Great to hear that Goa now has a Deaf Blind institution in Saligao with 65 residents.
In Ontario, as more and more blind and visually impaired (the latter being a less severe affliction) children’s parents choose home schools, the W Ross MacDonald School for the Blind in Brantford Ontario now serves more and more Deaf Blind children rather than Blind alone. The Brantford School which has a large campus, magnificent buildings and the latest facilities, is a provincially owned and run residential school for Blind students in all of Ontario who choose to go there. Children from Toronto and nearby areas are bussed home every weekend and those in more remote northern and eastern Ontario towns are flown every weekend, all at government expense. Parents could chose either this one central school or they could choose public or Catholic schools in their neighbourhood that are served by itinerant teachers who are dedicated to these Blind kids. Most parents chose the Brantford school because of facilities and experienced teachers. Now however more and more students are choosing neighbourhood schools and the Brantford school has gradually had to change focus from Blind to Deaf-Blind. There was always a small Deaf-Blind separate wing and building but now it it expanding to premises occupied previously by the Blind section alone. Teaching Deaf-Blind children is a very specialized and challenging skill. Most of these children will find it difficult to ever find employment and therefore emphasis has to be on only basic education, independent living and volunteering where they can in later life. Their needs will be met by a government pension and by legacies from family. So they are really taught to play with whatever stacked deck that life has handed to them. Canada is a wonderful country compared even to the USA in this respect and though not by any means perfect, children and people with disabilities live the independent lives they wish to. This country truly believes that the human chain is as strong as its weakest links. Roland Francis Scarborough.
