Today's letters: Ottawa public school board must not erode support for special needs kids

Saturday, May 18: The school board has said big changes are coming — and that is making some parents nervous. You can write to us too, at [email protected]

Published May 18, 2024 • Last updated 7 hours ago • 10 minute read

The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board building on Greenbank Road. The board says changes are coming; some parents are worried they’re already here. Photo by Tony Caldwell /POSTMEDIA

Special needs kids are already suffering at the OCDSB

Re: Big changes could be coming to OCDSB elementary schools. Here’s what you should know, May 13.

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Changes could be coming and some programs may be cut? This is already happening for children with special needs.

Ottawa-Carleton District School Board director Pino Buffone and board chair Lynn Scott’s desire for children to go to their local school, with an eye towards those who have been underserved, is certainly not reflected in recent changes happening in our community with regards to full-time special education classes.

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“The objective is to provide more support and better service that’s not so far away,” your article quotes Scott as saying. “It depends on whether we can find ways to serve students properly in their local school.”

The only school in all of Orléans that offers special programming for children with mild intellectual disabilities for Grades 4 to 8 is no longer accepting students and is now phasing out the program altogether. My daughter will be graduating from the Primary Special Needs class at Forest Valley Elementary School in our community at the end of this year. Instead of joining her older friends and former classmates in the General Learning Program (GLP) for students with a mild intellectual disability at Trillium Elementary, she will be driven nearly halfway across town to attend school in Overbrook.

Mr. Buffone and Ms. Scott, is that your idea of better service that’s not so far away?

Decisions have been made. Changes — detrimental to the most vulnerable children — are happening now. The erosion of special education programs and services in the OCDSB must be stopped before they are all phased out and children who simply cannot be integrated into regular classrooms have no place left to go.

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Cory Warmington, Orléans

Classes for the gifted are desperately needed

As a clinical psychologist who assessed and works with gifted children, and a giftedness researcher, I can state that data shows that the school board is wrong in saying that congregated classrooms don’t meet the needs of gifted children. In fact, the teachers in those programs work well with all the daily challenges that gifted children face: perfectionism, emotional over-sensitivities, asynchronous development. In a regular classroom, particularly profoundly gifted kids don’t feel understood by their teachers or their peers. They can disengage from learning and be more at risk for mental-health concerns. Gifted classrooms are so desperately needed.

Further, if the board really wants to focus on Equity, Diversity, Inclusivity and Belonging, it should use universal gifted screening, with a culturally sensitive measure (Naglieri measure of intellectual functioning). This way, children of all backgrounds wouldn’t languish unidentified with unmet learning and socio-emotional needs associated with giftedness.

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Dr. Laura Armstrong, full professor, Saint Paul University, Ottawa

Raising speed limits isn’t a good idea

Re: What to expect with Ontario’s 110 km/h speed limit on highways, May 2.

Speeding makes crashes more likely — and more likely to be deadly. Fast driving is a serious safety problem.

The laws of physics are unforgiving to speeding drivers. The faster a vehicle is moving, the less time the driver has to react to a hazard and the less time for other road users to react to that vehicle.

Speed is a factor in more than 20 per cent of fatal crashes and 12 per cent of all crashes. As speed increases over 100 km/h, the fatality rate of vehicle occupants goes up exponentially. For example, the chances of being killed in a vehicle travelling at 120 km/h are four times higher than at 100 km/h.

When a car crashes near 200 km/h, the chances of survival are minimal. And speed of impact is critical for pedestrians, the most vulnerable road users.

A 1995 European Transport Safety Council report found that only five per cent of pedestrians died when struck by a vehicle at 32 km/h; fatalities increased to 85 per cent at 64 km/h.

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Emile Therien, past president, Canada Safety Council, Ottawa

Why no warnings about speed cameras?

I’m concerned about the increasing number of speed cameras in our city. While the city claims they’re for public safety, the revenue generated suggests otherwise.

The high fines and frequent ticketing, along with rising vandalism against the cameras, highlight citizen discontent. If safety is truly the priority, the city should consider alternative measures. For instance, installing speed-warning signs accompanied by friendly reminders (such as a smile sign for drivers adhering to speed limits) ahead of speed cameras could effectively encourage drivers to slow down while penalizing those who engage in reckless behaviour. It’s worth noting that these signs are already installed in certain areas but notably absent where speed cameras are present.

Failing to prioritize safety over revenue risks eroding public trust.

Sincerely, Frank Lee, Ottawa

Much of health care is unaffordable

Re: The doctor shortage will strain mental-health care even more, May 8.

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I can attest to the veracity of Justin Bergamini’s thoughtful piece on mental health. I suffer from depression and anxiety. My psychiatrist of many years is retiring soon. There were no other psychiatrists to refer me to, so he referred me to an excellent psychologist.

There are two problems with this. The psychologist can’t supervise my medications, so my family doctor has agreed to do it. Not all family doctors would agree to this. And so many people don’t have a family doctor.

But the psychologist costs $210 an hour. Thank goodness we have an excellent private health plan, so that covers some of it. Most of what I need is covered, but if I were to be in a crisis, the coverage would soon run out.

So many people have either no private coverage or inadequate coverage for such costs, leaving them high and dry. The same is true for physiotherapy and other forms of “non-medical” but essential health care.

These costs should all be paid for by OHIP. People can’t stay well or get better if they can’t afford the costs. The result is that problems escalate and people end up in hospital, a much more costly solution.

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Patty Deline, Ottawa

Alice Munro’s perseverance is a lesson for writers

Re: The Gift that was Alice Munro, May 15.

When she was starting her writing career, Alice Munro applied for a Canada Council grant to pay for babysitters while she wrote but she was turned down. She persevered and eventually became recognized nationally, internationally and even went on to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Apart from Munro’s talent, it might be a lesson to would-be writers to never give up or give in, because those in privileged, decision-making power positions are not always adequately well-informed and do not always render the correct decision.

Douglas Cornish, Ottawa

Don’t forget Rex Murphy’s student activism

Re: Rex Murphy, the sharp-witted intellectual who loved Canada, dies at 77, May 9.

Rex Murphy was indeed a Canadian icon with a long, varied and distinguished career. However, none of the articles and tributes I have read so far has mentioned his accomplishments as a student activist in the 1960s. Those with long memories will recall that he took on Premier Joey Smallwood over the issue of student tuition, with the result being free tuition for all university students in Newfoundland.

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It is unclear how many people would describe Rex Murphy as a role model for student activists. However, it cannot be denied that he was as effective in that role as he was in the many other roles he assumed in his lifetime.

George McLaughlin, Ottawa

Rex Murphy shared wit and humour

I had the privilege of hearing Rex Murphy speak at the Canadian Nurses’ Association conference in St. John’s in the 1990s. He joked that he had run as a candidate in the federal election and had come in fourth, although there were only three names on the ballot. A realtor had signs up around town and he received more votes than Rex Murphy. He had such a wit.

Frances Legault, Ottawa

Please drag Treasury Board out of the 1960s

Re: Federal unions fighting back against three-day in-office mandate for public servants, May 8.

An old friend is now a professor at Oxford University, but only teaches part of the year. The rest of his work can be done from anywhere so, when not at Oxford, he works from home in Chicago.

My stepson works for an international high-tech company. When COVID hit, the company permanently closed its Ottawa office. Everyone now works from home full-time.

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In information-based sectors of our economy, people can work from home. When will Treasury Board be dragged, kicking and screaming, out of its 1960s-era model of the office workplace, which it assume applies to everyone?

Jim Grose, Edwards, Ont.

Passport Office deserves praise

In recent weeks, I have seen lots of criticism of the Passport Office in online comments and letters to the editor. I just received my passport 20 working days after I mailed the application in — exactly as advertised. I called once and had 231 people in front of me but this number was updated every minute. I was able to concentrate on other things until an hour later only a few people were ahead of me.

A friend of mine needed a passport in three days, stood in line, got served and got her passport within that timeframe by paying an extra fee.

Kudos to the Passport Office for excellent service.

Don Grant, Ottawa

Tough-on-crime has no real basis

Re: Canada is spiralling into disorder under catch-and-release bail policies, May 14.

That’s the hue and cry of Conservatives who think that crime could be solved if there were harsher punishments. May I remind everyone that we abolished capital punishment in 1976, and the last execution was in 1962? It has been shown that this ultimate punishment does not result in less murder, and Canada’s murder rate is low compared to that of other countries who still have the death penalty. Stephen Harper stated he supported the death penalty.

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The recent car chase that ended in five tragic deaths was not because the individual was out on bail, but was the result from the chase itself. The police acted like it was routine to chase down an alleged robbery by driving squad cars at maximum speed — going against traffic — on a major highway. Police can be authorized to do exactly that, but rational thought would never have allowed it.

Does tough-on-crime reduce crime? If Canada is too soft, and “spiralling out of control,” then why are our crime rates relatively low compared to those of similar countries that are tougher on crime? In fact, Toronto and Vancouver are seen as some of the safest cities in the world.

Peter Haley, Ottawa

Driving bans simply don’t work

Re: Ontario to introduce lifetime driving bans for repeat car thieves, May 15.

This is nothing more than a worthless, feel-good effort.

If you read Tasha Kheiriddin’s column about Canada spiralling into disorder, you can see that driving bans simply so not work. She mentions only three persons driving under a ban: Gagandeep Singh, who recently killed four persons driving the wrong way on a highway while trying to escape police; Nirmal Singh (no relation), who was arrested for ignoring his fourth lifetime driving ban; and Rafael Maia, who received a two-year sentence after ignoring nine lifetime driving bans. All three also had committed numerous criminal offences.

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Criminals, including car thieves, simply ignore driving bans because there is no incentive to obey the rules. Rather than wasting the time and money on this new legislation, we need stronger bail laws and incarceration of repeat offenders. Until then, criminals will have no respect for the law.

Bob Hurter, Orléans

Climate change action is financially sound

As many Canadians grapple with the high cost of living and the climate crisis, it is worth noting that action on climate change makes sound financial sense, and many ways to reduce emissions also save money.

New research published in Nature concludes that the cost of environmental damage will be six times higher than the cost of limiting global warming to 2°C. It is important to do all we can starting now.
Choosing renewable energy instead of burning oil, gas or coal leads to more energy security and protects consumers from price fluctuations in the fossil-fuel market.

Renewables such as wind and solar have been the least expensive forms of electricity for years and are significantly cheaper than electricity produced by burning gas. The costs of solar and energy storage have dropped by more than 90 per cent over the past decade. The cost of onshore wind has gone down by more than 70 per cent in the same period.

The provinces with the lowest electricity costs are the ones that use the least oil, coal and gas.
Heat pumps are very efficient for heating and cooling, save money and reduce emissions.

Canadians should see which way the wind is blowing! Fight climate change!

Peter Schmolka, Ottawa

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