'It's absolutely devastating': parents of deaf children react to cuts

Deaf and hard of hearing children and their parents are planning to protest governmentservice cutstoday at 4 p.m. CST in Saskatoon.

Meanwhile, an online petition against the cutsstarted by Saskatoon high school student Mary-Jayne Morris has attracted more than 1,500 signatures.

• 'I will be living a life in silence': Sask. teen speaking out against cuts to hearing aid program

The provincial government announced on budget day last month that it would phase outthe hearing aid plan in order to save $3 million.

Claudia Baptiste said elimination of the plan will hurt her12-year-old son, Zachary, and hundreds of families across the province.

"I'm a parent of a child that has severe hearing loss. For me, the cut to the hearing aid plan is just ...it's very sad. It's such a needed, needed service," saidBaptiste,president of the volunteeradvocacy group Saskatchewan A.G. Bell.

The government says the private sector can fill the need and low-income families will still receive benefits and subsidies.

Private audiologists agreed with thegovernment in anews release issued Thursday. They saidA.G. Bell isspreading "misinformation."

Groups accuse each other of spreading misinformation

"Public sector and private audiologists, along with groups like A.G. Bell should instead be focused on working with the government of Saskatchewan to ensure that services remain focused on the patient, and not on providers," stated the release, signed by 11 private sector audiologists from cities around the province.

Baptiste and others say the government and the private, for-profit companiesare the ones spreading misinformation, and issued their own statement.

"Saskatchewan children's communication skills will be at risk, which in turn will affect their literacy levels, academic success and social & emotional well-being," said the A G Bell statement.

They note Saskatchewan has fewer public audiologists per capita than any other province. It's one of the only provinces without comprehensive hearing tests for newborns. And it received one of the worst grades ina recent national studyfor its treatment of the deaf and hard of hearing.

The protest takes place outside the Hearing Aid Plan offices at the Sturdy Stone Centre on Third Avenue.
The cuts are due to take effect July 1.