Summer time is here! Photo blogging

 A walk around the block.

A fun Dance class our city and CTN put on  but Ashley was wishing a few more friends were there to Dance with.

Taylor's new favourite place

Our favourite visitors...

Kindness of strangers - Helping my girl

Ashley's Voice is getting a big upgrade!    

I’m not even sure where to begin with this post as my girl has been blessed by so many totally strangers this past month who have heard her story and wanted to help.   On Mothers’s Day we learned Ashley won her very own iPad2  + Apps in a merit based giveaway from MarissasBunny.com  Infantile Spasms Awareness blog.   Mike Marissa’s Dad and his employer not only gifted my special girl with a iPad2 but another 40 families with iPads and they have set up a foundation to carry on doing the same thing for  many other families to help make  kids lives with disabilities  better.

Good news keeps coming…

Late last week I found out I won a Facebook Contest I entered from FortZed Challenge for a $50 Otterbox gift certificate.  Ashley is my lucky charm I think but I was shocked that I’d win her an iPad2 then 50 towards a fantastic cover!

Otterbox iPad2 Defender case 

This story gets even better, Ariana from FortZed challenge loved Ashley’s story and shared it with Otterbox.  Kristen from Otterbox PR contacted me and said she too was amazing by Ashley and wanted to send us their super tough iPad Defender Case free of charge and suggested we use the gift certificate to order the Otterbox Utility Latch.  WOW!  I’m totally blown away at all this kindness and generosity of so many others that are totally strangers and want to see my girl have a voice.  This iPad will be be Ashley voice and travel everywhere with her she didn’t qualify for funding for dynamic speech equipment in Canada as she would first have to prove she could use it. Which she definitely can but needs lots of hands on practice to learn to move from screen to screen and locate her choices. She need to show them she can do that before the gov't would fund one.  They were not going to give her a chance not yet anyways.


Here's a peak at Otterbox's  Utility Series Latch it allows you attach iPad to many things.. I'm sure we will put this to very good use.      

We did set aside some funds to purchase an ipad just  a week before we found out we won one from Marissa bunny so Ashley been practicing and doing really well with choice making.  However with 3 brothers there is a lot of demand for the iPad and it’s getting used by her two year old brother the most.  When Marissa Bunny iPad arrives (there has  been paperwork delays due to Apple concerns with giveaways but it’s on it’s way this week)  It will be dedicated to Ashley and at her side at all times.  Her brothers will have the other one to play with.

I just had to share all this as I feel totally thrilled that my girl is benefiting from all this generosity.  Raising 4 kids and having therapy bills  is not cheap so all this is greatly appreciated.

Don’t miss Ashley's graduation video I posted this week too.   I’m so proud of this girl we purchased her walker for her just before she started JK and I remember standing outside with her at the walker  on the first day of Junior Kindergarten we needed to assist her to balance and move the walker in the door that first day. Someone had to hang on to her and the walker.    I’m sure a few would have thought she's  not ready for that.  However with daily practice she learned to use the walker totally independently last January and just the other day she  led her class in to the gym for graduation. It was so incredible.  I know with her new iPad she needs hand over hand direction right now to navigate the speech device but with time and daily practice I’m sure she will get it.  She can independently make her own choices on pages but can’t quite navigate page to page due to the fast speed.  I’m so confident in her and super excited and pleased so many strangers are so happy to help her gain her voice. My husband and I are so humbled by all this generosity.  

Be sure to check out Otterbox's amazing cases, like and share FortZed Challenge facebook page  and  read all about Marissa at MarissasBunny.com .  Just today Marissa's Bunny is launching there next iPad giveaway so if your child needs one be sure to jump over there and check it out.  If your so lucky you will be blown away by this families kindness and eagerness to help others despite all they are going through with there sweet little girl.

Our Graduate - Amazing video!!

What  a special day this was.  Our girl WALKED in and led her entire class up to the front to graduate from senior kindergarten.  She just learned to walk with the walker this past January.  Her teachers and peers always knew how to support, encourage  and allow her to shine.  This day was no exception.

I will be forever grateful to Mrs G. Ms F and Mrs L for how very far she has come over these past two years.  She's  grown in leaps and bounds and has made gains in all areas.  I couldn't have pictured her walking up just this past december with out someone holding on to her.   I'm truly sad to see kindergarten end but I know she has so much to look forward to in grade one.  Inclusion at it's very best!

Area track meet

It was hot out today and James was on his game. I used to run track in school too so this brought back a lot of memories.  James won his heat in the 100m dash.  James is  wearing black and is in lane 3.

it was a very hot day to be hanging around outside but Canadians are not suppose to complain about the heat so I'll stop there.  Not to spoil the video but there was 8 heats and only the top 5 times went on to the final so James didn't get run the final but lots of fun was had and he was pretty pleased with his results.


100 m dash - check this out from Sherry C on Vimeo.
James in Black wins his heat in the 100 m dash at the area track meet today.

June already and lots has been happening around here.

Last week my oldest turned 11 I have a preteen.  We had some very special visitors Grammy and Grampy to celebrate his birthday.

Pancake breakfast for my 11 year old. OMG almost a teenager.

Check out this cake my mom made this for him it has boiled icing, tons of candy decorations, best of all according to my boys it was a money cake with loads of toonies ($2 coins) hidden inside.

Yummy!!!   Thanks Mom for making this it was a big hit!

Are you wondering what you get an 11 year old with loads of energy well?

A new POGO stick which he loves and gets a real work out on it too.  He also received some money which he used to buy a spy gear watch and the new Alex Rider Novel.  He was pretty happy with his presents.

Last week I also received these beautiful flowers for being a super mom from these ladies I adore.

I wish I had taken more pictures when Aunt Colleen and Aunt Betty dropped by for lunch which they even brought with them. I was totally spoiled for the day. Their visit was such a treat for me and the little ones look how happy Ashley was to see Auntie Betty and Taylor loved playing with Auntie Colleen. 

Unfortunately my older two were at school and husband working but it was short oh so sweet. 

The ABC's of IPRC - Wonderful advice for Ontario students I learned from Janis Jaffe White

I was lucky enough to go and listen to Janis Jaffe White from Toronto Family Network a few weeks back when she visited my daughters local treatment centre.  CTN (Children's Treatment Centre has been doing an amazing job of keeping us parents informed and educated on everything from the best bike or how to access camp or recreation programs and best of all how to work co-oportiviely with your school to ensure your child's needs are met and they are set up to succeed.

I want to share here some tips I learned form Janis. If you live in Ontario and your child has an IEP you will likely find some great information here.

A) Aware - be involved and aware with what going on at school for your child. Be informed on the current education law.  Highlights of  Regulation 181/ Section 98  also read this document here in all it's detail Education Act 181/98

B) Be there!  - never pass up on an IEP or IPRC  meeting at school.   It's your chance to ask your questions, advocate for your child and sing your child's strengths, affinities and needs. Some schools may tell you that the these meetings are not needed after the initial meeting but there is usually value in sitting down even if placement for your child isn't changing at least once a year.

C) Communicate.  Share your ideas, ask questions and listen.

If your child has additional needs she  requires good teaching, differentiated instructions but they also need able bodied mentors. All these things can be provided at your home school with your child's siblings and neighbourhood friends by their side.

You should never waive your annual IPRC meeting, you should use this time to discuss your child's strengths and needs.   With your written permission the IEP can also be discussed at the IPRC meeting.
According to regulations 181 section 98 an educational assessment can be done annually prior to the IPRC meeting and the results can also be discussed at the meeting.  Your school my say this is impossible as there is a big wait list for that type of assessment but it does not always have to be  formal physiological assessment. It could be a simple math or writing assessment completed by the home room teacher or SERT.   This meeting should be more then 15 minutes if it's set up that way and you didn't finish you have a right to ask to have the meeting reconvene. You may want to tell them that you looking to have a longer discussion if they initially set up a 15 minute meeting.

Also according to 181/98 you are required to get a copy of all documents 10 days prior to the meeting.
At the meeting you will also meet and decide if your child should be an exceptional student.

Your allowed to bring a support person with you, if your child has complex needs there is likely someone on your child's team that supports you that could come with you. This support person could be a neighbour or friend even.   You can even print out the education act and bring that with you.

You also have a right to ask for an alternate time if they date and time the meeting is set up for doesn't work with your schedule. I won't want this meeting to happen without myself present for my daughter and I'm sure you won't want to miss it either.

If your told your child should be in a community classroom and you have a choice or classroom A classroom B. PLEASE know there is always another option your home school is also your child's right and is always an option to your child!

Probably the most important thing I learned is don't be shy to tell the school you know your rights sometimes that is necessary to share.  Goes a long way although most educators want to do right by our kids there is a lot of pressure in my daughters school board for these kids to attend  community classes whether or not it's part of the child or family vision.  This pressure was their even though she was making great strides right here at her home school in kindergarten.

Hopefully your still reading this long post as this part is great.

Undue Hardship Standard

Under the Code, every student with a disability is entitled to accommodation up to the point of undue hardship. The Code sets out three factors that may be considered in assessing whether an accommodation would cause undue hardship: cost; outside sources of funding, if any; and, health and safety requirements, if any.

Consultees told the Commission that school boards frequently cite limited resources as a reason for not being able to provide appropriate accommodations to students with disabilities. The Commission’s Disability Policy makes it clear that “whether an accommodation is ‘appropriate’ is a determination completely distinct and separate from whether the accommodation would result in ‘undue hardship’.”94         The legal duty of a school board to accommodate students with disabilities is not discharged unless the school board can make out an undue hardship defence based on costs. In order to claim the undue hardship defence, the school board has the onus of proof. As stated in the Commission’s Disability Policy, “The nature of the evidence required to prove undue hardship must be objective, real, direct, and, in the case of cost, quantifiable. The person responsible for accommodation must provide facts, figures, and scientific data or opinion to support a claim that the proposed accommodation in fact causes undue hardship.”95

The Supreme Court of Canada has said that, “one must be wary of putting too low a value on accommodating the disabled. It is all too easy to cite increased cost as a reason for refusing to accord the disabled equal treatment”.96 The cost standard is therefore a high one.

Regulation 181 / 98

 The undue hardship law applies to all accommodations so even if your child has an intellectual disability and needs an EA they can not tell you the reason is due to limited resources or funding.

Here's another good link too "The Blame Game"  Are school problems my kids fault?

Isn't this great stuff.   I found this information to be so valuable to me.

Should I

Trim this beautiful hair?



-- Post From My iPhone

Farm Trip

On the one nice sunny days this month Ashley, Taylor  and I went to the farm with her Kindergarten class.  It was fun to pet all the baby animals and feed the chickens.  

Love this girl!!!

Checking out the big 6 month old pigs.

Baby goats

Feeding the chicks

 Learning about eggs...

WHY INCLUSION BEGINS IN KINDERGARTEN...Or Doesn’t

WHY INCLUSION BEGINS IN KINDERGARTEN...Or Doesn’t 

By Charlene Comstock-Galagan

Revised February 2008

BECAUSE EVERY CHILD DESERVES A CHANCE TO LIVE LARGE: INCLUSIVE EDUCATION MEANS GREAT EXPECTATIONS

Parents and professionals must practice having great expectations for all children. Expectations for learning are sometimes lowered due to a desire to protect kids if they learn or look different than other students. As a result, parents and teachers may unconsciously limit chances for kids and the kids may be “living down” instead of “living up” to our expectations. Maintaining low expectations for kids does not preserve their dignity: having great expectations for children affords them dignity, challenges our perceptions and gives us new problems to solve.

We must constantly guard against protecting our own perceptions of what kids can do, be, or learn. We must take care that we do not invest more in protecting our comfortable perceptions than in giving children many chances and choices.

BECAUSE INCLUSIVE EDUCATION FROM THE START MEANS INCLUSION IN THE FUTURE: THE ROAD IS CHOSEN EARLY

We need to begin including kids with labels in kindergarten because by placing them in a given setting, we are setting expectations for their futures. By choosing one road, we necessarily reject the other. Robert Frost reminds us of the long-term effects of our choices when he says “Two roads diverged in a wood. I took the road less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.”

We must educate kids in learning environments which look like the ones we hope they will live in as adults, because as adults they are likely to live in environments which look like the ones in which they were educated. The adult-life match for segregated elementary education is the institution and the sheltered workshop. By beginning from kindergarten to include kids with labels, we ensure that our children who “get to go” to inclusive schools will, after graduation, “get to go” to real life.

Kids who are included from the start are welcome in their community and aren’t forced to depend largely on human service systems for their lifelines. Including all kids with labels in kindergarten builds natural supports for their futures, a process that takes time and shared experience. Being included builds natural supports that will prove critical to their success in community living in the future. Being included with 22 kids in their class means your child is a known and recognized member of a group of kindergartners in the school community. It means that 22 families in that community can interact with her.

In one week, the kid who is included gets many opportunities to make connections in public with families who know and accept her as a kindergartner. These families are excellent community educators, and more effective than any public service announcement. Each time they interact in public with their labeled friend who happens to have disabilities,they are delivering a clear message to other people that interaction with this person is okay.

BECAUSE INCLUSIVE EDUCATION FROM THE START MEANS LOTS OF PEER MODELS

Kids learn from each other. Models for kids in segregated settings are often other students with learning language or behaviour difficulties. Constant learning opportunities for kids with labels in regular activities are created by peers in regular classes, at lunch, at recess, in the halls, at assemblies, in P.E., at music, and in the bathroom line.

Kids with labels included in regular activities have access to different peers in many contexts throughout each day. In typical educational settings, students with labels have as many as 22 learning peers, and many potential opportunities to see and hear those peers engaging, with various degrees of success, in social or academic learning. Peers provide models as they react to and interact with each other, teachers, materials, and information. Even the most talented, dedicated special education teacher with the most innovative materials and equipment is unable to provide these models in a setting exclusively for students with disabilities.

BECAUSE INCLUSIVE EDUCATION FROM THE START MEANS EVERYBODY WINS

All children benefit from sharing educational experiences with each other, no matter what their needs or labels. It seems sensible to allow children those benefits from the beginning, especially kids with labels who may need more time to take advantage of those benefits.

Kids without labels also benefit when kids with labels are included in regular settings from the beginning of their educational careers. They benefit directly when they are allowed to be peer tutors. When we use students as peer tutors, or learning sharers, we provide the tutor an opportunity to process learned information in a new way, a sense of mastery and accomplishment and reinforcement for the value in helping others.

If kids are classmates from kindergarten throughout their schooling, with good modeling from teachers, regular kids will come to expect and will have many opportunities to practice re-explaining, adapting, and trying various ways to get kids with labels to participate or partially participate in learning activities. They come to expect modifications and accept it as routine. All children must be prepared to cope with different learning styles and abilities of coworkers in the adult work world.

Kids without disability labels, although we do not think of this often, will grow to be the neighbors, community members (doctors, grocers, dentists, mechanics, shop owners, church members, hobby and club members), legislators, and most of all PARENTS of kids with disabilities.

Kids with labels, who are segregated for learning purposes, are often not seen by their peers as learners. They are seen only as recess goers or lunch eaters, largely as passive, rather than active participants in school life. When kids with labels are included in regular

education settings, other kids see them actively engaged in the process of learning. The kids with labels get validated with the status of “learner”, and the kids without labels get a new perception of labeled kids as contributors. This perception can carry through to adulthood, giving a long-term, two-way benefit.

Special education teachers can benefit from delivering instruction in regular environments. In inclusive settings, teaching is no longer a matter of making something happen, but more a matter of turning each ongoing activity into a learning opportunity by finding ways to involve kids with labels. Teachers learn to orchestrate, facilitate, and arrange for learning to happen; they teach kids with labels to be learners, rather than to do learning activities. In this scenario, everybody wins.

BECAUSE INCLUSIVE EDUCATION FROM THE START MEANS FRIENDSHIPS

True friendship is immeasurably important in each of our lives. All of us need opportunities to develop friendships and relationships in schools and community environments. Friendship is a commodity that transcends labels. The best reason to begin fostering those relationships in kindergarten is that it is easy. It makes including kids throughout their school experience easier, and it increases the likelihood that children will form lasting friendships. Kindergarten kids don’t know the meaning of labels. Children accept each other until they are taught to discriminate and reject. Beginning to include kids with labels in kindergarten allows real, sustainable friendships to develop and to be built on the basis of mutual interest and shared experiences.

Each child has abilities, capacities, and gifts; with guidance and support, each child can contribute to her/his school community. Our responsibility is to nurture each child in developing these capacities. A school is a dynamic community of diverse learners with various gifts, each valuable in its own right. Our job is to model for all students many ways to value each member of the school community.

John McKnight of Northwestern University says, “All communities depend on the capacity of people, on their fullness, on their possibilities, on what they can do—not on what they cannot do—the heart of the community is capacity. If we want to create community, we build on capacity, not needs and deficits.”

Schools can embrace the value that all children belong from the beginning. All schools can develop the commitment and expertise necessary to meet the unique needs of all children in regular education classes and provide the supports and services needed for each child to become a valued, contributing member of the school community.

Each year that we don’t close the door on segregated placements as an option for kindergartners, another set of kindergarten students miss critical, lifelong benefits, such as great expectations, peer modeling, functional learning, and friends. What are we waiting for?

My girl included with her kindergarten class at the farm! Lots of fun was had.

Ashley won an iPad and more!

A few months back I entered a giveaway for special needs kids to win an ipad based on merit.  I never thought she would win but we learned on Sunday Ashley is really blessed and is amoungst 40 kids that won a ipad and apps.  This amazing family blog at Marissa’s Bunny  about their beautiful daughter who happens to  have infantile spasms. They are raising awareness about this condition and have been raising funds.  Not only are they doing everything possible for their daughter they are reaching out to make the lives of other families with special needs kids improved. 

40 very lucky and deserving kids won ipads how cool is that.  Be sure to visit Marissa's bunny they are raffling off an ipad2. 

Mike and your bosses Ashley and I are so thankful. 

I am Norm

This is a great speech and while watching this video all I could think of is this amazing lady is given me more reason why my girl should go to her home school and not get shipped across town to the community classroom.

This is also exciting..

What a day

Saturday afternoon I headed out with just 2 kids for a change Damon and Ashley. Two kids was a fun change of pace especially these two.  We headed over to the mall to exchange a duplicate Lego set Damon got for his birthday.   At the mall we were surprised to see that kids could decorate flower pots for easter.

It was fun to help Ashely and Damon make these ...

 It would have been nice to have her wheel chair for this activity.  But she sat on my lap and helped select her stickers.

Beautiful final product  and  so sweet that this was free of charge flowers and all!   Plants don't live long inside my house hopefully I can care for them long enough until they can be replanted outside.  Where they will do much better under my husbands green thumb. 

On the Move.

After the mall we headed out to a local community program for kids with disabilities called "On the move"  it was too much fun. Ashley actually laughed so hard she fell over backwards got back up and kept on laughing.  Just another sweet day for my girl who is truly too cute for words so you will have to just watch...

On the move! from Sherry C on Vimeo.
Love that the city offers gym time and activities for special needs kids so much fun was had.Hula Hoops, bubbles, stepping stones, balls and so much more.

Super Ashley

I realized today I like shopping at the shoe company a bit too much. Hey can you blame me? 

Ashley got new SMO's I will just call them super for short.  Super expensive god forbid you should lose one as your insurance company will only fund one pair a year and at $1300 ..oh sorry I'm exaggerating these were actually  $1291. They could also be called Super for Super Standing and Super Walking with these on.   I think I'll go with that one.  But notice her beautiful pink and glittery shoes only $33 from Shoe Company and the prettiest shoes yet. 

These shoes go perfectly with her new Barbie helmet and princess scooter too...now just bring on the warm weather. I can't take the cold any longer.

My baby's Birthday video.

My baby boy is two years old today. He makes each day a delight.  Taylor please don't go and grow up way to fast love Mommy.


Taylor don't turn around and grow up way to fast from Sherry C on Vimeo.
Two years have flown by way to fast this boy is so amazing to me.

Taylor is turning 2 on Sunday

I can't believe my baby is turning 2 this weekend.   He is the sweetest most cuddly little guy around and so spoiled.  He completes our family.

Damon is 9!!

Damon's 9th birthday party from Sherry C on Vimeo.


I can barely believe another year  has  gone by for  Damon.  Damon  always puts a smile on my face each day.   He is  king of video games, sporty and fun. Yet the most caring gentle boy around. He is so good natured and reminds me of my Dad and if you know my Dad that's saying a lot.

With four kids it's hard  having parties for each so we take turns.. this year Ashley and Damon benefited however now I'm thinking perhaps James will get one too.  Okay it's hard for this Mom to say no.  I love celebrating birthday's (as long as it's not mine)

Birthday Party Video!

This weekend was pretty special Ashley had a big gymnastics party at Gymalaya. I'm pretty sure all her friends had a great time.  Ashley was giggling she loved gymnastics as much as dancing. She even enjoyed the pizza, cake and thought the cheesies were just for her and dug right into those too.  It was so special to have all her friends celebrating with her.  Big thank you to my Mom, Dad and Sarah for coming to celebrate and help with the party.   Ian and I couldn't have done it without you.

 Extra special thank you to all of Ashley friends too!

 Here's a video of all the fun we had.

Ashley's 6th birthday from Sherry C on Vimeo.
Gymalaya! Ashley is 6 and loving life!!! Thanks to all her friends for making this day so great!

Inlcusive Education Petition - Education for all!

Ashley would love it if you take a moment to sign this on-line petition !!

Education for all: Every child to have the right, to access all aspects of curricular and non-curricular activities regardless, of any difficulties or special needs.   The Education Act in Ontario guarantees a child's right to an appropriate education, regardless of any difficulties or special needs. We are requesting that the Government of Ontario enact rules and regulations that force Boards of Education to include the child's right to access all aspects of curricular and non-curricular activities regardless of any difficulties or special needs. We are calling for all children with special needs to be accepted to be full members and partners in their schools and community, be able to equally access curricular and non- curricular activities and that is to include: Sports clubs, Music, Drama and arts clubs, Social clubs, Social activities, parties, school trips, special curricular activities, summer programs and camps offered by school boards etc We call the Ministry of Education to make an immediate change to stop the indirect discrimination (1) of special needs children in our schools. Make our schools a place where there is “Education For All”. http://www.petitiononlinecanada.com/petition/education-for-all-every-child-to-have-the-right-to-access-all-aspects-of-curricular-and-non-curricular-activities-regardless-of-any-difficulties-or-special-needs/92

Ashley is 6... what a birthday!

I can not believe my little girl is 6 years old.  She has come so far and there is nothing stopping this little girl she sure can shine!  She is in love with Barbie and now Justin Bieber. I mean who can blame her.  Love me, Love me say that you Love me!

She is having a big party with 16 friends next weekend okay I got a little carried away with the guest list  but it's a gymnastics party at Gymalaya even I won't have been able to image my girl doing gymnastics a few short years ago.  We went to a classmates party there earlier this year and she was all giggles and running to keep up with her friends.  The staff were warm and had no reservations about helping her to participate in everything even climbing up a rock wall or swinging from a bar.   I'm so excited for her.    Just happen to believe that my girl turning six is more then a miracle and needs to be celebrated in a big way.   I feel so blessed for each day I have with the sweetest girl in the entire world. I'm not at all biased am I. Love this girl!

Inclusive Education - Emily Eaton Thank you

Ashley at her local public school where she is included!

I was told by another Mom to read the case of Emily Eaton.  These are the parents I'm very thankful to for paving Ashley's way to inclusive education.  Thank you Eaton family for insisting I have the final say in which classroom best meets my daughters needs.

Also please read my daughter  Ashley's benefits of Inclusive Education


Emily Eaton's case from the following website  http://www.abilities.ca

Eleven-Year-Old Emily Eaton Wins Landmark Charter Victory

Janet Bedgell, Anne Molloy

On February 15, 1995, the Court of Appeal for Ontario released a landmark decision. This decision will have a major impact on the education rights of children with disabilities, not just in Ontario, but throughout Canada.

The decision ended a three-year legal fight by Emily Eaton and her parents against the Brant County Board of Education to have Emily integrated into the regular class at her neighbourhood school. In its decision, the Court of Appeal, the highest court in Ontario, recognized that under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, segregating children with disabilities in special classes against their parents’ wishes violates their equality rights under section 15(1)* of the Charter. The Brant County Board of Education has 60 days from the date of the decision to bring a motion for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Emily, who has cerebral palsy, is 11 years old and lives in the rural community of Burford, near Brantford, Ontario. She spent kindergarten and grade one at Maple Avenue School in a regular class. However, during grade one, the school decided that Emily should be sent to a special class for students with disabilities. Her principal requested an Identification Placement and Review Committee (IPRC), provided for under Ontario’s Education Act, to change her placement from the regular class to a segregated class for students with disabilities at a school in Brantford. Emily’s teachers and other school officials told the IPRC that they did not feel they could meet her needs in the regular classroom, and that, because of Emily’s difficulty communicating, they weren’t able to assess whether or not she was learning.

Emily’s parents strongly believed that their daughter’s needs could be met in the regular class. They felt that nothing could be done in the special class to meet her needs that could not be done just as well in the regular classroom. The Eatons also believed that their daughter would be psychologically harmed if she was sent to a segregated class -- but the IPRC agreed with the school.

The Eatons refused to allow their daughter to be moved to a segregated class. They appealed to the Special Education Appeal Board, which upheld the IPRC. From there, they appealed the case, under provisions contained in the Education Act, to a Special Education Tribunal. At the tribunal hearing, the Eatons called extensive expert evidence about the benefits of integration and the potential harm of segregation, and testified about why they believed Emily should be in the regular class. Central to their position was the belief that in order to be truly part of her community, Emily needed to go to her neighbourhood school with her peers. The school board’s witnesses testified that they were unable to assess whether Emily was learning in the regular class, and stated that they felt the special class would be "better" for her.

The tribunal rejected the Eatons’ arguments and ordered that Emily be placed in the special class. In its reasoning, the tribunal stated that Emily’s needs were not being met in the regular class, and that it was in her "best interests" to be placed in a segregated class. However, the tribunal did not make any findings about what would be done in the special class to meet Emily’s needs that could not be done in the regular class.

The decision was released in November, 1993, when Emily was in grade three. Her parents immediately launched an appeal and, rather than allow their daughter to be segregated, moved Emily to a Catholic school which had a fully integrated program, pending the outcome of the court case.

The Eatons were unsuccessful in trying to overturn the tribunal’s decision at the first level of judicial review, the Ontario Divisional Court. In December, 1994, they went to the Court of Appeal for Ontario, which entailed three full days of legal argument. In addition to submissions from the Eatons’ and the school board’s lawyers, the Court heard from the Attorney General of Ontario, the Canadian Disability Rights Council and the Ontario Association for Community Living, all of which had intervened in the case.

In a decision which will have a far-reaching impact on the education rights of children with disabilities, the Court of Appeal overturned the Divisional Court’s decision and found in favour of Emily and her parents. The Court held that forcibly segregating a child because of her disability violates her equality rights under Section 15(1) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Court also considered the historical reality of exclusion experienced by persons with disabilities in our society, recognizing that the "history of discrimination against disabled persons, which the Charter sought to redress and prevent, is a history of exclusion." The Court found that by excluding Emily from the regular class and denying her the opportunity to go to her neighbourhood school with children her own age, the school board had discriminated against her and violated her Charter rights.

In coming to this decision, the Court recognized that being forced to attend a segregated class resulted in discrimination, and explicitly identified the negative, stigmatizing effects of being forcibly excluded. The Court also held that making distinctions on the basis of disability is no less discriminatory than distinctions based on race or gender.

In addition to acknowledging the harmful effects of segregation, the Court also recognized the benefits of including children like Emily in the regular class and the importance of inclusion in the school system to the success of community living. It stated that: "Inclusion into the main school population is a benefit to Emily because without it, she would have few opportunities to learn how other children work and how they live. And they will not learn that she can live with them and they with her." This concept, in fact, reflects the Eatons’ own reasons for wanting Emily to be integrated. As Clayton Eaton testified before the Special Education Tribunal:

"I think our community includes [Emily’s] neighbourhood school. And the people who live in our community, the children that she will grow up with and [who] will be part of her community when she’s an adult, go to that school. They need to have an understanding of Emily, they need to know Emily, they need to be integrated with Emily now... We can’t bring her back at the end of her school career and plug her into that community. She has to be there now and grow up with those children and those children have to grow up with her..."

The Court concluded that the Education Act itself violates the Charter because it gives school boards the discretion to place children with disabilities in segregated classes against their parents’ wishes. The Court therefore ordered that a provision be read into the Education Act preventing school boards from placing children with disabilities in segregated classes against their parents’ wishes except as a last resort. School boards must provide the least segregated placement possible which meets the child’s needs, and, before moving a child over a parent’s objection, a board must show why a less exclusionary placement can’t meet the child’s needs. The Court held that the tribunal had not applied the Charter in this way, and had not held the school board to the standards required by the Charter. The Court ordered that Emily was therefore entitled to a new tribunal hearing before a different panel of decision makers in order to have her educational placement determined in accordance with her equality rights.

This case will have a major impact on the educational rights of children with disabilities. The Court of Appeal’s decision will apply to all school boards in the province of Ontario, and will require those school boards to comply with Charter rights of children with disabilities. The case will also have a significant impact on the education systems of other provinces and on the development and recognition of disability rights generally, not just for education, but in all areas of life.

* (NOTE: Section 15(1) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms states: "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 and, in particular, without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability."

COUNCIL OF CANADIANS WITH DISABILITIES

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