Attn: Currie Dixon, Chair Re: Comment on Department of Education Response Thank you for the opportunity for the Yukon T1D Support Network (the “Network”) to provide input into the Department of Education’s response to the Auditor General’s recommendations.
Since 2018, the Network has been trying to see implementation of Type 1 diabetes policies in K-12 schools, to no avail. The Network did again encourage the Department of Education to adopt said policies after release of the Report of the Auditor General of Canada to the Legislative Assembly of Yukon – Kindergarten Through Grade 12 Education in Yukon – Department of Education, in which it was recommended that the Department of Education conduct a review of services and supports for inclusive education. The Network was not invited to provide feedback on these recommendations, and was not met with response from the Department of Education when the Network asked for clarification on how “inclusive education” and “special needs” was defined by the Department. The Network did identify that a public survey made no mention of children with disease, a population that the Network believes warrants inclusion within parameters of inclusive education and special needs.
As the Network is being asked to provide comment on the current status of the Department of Education’s response to the Auditor General’s recommendations, and as this response fails to include the needs of children with disease, the Network’s comments are limited to criticism of the Department of Education for their failure to include children with disease within the framework of responses. Unto itself, this erasure is noteworthy. Consider the school experience of a child who is living with Type 1 diabetes.
It was super embarrassing. The coach told me that he didn’t know what to do with me. He said out loud that I couldn’t play because I didn’t have control over my own disease. He told me that I was old enough to do better and until I could do better I couldn’t play. I felt really ashamed and everything became a secret – I was super embarrassed to have diabetes and really didn’t want to go to school. I didn’t have anyone at school who understood what I was going through.
That this child felt that they had no support in their school is not isolated; the majority of youth or their families that receive support from the Network have stated there is often no support at school. From reprimands for eating necessary carbohydrate-rich snacks to limited recognition of signs of hypoglycemia, children in K-12 who have Type 1 diabetes are not receiving the support that they need. Inclusive education is not limited to one demographic, and certainly children who have health challenges should be made to feel safe and supported in their educational environments. That the Department of Education has thus far failed to incorporate their needs into broader improvement considerations shows either a calculated dismissal of these needs or an erroneous omission. In either case, the burden is on the Department of Education to update their response to include the needs of children who are living with disease. The Network is not only willing to assist the Department in this endeavor, but is committed to ensuring it is actually completed within a timely fashion.
In sum, the Network believes that the Department of Education’s response to the Auditor General’s recommendation that there be a full review of the services and supports for inclusive education is inadequate as it fails to incorporate the needs and perspectives of children with disease.
Marney Paradis, Chair Yukon T1D Support Network