Top 10 Truths – My Learnings

For parents of kids with disabilities/neurodiversities, our participation in our children’s education is WAAAAAYYYY different compared to parents of neurotypical/non-disabled children.

For blog post on that topic: The Non-Death Loss for Parents of Disabled Children in Education, All Over this Province

Here are my top 10 learnings for me.

  1. Teachers and counsellors aren’t nearly as educated in disability and mental health issues as I assumed. I gave them way more credit and trust than I should have.

2. My advocacy of applying the Duty to Accommodate was essential to my children getting an education. The difference between my advocacy efforts pre-using human rights law and post-using human rights law is night and day.

3. The human rights code supersedes classroom teacher’s autonomy.

4. Generally, education staff know very little about human rights law and education law. This is truly a failing. This type of education wouldn’t be complex to teach either. I think districts would save themselves so much money and complexities if their staff were more aware. This can all be taught in a simple 2-hour workshop.

5. Find an advocacy buddy. Another parent out there who knows what you are going through is essential for survival. I had no idea this was exactly what I needed and I am so glad she found me.

6. I had no idea learning about external complaint systems would be so vital.

7. Through everything, I would need to find the good people in the education system and stick to them like glue. There are really good people out there. Rare birds. Diamonds. And the system is killing them slowly.

8. We need our own care plans. Kids get IEPs for education. We need PCPs (Parent Care Plan). We need steps, strategies, and a review every few months.

9. I had no idea I was this strong, this determined, this capable. I have more layers to me than I ever thought.

10. I love my children. I love your children. And I will fight for both.

“this family needed help beyond what I’m trained for” (para 58)

This was a statement by made by the Acting VP in a human rights decision.

X by Y v. Board of Education of School District No. Z, 2024 BCHRT 72

[58]           Y asked the Acting VP in cross examination how the break from the classroom would have been restorative for X had it happened at home. The Acting VP replied that “Mom knows best”, noting that X was “totally dysregulated”, placed in a challenging classroom, and needed space. The Acting VP said that X spoke a lot about his Dad during this time, and how he missed him. He observed, “this family needed help beyond what I’m trained for.”

This has me asking…

What are educational staff trained for?

AND

When professionals, such as occupational therapists (OT), psychologists, or speech-language pathologists, make recommendations, why are some parents having issues with getting these recommendations placed in their child’s Individual Education Plan (IEP)?

The kinds of education that teachers have for disabilities vary greatly and in my opinion, extremely lacking. Huge gaps. They hold similar beliefs and biases as the general public. I have learned the hard way that some teachers have zero training in this area. There are educational staff who have, on their own, focused their professional development in this area and are extremely valuable. There is a huge sliding scale of knowledge and skill between educators and administrators.

We already know that the human rights code supersedes classroom teacher autonomy.

So above all, they need to provide an equitable education. If they are ignoring or refusing to implement professional recommendations, aren’t they taking a HUGE risk?

If by ignoring professional recommendations, the child isn’t able to access their education equitably and there is harm that occurs, I’d be filing a human rights complaint.

It has been quite a SHOCKING discovery to me, just how little education staff know about disabilities. Especially invisible ones. Some people are very knowledgeable. However, the number of people working in education who have little to zero knowledge is stunning. And scary. And makes complete sense how so many children experience real trauma at school, and so many are being homeschooled unable to return to school.

Here is a report compiled by Jenn Scharf titled Stories of Exclusion 2021. These are a collection of 60 stories told by parents.

I don’t think our education system is fair.

To anyone.

Everyone is being set up to fail. My heart goes out to the educational staff expected to create magic and miracles with such a scarce system. But, if you are ignoring professional recommendations and putting your own personal perspective in its place when you lack such training and expertise, I have no sympathy for you.

I do have sympathy for the child who may be harmed by your willful ignorance. I have sympathy for the family who will now be put in the position of continued advocacy, yet again, and may be considering filing a human rights complaint so their child can get an education.

Is the education system struggling with the concept of inclusion, or is it struggling because not enough people have the knowledge and skills to make it work?

And then add the impacts of scarcity in education

And then add ableism.

AAAAAHHHH ok…. now this all makes sense.

This is why we are all struggling.

This is systemic. Multi-dimensional systemic issues.

And if someone who is reading this thinks…. well they are now starting to have a class on the topic of disabilities in universities, isn’t that something?

It clearly isn’t enough.

Clearly.

Edit: A parent on my Facebook page commented after reading this blog “Not to mention a lot of the disability training they do get is outdated and ableist….” – Excellent point!!

The BC Human Rights Code Supersedes ALL other Laws, if Conflict Arises

This is the BC Human Rights Code.

“Code prevails

4  If there is a conflict between this Code and any other enactment, this Code prevails.”

This is why human rights law is our strongest form of advocacy.

It doesn’t matter what the school policies are.

It doesn’t even matter what the policies are that are written by the Ministry of Education and Child Care.

It doesn’t even matter what the School Act says.

The Human Rights Code supersedes everything.

The Supreme Court of Canada has already made it crystal clear. It supersedes all laws.

Insurance Corporation of British Columbia v. Heerspink, 1982 CanLII 27 (SCC), [1982] 2 SCR 145

“The Human Rights Code of British Columbia

When the subject matter of a law is said to be the comprehensive statement of the “human rights” of the people living in that jurisdiction,

[Page 158]

then there is no doubt in my mind that the people of that jurisdiction have through their legislature clearly indicated that they consider that law, and. the values it endeavours to buttress and protect, are, save their constitutional laws, more important than all others. Therefore, short of that legislature speaking to the contrary in express and unequivocal language in the Code or in some other enactment, it is intended that the Code supersede all other laws when conflict arises.”

Even the Accessible BC Act.

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/…/accessibility/legislation/summary

Scroll down to almost the bottom.

“Why doesn’t the law mention the Human Rights Code?

In British Columbia, the Human Rights Code prevails over all other laws. This is written in the Human Rights Code. Repeating this in the proposed law would not change this and may cause further confusion.“

Not all education staff are aware of human rights and specifically human rights and how it is applied in education.

I offer you three links of education law.

Duty to Accommodate – https://www.kbpath.com/information/

Education Law – https://www.kbpath.com/education-law/

Understanding Exclusion – https://www.speakingupbc.com/understanding-exclusion/

All of our human rights education law is written in case law created by tribunal members when they make their decisions.

Yes, our children are protected by the human rights code, but these rights are not limitless. Our children’s rights are protected as they are DEFINED under the human rights code.

That means their rights are limited by the legal test that the BC Human Rights Tribunal uses, under the Code. You are not allowed to discriminate against our kids in school, without a bona fide and reasonable justification. And that leads us to read case law to find out, what that means. Lots of case law. That leads us to the Duty to Accommodate to explain what the school is responsible for and what we are responsible for.

So that means…

If the school is quoting their school district policy about not having parents attend an IEP meeting, that will conflict with the duty to meaningful consultation that is defined by case law. Hewko v. B.C., 2006 BCSC 1638 para 343-361.

It doesn’t matter what policy says what, they need to engage in meaningful consultation with us, as defined by human rights law.

In the same breath, I can assure you, that teacher classroom autonomy does not supersede the human rights code. So no matter what teachers think about their classroom autonomy rights, the Human Rights Code supersedes all of that, and your child’s human rights are above their preferences of how they manage their classroom.

It really is a systemic failure that education staff know so little about human rights and their responsibilities. It shouldn’t fall on parents to teach them this.

Accommodations are not extras. They aren’t optional. They aren’t earned with good behaviour. Your child’s teacher has the legal responsibility to provide your child with an equitable education. Period.

If you feel your child is facing discrimination, not getting the accommodations they need and the school isn’t consulting with you, use human rights law to advocate for your right to be consulted with regarding your child’s education. And, if you want to file a human rights complaint, I suggest you contact the BC Human Rights Clinic for help.

Schools fall under the SERVICE category.

*********

Discrimination in accommodation, service and facility

8   (1)A person must not, without a bona fide and reasonable justification,

(a)deny to a person or class of persons any accommodation, service or facility customarily available to the public, or

(b)discriminate against a person or class of persons regarding any accommodation, service or facility customarily available to the public

because of the Indigenous identity, race, colour, ancestry, place of origin, religion, marital status, family status, physical or mental disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or age of that person or class of persons.

(2)A person does not contravene this section by discriminating

(a)on the basis of sex, if the discrimination relates to the maintenance of public decency or to the determination of premiums or benefits under contracts of life or health insurance, or

(b)on the basis of physical or mental disability or age, if the discrimination relates to the determination of premiums or benefits under contracts of life or health insurance.

************

To read case law decisions connected to human rights law, visit www.speakingupbc.com and go to my Human Rights Decisions (Cases) tab. This is not all cases, but I think it’s a great starting point.

Human rights-based advocacy is our sword and our shield.

#Education#Advocacy#HumanRights#Disability

Dear Advocates,

This needs a re-post!

I want to share an important story with you all. I LOVE animal documentaries. Absolutely love them. There is so much information about how life works, by watching and learning from nature. For example, Elephants walk incredible distances, and as they move, they change their environment in major ways. One way is by knocking over and tearing up dead trees that end up falling into waterways. As they do this, there is a fish species that depends on these logs to create nurseries to lay their eggs so they are protected. Without these dead trees in the water, their eggs would be eaten. This fish species is only able to survive because elephants pass through their area.

Every single person in this group who is part of a PAC, or advocacy organization, if you are supporting someone else in their advocacy efforts, if you are working as a professional, or if you are advocating for your own child, we are all elephants. We have no idea the impact our advocacy is making. We are tearing down dead trees, and just like how the elephants have no idea the impact they are having on this fish species….we will actually never know, truly….how deep or helpful to others our advocacy is impacting. (Hint: schools also systematically do things so you feel you are hitting a wall, and they never want you to know how powerful you actually are.)

If you are having a day, a week, or a month, of wondering if you are getting anywhere, or you are wondering if what you are doing is pointless. Always, remember the elephants. Your work is having an impact. Conversations change people. You are making a difference. You are helping other people. You may not see the impact immediately or ever, but everything we all do builds. It’s the little things that matter. Keep going elephants. The school year is almost coming to an end.

(I originally wrote this in the spring.) So, actually….. the school year is just beginning.

“You Can Run on Anger”

“Anger is a motivator

You can’t run on anything else

You can run on anger

It doesn’t need to be fed

It doesn’t need to sleep…

You want to get something done,

Get good and angry“

–Into the Fire (Netflix, Sept, 2024)

This is what a mother is saying during the intro of a Netflix series. It’s about her daughter who went missing and she is saying her daughter’s case was never investigated. She said she was going to find her daughter. If she had to walk God’s green earth, she would do it. She was talking about how before all this happened, she never even knew how to use a computer. She unravelled the mystery.

It’s interesting to me all of the skills we learn and how fast we are willing to step into the unknown when it’s for our kids.

One common thing that I think parents who file human rights complaints all have in common, on some varying levels, is anger.

A violation has occurred.

A trust violation.

We run on anger.

Anger truly is a motivator. Embrace it. It will be the gas in your gas tank.

Anger is like trying to tame a wild beast. Riding a bull. You need to focus it. Get real good. Find an outlet. Like a release valve. But focus that energy. Don’t focus that energy onto people. Channel that anger into MOVEMENT and LEARNING. It needs to flow. It can’t stay buried. It will fester. Breathe in. Breathe out. Learning breathing in, movement breathing out.

People accomplish things they never dreamed they could do. Make it work FOR you.

I love the quote, “Action is the antidote to despair” – Activist Joan Baez

The failing education system is a brewing pot of angry parents. The number of human rights complaints is increasing. (The financial costs of human rights complaints in public education). Is the Ministry of Education and Child Care paying attention yet? The scarcity in education is breathing the oxygen into the fire.

Trust me.

You can run on anger.

Daycare Termination and Disability

RE: New Human Rights Case linked to daycare and termination of daycare services due to a perceived disability.

Since we all have most likely struggled with daycare issues at some point, I am posting this case.

It is a very interesting case. A situation that parents find themselves trapped in way too often.

The child hasn’t been diagnosed yet.

They suspect he might have ADHD/Autism. Their daycare terminated services.

The mother is self-representing.

This is a dismissal application.

She won.

Her case is continuing to a hearing/mediation meeting.

[1] In September 2020, at the age of two, the Child began attending the Daycare. On around October 22, 2020, the Daycare informed the Child’s parents that it would no longer provide childcare services to the Child. Services ended one month later, around November 20, 2020. The Mother brings this complaint on behalf of the Child. The complaint alleges the Daycare discriminated against the Child when it terminated its services because it perceived him to have a mental disability and because he is a Jehovah Witness, contrary to s. 8 of the Human Rights Code [Code] which prohibits discrimination in services.

[2] The Daycare denies discriminating. It states it terminated services to the Child in accordance with its “Childcare Discharge Policy” because the Daycare was unable to provide the Child with the level of care he required, and not for any reasons related to a real or perceived mental disability or to his religion. The Daycare also says that even if the Child’s perceived mental disability was a factor in the termination, it was justified in ending the childcare service it provided to the Child because the Child engaged in harmful and aggressive behaviour that put the safety of other children at risk. It asks the Tribunal for an order dismissing the complaint against it under s. 27(1)(c).

[3] The issues I must decide are:

a. whether there is no reasonable prospect the Child will succeed in proving the Daycare perceived him to have a disability and, if so, whether the perceived disability factored into the termination of services;

b. if so whether the Daycare is reasonably certain to prove it was justified in its decision to terminate services; and

c. whether there is no reasonable prospect the Child will succeed in proving his religion factored into the termination of services.

[4] For the following reasons, I deny the application. To make this decision, I have considered all the information filed by the parties. In these reasons, I only refer to what is necessary to explain my decision. I make no findings of fact.

**** This makes me wonder about education settings. Can the school just perceive them to have a disability?

Can they be protected under the Code without a diagnosis yet?

We also have another case where the teenager was bullied due to sexual orientation and he won his case, even though he is heterosexual. It didn’t matter. He was treated and bullied as if he belonged to the protected group.
Jubran v. Board of Trustees, 2002 BCHRT 10 (CanLII)
For summary and key highlights https://www.speakingupbc.com/bullying/

These two cases are examples of a perceived disability/protected ground. There is room here for these to be used in an argument in an educational setting. Whether the tribunal will accept it or not is another question.



Here is the full decision with all of the details.

https://www.bchrt.bc.ca/…/decisions/recent/2024-bchrt-251/

New Page – Section 177 – School Act. Can I appeal?

Have you been served a letter from your child’s school connected to section 177 of the School Act?

I have added a new page on my website inspired by the new Ombudsperson BC decision that was posted publicly on their website regarding school districts providing parents with information on how to appeal.

To find my page, it is located under the Education Advocacy Options tab.

Section 177

Systemic Imacts of Scarcity in Education

(This post I originally wrote and posted on July 16th, 2021. The education system is even more scarce and struggling now than when I wrote it. People in the trenches know that it is getting worse. Not better. The crisis is now. I feel this needs a re-post.)

I want to bring up the subject of scarcity and the concept of applying the impacts of limited resources in the education system. It could be physical, social, emotional, or mental scarcity.

Limited resources change how people interact and behave at the most primal survival levels. There are already many scholarly reports on how scarcity affects decision-making and neuropathways.  Scarcity is when there are limited resources and people are not getting what they need.  Animal and human behaviour will change in these environments. When something is scarce, people will put a higher value on it. People will use social capital, aggression, secrecy or whatever strategies they can to obtain those limited resources for their own unfulfilled needs. This is evolution and not a personality deficit.

Whittling the education system to bare bones and creating an environment of such limited resources will turn Mary Poppins into Cruella Deville in just a few months. Work environments can become toxic. Communication and information among staff can be used as a source of power.  Confidentiality among staff can be used as a social manipulation tool to build a sense of belonging or exclusion.  Subgroups become even more exclusive. People are being set up to fail. It’s not personal. It’s systemic design. Evolutionary instincts will kick in, and not the kind ones. Stress bubbles will burst. People will snap. Children included. Recruiting and retaining quality educators for any length of time will be challenging. This will have more of an impact on students with disabilities and those in marginalized communities. I repeat. This will have MORE of an impact on students with disabilities and those in marginalized communities.

Understaffing is a form of scarcity. When there aren’t enough people to fill the job duties that are required for functioning, and people need to step over their own job description boundaries to fill in for other people’s work, that has multiple direction points of impact. If it’s chronic, then you’ll see the ripple effects of scarcity.  Work environments will become “unhealthy” and over time people will become very dissatisfied with their work, ultimately pushing them out of the system and creating a deeper wedge in the cycle and it just goes on and on.  Underqualified staff just filling “the body” in the role, is not the solution.  Take a look at the number of job postings for school districts and take a look at the ones that are just continuously on repeat.  The districts are all in the same basket. They are even competing with each other trying to coax staff out of each other cities with advertisements.

School districts are extremely complex human systems. The number of connections and moving parts is overwhelming to me when I try to put this system into a visual representation. It looks like a large spiderweb post-wind storm. Not only do I look at all of the individual parts when I look at a system, but it’s the connections and relationships and what is generated out of those connections that also make my head spin. Now put this very complex system in a situation of scarcity. This has disaster written all over it.

The alarming fact is that the direction the current climate of education in this province is heading, will require people to become even more competitive over the limited resources. Money won’t solve all of society’s problems; however, chronic underfunding is definitely the fuel to this education fire…amongst other things.

Brainstorming exercise:

Let’s list all of the resources that someone seeks in the education system. (I will list a few, but really, I am hoping to encourage the conversation and for people to start making their own lists)

Resources in education. (Staff and students)

  • Social relationships- support, sense of belonging, attention, power, purpose
  • Mental stimulation, communication, information, choice, adequate training, knowledge, context & meaning…blog about context and meaning for students coming in the near future!
  • Physical space, food, water, access to washroom, fresh air, safety…and yes all of this applies to staff too!!
  • Access to tools to complete tasks/goals with success
  • Time to process, time to complete work, alone time, enough sleep – proper work hours (homework or class planning)
  • Currency – (staff) to access resources in their personal life and avoid scarcity

Now take all of those resources to function. Put someone in a situation of abundance. All the time in the world, lots of attention, all the communication and information they need to understand their environment. Now take the minimum of what you need and cut it in half.  Survival mode kicks in. You will have very different people on your hands.

If people have options, they will leave the system. We all have our breaking point.

Who is controlling the resources of this system?

Provincial systemic issues, are going to need a provincial intervention approach, and will require a provincial response.  Let’s start with some resources, shall we?

Adequate funding, please.

The education system needs an investment.

Let’s Talk about Hindsight!

How is hindsight an important issue to understand in education?

Well, if anyone is going to claim that their child is experiencing discrimination and go through the human rights tribunal process, a defence the school could use is “hindsight” .


Student by Parent v. School District BCHRT 237
[99]           Next, in B v. School District, 2019 BCHRT 170, the evidence supported that the school district provided the child with the recommended supports and accommodations. The Tribunal found that it was “only with hindsight” that it was possible to say that the child could have benefited from more support: para. 81. It dismissed the complaint in part because there was insufficient evidence to demonstrate that the school district reasonably ought to have known that the child required more: para. 98. In contrast here, I have found that the District had sufficient information to trigger some kind of inquiry or response beyond asking the Student how she was doing and, assuming the counsellor did this, advising of available supports.

They will claim “We didn’t know.”

So you know what that means.

Parent(s)/guardians need to be VERY communicative with the school and be telling them that:

  1. Your child is struggling.
  2. Their struggle is connected to school.
  3. How their child is struggling.
  4. How this struggle is connected to their disability.

So, we just need to be emailing constantly.

Whether they respond to those emails is another blog. But we have to have evidence that they were VERY aware and they can’t claim they didn’t know.

By communicating our child is struggling we will trigger MEANINGFUL INQUIRY.

It is very

very

very

very important that we are communicating with them.

Schools are increasingly not wanting to put communication in emails and instead, they are wanting phone calls or meetings.

But that doesn’t stop us from sending emails and creating a paper trail and documenting what is happening.

So send those emails. cc: lots of people.

Again.

Again.

and again.

It doesn’t matter what they do or say.

Regardless. Just keep sending those emails and creating that paper trail.

Regarding documentation. Click the blog Why is Documentation so Important?

Barriers! Barriers! Barriers!

When we discuss equity, accessibility the human rights code and accessibility legislation it is ALLLL about removing barriers.

Therefore when we advocate for our kids, any advocacy grounded in rights-based advocacy is going to focus on barriers.

1. Human Rights Code

    In X by Y v. Board of Education of School District No. Z, 2024 BCHRT 72

    Not all negative experiences are discrimination.

    [110] ….I accept that these incidents which X relayed to Y were upsetting to X. I appreciate that the interactions may have fed into X’s general feelings of unease at school, but the fact alone that these events may have happened is not enough, in itself, to establish that X’s disability factored into them. Not all negative experiences are discrimination. Even accepting that these incidents occurred, I did not hear evidence that could establish, on a balance of probabilities, that X’s disability was a factor in the conduct of the adults involved in these interactions.

    The test, is whether barriers have been reasonably removed.

    [142] Y has said that the learning support provided throughout X’s education has not been enough for X to “reach the same level as his peers or possibly excel”. The District’s obligation is reasonable not perfect accommodation. As I have said above, reasonable accommodation is not necessarily measured by whether a student is meeting or exceeding certain standardized learning goals but rather by whether barriers have been removed to provide meaningful access to education.

    2. Also, accessibility legislation THE ACCESSIBLE BC ACT

    Barriers

    2   (1)For the purposes of this Act, a barrier is anything that hinders the full and equal participation in society of a person with an impairment.

    (2)For certainty and without limiting subsection (1), barriers can be

    (a)caused by environments, attitudes, practices, policies, information, communications or technologies, and

    (b)affected by intersecting forms of discrimination.

    So…… what are barriers?



    As outlined from the Onatario’s Unviersity Accessibility Campus (2017) There are 5 Barriers

    Attitudinal Barriers – are behaviours, perceptions and assumptions that discriminate against persons with disabilities. These barriers often emerge from a lack of understanding, which can lead people to ignore, to judge, or have misconceptions about a person with a disability.

    Organizational or systemic barriers are policies, procedures or practices that unfairly discriminate and can prevent individuals from participating fully in a situation. Organizational or systemic barriers are often put into place unintentionally.

    Architectural or physical barriers are elements of buildings or outdoor spaces that create barriers to persons with disabilities. These barriers relate to elements such as the design of a building’s stairs or doorways, the layout of rooms, or the width of halls and sidewalks.

    Information or communications barriers occur when sensory disabilities, such as hearing, seeing or learning disabilities, have not been considered. These barriers relate to both the sending and receiving of information.

    Technological barriers occur when a device or technological platform is not accessible to its intended audience and cannot be used with an assistive device. Technology can enhance the user experience, but it can also create unintentional barriers for some users. Technological barriers are often related to information and communications barriers.

    Communicating with the school

    When communicating your communiation with the school it is the responsbility of the school to investigate what the barriers are. And to figure out how to remove them. Then they need to monitor, and adapt until the barriers are removed.

    You need to express to the school your child is struggling and how they are struggling. Communiating what you are seeing and dealing with and what your concerns are, is key to trigger this inquiry.

    Their investigation responsibilities is connected to “Meaningful Inquiry”.
    Student (by Parent) v. School District, 2023 BCHRT 237
    Summary of the Case with key highlights

    [100]      In short, I agree with the District that the Parent and Student were obliged to bring forward information relating to accommodation. The Parent did that, when she communicated that the Student had anxiety and trichotillomania and that school was taking a significant toll on her physical and mental health. That information should have been enough to prompt a meaningful inquiry by the school to identify what was triggering the Student’s symptoms and what supports or accommodations may be appropriate to ensure she was able to meaningfully and equitably access her education. The failure to take that step was, in my view, not reasonable. As a result, the disability-related impacts on the Student, arising from conditions in her Language 10 class between April 24 and June 27, 2019, have not been justified and violate s. 8 of the Human Rights Code.

    Their responsibiliy to monitor and adapt
    Summary of Case with key highlights

    [120] Ultimately, on a balance of probabilities, I am satisfied that the District discharged its duty to accommodate X in his grade 2 year by reviewing the Diagnosis Report, developing an IEP, making various support people and strategies available that were incorporated into the classroom and outside, reviewing progress and changes, and adapting its approach in response……

    Accommodations are ramps, open doorways, open windows, bridges and all other symbolic connections you can think of that all mean the same thing. It’s a way to level the playing field and provide a child with the same opportunity as anyone else. To remove a barrier. To give someone a chance. To not create more obstacles in their path than anyone else.