THE families of two deaf
Queensland children are suing the state Government for
failing to provide them with an adequate education.
The action comes as experts warn that the literacy levels
of deaf children are dropping dramatically.
The parents of a 10-year-old boy attending state school
on the Sunshine Coast want $500,000 in compensation
because their son has the reading ability of a
five-year-old.
Kim and Jon Devlin are taking the legal action, along
with Gail Smith and Jeff Hurst, whose six-year-old
daughter, Tiahna, needs a full-time interpreter at primary
school at Coolum.
The families faced the federal court in Brisbane last
week for the start of a seven-day hearing of the case
after fighting for the services for more than 2 1/2 years.
Ms Devlin said her son Ben, who is severely deaf, was
in grade six at Noosaville Primary School, but able to
read only at grade one level.
She said her son's maths skills were equivalent to a
grade three child despite attending the school's special
education unit.
"It's been hard on the family . . . having to see
how he copes, his anxiety problem he has at the
moment," she said outside court.
Ms Smith, who is seeking compensation for future
learning needs for her daughter, who is in grade one, has
urged the Government to teach the nationally recognised
Auslan sign language system.
"I just want Tiahna and Ben to get the education
they are entitled to," she said.
"She comes home upset because she doesn't
understand the rules of the game or she doesn't know what
was talked about in the classroom. I think it is
absolutely heartless and cruel to deaf children. She loses
her self-confidence as a person and it breaks your heart
as a mother.
"I just want to get her the same information as
the hearing kids in the classroom."
The legal action has the backing of Queensland Deaf
Society, which has called current services inadequate.
"The education outcomes for deaf and hearing
impaired children are less than they should be," the
society's regional services manager Keri Gilbert said
outside court.
"We would like the Government to listen to
parents."
A leading expert in deaf literacy Linda Komasaroff told
the inquiry the literacy of Australia's deaf children was
falling by half a grade a year, with teaching accuracy
reaching atrocious levels.
She described the system of signed English taught in
Australian schools as "impoverished" during
evidence in the federal court case in Brisbane.
She said teaching accuracy had fallen to eight per cent
in primary schools across the nation.
Dr Komasaroff wants Auslan – which is used by the
federal court – taught as a first language ahead of
English to deaf Australian children.
She told the court the "visual" and
"expressive" language system was supported by
the nation's deaf community and was as easy to teach as a
foreign language.
However, she said teachers were resisting the system
– which had no written form – and schools were
blocking parents eager to change.
"Most of the world is bilingual or multilingual .
. . we seem to be in the minority in Australia," Dr
Komasaroff told the court under cross-examination.
She said Auslan had improved literacy levels in Sweden
and Canada, where deaf and hearing teachers fronted the
same classroom.
AAP
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