Families meet with the Hon. Becky Druhan advocating for services for Nova Scotia’s blind youth
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
HALIFAX, NS – Today, Thursday, August 24, families met with Honorable Becky Druhan, Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development for the Province of Nova Scotia. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss recent programming changes by the Atlantic Provinces Special Education Authority (APSEA) and their negative impacts on Nova Scotia’s blind and partially sighted youth.
Represented by Richard Mamye and Caelin Lloyd, families shared the immense value of residential short-term programs and assessment services previously offered by APSEA.
Short-term programs are immersive training opportunities at APSEA’s Halifax campus where students are surrounded by professionals in the field of blindness, and peers experiencing sight loss.
“Assessment services are vital,” says Meaghan Mamye, mother of an eight-year-old child with sight loss. “APSEA’s psychoeducational assessments gave educators everything.”
APSEA previously employed teams specializing in providing psychoeducational assessments to children and youth with sight loss. Because blind and partially sighted children develop differently than their sighted peers, most psychologists will not assess children with sight loss.
Families thank the Minister for meeting with us. It is our hope that together we can move the needle on these important issues, so our children aren’t left further behind.
Inquiries
Please direct all inquiries to:
Caelin Lloyd
Caelin@desk.nsssa.ca
Congratulations to all in keeping this issue at the fore front.
Really disappointed that ASEA, who is supposed to truly understand the unique needs of their families and students has completely disregarded the need for opportunities for students to learn from one another and for families to support each other.
To the minister, please don’t let this important issue fall between the cracks.