applied to people who are born with both hearing and visual loss or who became deafblind before developing symbolic language.

In addition, persons who are deafblind may live with other co-occurring disabilities, such as a physical and/or cognitive disability. This can further create barriers for the individual in accessing supports and services, as well as restrict their access to full participation in their communities.

The condition of deafblindness is not well recognised or distinguished from other disabilities. Although the term ‘deafblindness’ leaves little room for misunderstanding, many people are unaware of the causes of deafblindness, the variation of impairment that may be experienced and the impact of deafblindness on everyday life. ‘Deafblindness’ does not refer only to profound blindness and deafness; it refers to any degree of dual-sensory impairment.

With an increased number of seniors losing their sight and hearing or experiencing “dual sensory loss,” this changing demographic will require training from service providers to help them adapt to the realities of their changing world.

Disabilities and Deafblindness in the Canadian Legal Landscape:

The legal framework in Canada provides a standard to support people who are living with disabilities to ensure they have full and equal access to areas such as employment, education, health and justice.

As Canadians, we value the right to an inclusive and diverse society. The Canadian Human Rights Act extends the laws of Canada within the Federal sphere to uphold the principle that “all individuals should have an opportunity equal with other individuals to make for themselves the lives that they are able and wish to have and to have their needs accommodated…without being hindered in or prevented from doing so by discriminatory practices based on…disability.”

This principle continues to be at the forefront of the Canadian political system. Human rights legislation across all provinces and territories in Canada has similar visions, rights and obligations.

 

International

United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Canada and 159 other member states signed, and 168 members’ states ratified the convention at the United Nations. Canada ratified this treaty in March 2010. The treaty aims to eradicate discrimination against persons with disabilities in all areas of life including employment, education, health services, transportation and access to justice.

The OP-CRPD is one of the communications mechanisms of the UN treaty bodies.  The Optional Protocol (OP-CRPD) to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) allows for individual complaints to be submitted to the CRPD Committee by individuals and groups of individuals, or by a third party  on behalf of individuals and groups of individuals, alleging that their rights have been violated under the CRPD.

Federal

Despite the efforts by the Canadian government to identify disability issues as a priority, a National Disabilities Act does not currently exist and this issue has been a matter of public debate to a greater or lesser degree for three decades.

The Government of Canada has committed to adopting a strong federal accessibility law to remove and prevent barriers people with disabilities face.

The new accessibility law will cover areas that are under the jurisdiction of the federal government. This includes: railways, airlines, banks, postal services, radio, television, telephone and internet providers, Employment Insurance (EI), immigration, Aboriginal lands and rights, the military and criminal law.

This new law will not address areas that are under the jurisdiction of the provinces. This includes: health care, education, municipal transportation, guardianship and property rights.

DeafBlind Ontario Services is participating and facilitating consultation and engaging disability stakeholders in Canada to contribute to the development of federal accessibility legislation.

Provincial

Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005

Passed unanimously in the Ontario Legislature, this Act commits the Government of Ontario to create, implement, and enforce standards of accessibility with respect to goods, services, facilities, accommodation, employment, buildings, structures and premises for the 15%(2005) of Ontarians living with disabilities. A similar Act exists in Manitoba (2013). The Nova Scotia legislature introduced an Act Respecting Accessibility (currently at Second Reading as of November 3, 2016), making it the third province in Canada to introduce an accessibility act.

 

Ontario Human Rights Code

 

Ontario’s Human Rights Code explicitly states that everyone has the right to be free from discrimination. The Ontario Human Rights Commission’s Policy on Ableism and Discrimination based on Disability outlines details and gives practical measures for workplaces, public transit, health and education services, restaurants, shops, and housing to provide Ontarians with disabilities equal treatment and barrier-free access. The Code prohibits discrimination based on someone’s disability in all aspects of the employment relationship. Discrimination in employment may occur when a person experiences negative treatment or impact because of their disability. Discrimination does not have to be intentional. A person’s disability needs to be only one factor in the treatment they receive for discrimination to have taken place. The Code provides that organizations (e.g. employers, service providers, and vocational associations, including unions) have a duty to accommodate disability, and other grounds, short of undue hardship, based on cost, health and safety.

 

Ministry of Community and Social Services Act, Ontario

 

The Ministry of Community and Social Services (MCSS) Intervenor Services Program was established in 1981 under Section 12 of the Ministry of Community Social Services Act which defines the mandate and scope of MCSS activity. The ministry funds non-profit organizations to provide Intervenor Services to individuals who are deafblind. These services enable people to communicate and participate in a variety of settings, such as medical, mental health, social services, employment, educational, legal, and government services.

In Ontario, 20 organizations receive funding to provide Intervenor Services, including: the Canadian Hearing Society, the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, the Canadian Deafblind Association – Ontario, DeafBlind Ontario Services and the Canadian Helen Keller Center.

Deafblindness – a Unique Disability in Canadian Context

Deafblind Awareness Month

On December 21, 2000, the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, proclaimed June as Deaf-blind Awareness Month.

On June 26, 2015, the Canadian Senate passed a motion to recognize June as National Deafblind Awareness Month across the country. The intent of this motion was to help “to promote public awareness of deaf-blind issues and to recognize the contribution of Canadians who are deaf-blind.” It additionally would “recognize the strength, courage and dedication that deaf-blind people show every day in living their lives and facing their daily challenges.” June is also the birth month of Helen Keller, an internationally recognized person who lived with deafblindness.

In keeping with Article 31 on Statistics and Data Collection of the United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN-CRPD), Employment and Social Development Canada launched the New Disability Data Strategy. They gathered disability data to achieve greater consistency in disability identification by type, and to improve coverage of the full range of disability types, especially mental/psychological, learning and memory disabilities. Sensory disabilities – seeing and hearing is collected along with other co-occurring disabilities.  It is recommended that standardised data be collected relating to rights for individuals who are deafblind,  along with opportunities and services available in each province  to help assess and compare differences and developments.

 

Access to Communication Support and Training

Because of the unique nature of deafblindness, communication is a significant and essential issue for a person who may require support to learn and develop communication.  For an individual who is deafblind, communication support and development needs to be a specific focus of service provision. Every person who is deafblind has the capacity for communication.  A lack of training in communication methods can greatly restrict individuals who are deafblind from opportunities for a full and active life. Even if training is available, it does not mean that individuals have the opportunity to communicate more widely, since this may depend on the availability of adequate Intervener Services.

Assistive Devices

Assistive Devices refers to any item, piece of equipment or product system that is used to increase, maintain and improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities. This can range from simple equipment or assistive devices (such as magnifiers) to integrated systems such as environmental controls (computerised systems for home automation tasks such as answering phone calls, answering door, turning lights off, smoke alarms).

Access to Healthcare

General practitioners are positioned to be a central point of access for healthcare and are usually the gateway to further medical support for persons who are deafblind. However, if the condition of deafblindness is not widely understood, it is unlikely that healthcare professionals will connect the wide-reaching effects associated to the complex conditions that cause deafblindness. Evidence from a 2013 Usher Syndrome survey carried out by Sense in England indicates that people who are deafblind often have to explain their condition to their family physician, as well as the progression of the condition and the types of issues they face in everyday life. Additional time and energy is required of the individual who is deafblind and misunderstandings can develop, especially if they see a different doctor each visit.

Access to Services

Canadians living with deafblindness have inconsistent access to supports and services across the country, whereby each province or territory has a varying degree of funding available to provide services for persons who are deafblind. A 2016 review of the services and supports available to individuals who are deafblind in Canada found that inconsistent and limited pockets of funding were available in Ontario, Alberta, part of British Columbia, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. To further complicate the situation, most of the funding is limited to a specific number of hours per week or focussed on supporting individuals in specific tasks, such as employment supports.

A limited number of resources to support essential daily communication supports for this vulnerable population in a recognized G8 country is unacceptable. It also serves to defy the spirit of existing legislation and regulations that protect the rights of all Canadians. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees that regardless of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age, or mental or physical disability, “every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination.”

 

These limits on access to supports and services for individuals living with deafblindness also contradict the CRPD’s “overarching principle promoted by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities…that services be provided in the community, not in segregated settings,” and that “person-centred services are pref­erable, so that individuals are involved in decisions about the support they receive and have maximum control over their lives.

 

“Exclusion of individuals from the opportunities, freedoms, networks, events and resources of the society in which they live has a negative impact on that society and its economic prosperity” Individuals who are deafblind deserve the basic right to have access to a barrier free society which includes opportunities to communicate and interact within their communities on an equal level to opportunities enjoyed by their peers.

 

Recommendations:

 

We have a commitment to uphold the UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities and promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and their fundamental freedoms for individuals with deafblindness.  Canada needs to recognize that the value and effectiveness of an accessible environment by trained, experienced professionals will achieve the most successful outcomes for individuals who are deafblind.

 

Official legal recognition of deafblindness as a unique and single disability is imperative; it is essential that individuals who are deafblind have their needs and experiences recognised and considered in disability legislation and policy.

 

A Common Framework and standardised census questions for the Canadian Disability Survey must be established to collect standardised data on the number of individuals with vision and hearing loss; so that the extent of deafblindness is understood and captured.  It is important that deafblindness is most common amongst older people is recognized and that a focus on early detection and support be provided to help prevent more serious health issues in this population.

All individuals with deafblindness must be offered the same opportunities regardless of where in the country and in which municipality they live. They must have access to competent and adequate support to ensure that they do not experience discrimination and have their rights respected on an equal level to that of their peers.

All individuals who are deafblind must be offered equal opportunities to realize their full potential regardless of age, residual vision and hearing, geographic location and any additional impairment.

Individuals who are deafblind are doubly challenged for physical accessibility as they cannot rely on visual or auditory cues for information.    They must be supported with specialized services to acquire knowledge and information, express requests and make choices.

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Intervenor Services

Intervenor services provide the person who is deafblind with accurate information in an appropriate manner to enable them to make choices, plan future actions, communicate successfully, navigate their environment and achieve as much independence as possible. Intervenor services are responsive to the changing needs of the person who is deafblind.

 

Intervenor

“An intervenor…facilitates the interaction of the person who is deafblind with other people and the environment. The intervenor provides information about the environment and what is happening (using receptive language), assists the individual who is deafblind to communicate (using expressive language), provides or develops concepts where necessary, confirms actions, assists with life skills and most importantly, assists the individual to achieve as much independence as possible within their situation. The intervenor takes direction from the individual who is deafblind.”

 

Langue des signes québécoise (LSQ)/Quebec Sign Language

LSQ is a visual language with its own grammar and syntax, distinct from French, used by Deaf people primarily in Quebec and other French Canadian communities. sign language used in Canada and most LSQ users are located in Quebec.  LSQ is a combination of American Sign Language and French Sign Language.

 

Large Print

This helps people who have low vision. Large print materials should be prepared with a font (print) size that is 16 to 20 points or larger.

 

Methods of Communication

• Adapted American Sign Language (AASL)
• American Sign Language (ASL)
• Braille
• Fingerspelling
• Gestures
• Langue des Signes Québéquoise (LSQ)
• Large print notes
• Oral
• Other, as determined by the individual who is deafblind
• Print on Palm
• Signing Exact English (SEE)
• Tangible Symbols, including object cues and picture cues
• Two-hand Manual