The Arts are the LAST PLACE anyone with a disability should be excluded from. The visual arts are a universal language of expression for EVERYONE. My heart hurts.
Hi Katie, I'm a mother to a 12yo child with a very rare physical disability and I've been fighting this exhausting advocacy battle for quite some time. Thank you for putting into words the experience you had. It is not rare and sadly, it is also not surprising.
My thought here is that from a human rights perspective, 4Cats has a duty to accommodate to the point of undue hardship. The pedagogical desire for 4Cats to offer a learning environment free of adults does not supercede your daughter's right to access this class with the necessary support - quite the opposite. If you're up for pushing back, I'd be happy to offer support. I've successfully pushed back in other small businesses and had similar policies changed when they understood they were engaging in human rights discrimination against a protected group and that there are significant legal, reputational and financial ramifications if they choose to stay the course. Just because they are a small business, doesn't preclude them from Canadian human rights laws.
Sending big hugs your way. Thank you for using your voice.
Stay strong mama. You have many behind you who will help you make “good trouble” as you carry on this much needed advocacy. My heart hurts and my brain can’t wrap itself around the warped and misguided (not to mention illegal and immoral) thinking of the art audio. My heart sank deeper when I learned the studio is in Vancouver. I am so sorry.
A thought provoking read. It’s a shame as it would have been quite simple to have accepted your offer of supporting Kenzie for the session. Odd that they allow parents with children for weekend sessions, but not week night sessions? Wishing you all the best in finding a more accommodating art club.
Sparks leader (Girls Guides of Canada) and of a caregiver needs to be present they need to go through the full screening same as a parent helper. Any adult that is with an organized child group needs to have it. I would hope any program that my children at enrolled in would be monitoring what adults are present.
Just because an adult comes with a special needs child doesn't
automatically make that a safe adult. It's also needed if you want to volunteer as a driver with class field trips and take more than your own child.
“But art classes are not included in those examples”
yes it is if minors are being dropped off for any period of time being put in the care of a teacher/coach/event leader etc. To get insurance and run an art class (or any class) for minors you need to follow ratios for adults to minors ( number changes depending on age). Any adult associated with the class would have the required screenings done. Regardless if it’s just a silly class. This is done for anyone that is around children when that child does not have a 1-1 caregiver/parent/etc. WHICH is also why the family classes are not included in needing a CRC
It would be a shame if someone’s child was hurt that wasn’t attending the class with a 1-1 caregiver to watch them close the whole time. It would be worse if the child was hurt by someone else’s caregiver and it was found out the business hadn’t taken the proper precautions to ensure the children left in their care were safe …. Sounds like a big lawsuit.
Thank you for your perspective, but it doesn't relate to this essay at all. I encourage you to read my essay and understand the full scope of what I am drawing attention to. At no point have I talked about a Criminal Record Check - in fact, that was never even offered to our family as an option. This wasn't a 'silly art class.' This was an experience denied to my daughter because she is disabled, and no accommodations (not a record check, or a parent supporting, or a staff member supporting) were offered.
Apologies I didn’t mean to in anyway diminish the class. All classes should be fully accessible. I was trying to say that any class that is run by an instructor that is supervising unattended children, all adults in the room do need to be screened.
Explaining why a parent can’t attend with their child is very important and it seems to not have happened. But even if that parent or caregiver states they are only there for their child that’s not sufficient proof according to the law. The chances of a child being harmed are almost zero. Almost.
I want my children to have access to every awesome program and class in the world and I would fight tooth and nail to ensure that they had that chance. But I also want I know that they are safe with all who are also present. And that the instructor of that class is only focused on teaching my children and not also monitoring an unscreened adult caregiver.
I’m surprised none of this was communicated prior to the start class? I send an email to all new parents of my Ember group asking if anyone has assistance requests or issues. What if there had been an issue with the number of people in the building? I feel like a lot more communication on multiple fronts would have saved a lot of hurt from all sides.
No. You're wrong. You don't need a criminal record check to escort your child to a class. You only need a check if there's a chance you could be alone or working one on one with children who are not your own. 4 Cats is creating an artificial barrier through bad policy and a lack of understanding and compassion towards disabled people. Kenzie's need for another adult in the room does not infringe on the rights or safety of any other children. It would not have a negative impact on their experience of a "silly little art class". To imply that the needs of disabled people are too much for the rest of the world to handle is extremely harmful. You need to check yourself. Do some research instead of sliding into the comments of an exhausted mother.
From what Katie wrote, it doesn't sound like that was even a level the discussion moved to. I hear the stance you are taking with this but what if a CRC is something Katie already has? Or could go acquire in time to support her daughter in the peer class? Instead of "Take this crumb of a counter offer, we are not entertaining your request" how about "Let's brainstorm how we can make this happen, of course we want your awesome artist in the group."
The Arts are the LAST PLACE anyone with a disability should be excluded from. The visual arts are a universal language of expression for EVERYONE. My heart hurts.
I absolutely agree. It's a very upsetting situation, and one I hope gets changed and shifted towards true inclusion as a result of the attention.
Hi Katie, I'm a mother to a 12yo child with a very rare physical disability and I've been fighting this exhausting advocacy battle for quite some time. Thank you for putting into words the experience you had. It is not rare and sadly, it is also not surprising.
My thought here is that from a human rights perspective, 4Cats has a duty to accommodate to the point of undue hardship. The pedagogical desire for 4Cats to offer a learning environment free of adults does not supercede your daughter's right to access this class with the necessary support - quite the opposite. If you're up for pushing back, I'd be happy to offer support. I've successfully pushed back in other small businesses and had similar policies changed when they understood they were engaging in human rights discrimination against a protected group and that there are significant legal, reputational and financial ramifications if they choose to stay the course. Just because they are a small business, doesn't preclude them from Canadian human rights laws.
Sending big hugs your way. Thank you for using your voice.
Katie, I'll share this essay, for sure. May I send Kenzie a copy of my newest book when it's out in June? https://read.sourcebooks.com/down-syndrome-out-loud Thank you for writing this.
--Melissa
That would be wonderful 🤍
Stay strong mama. You have many behind you who will help you make “good trouble” as you carry on this much needed advocacy. My heart hurts and my brain can’t wrap itself around the warped and misguided (not to mention illegal and immoral) thinking of the art audio. My heart sank deeper when I learned the studio is in Vancouver. I am so sorry.
A thought provoking read. It’s a shame as it would have been quite simple to have accepted your offer of supporting Kenzie for the session. Odd that they allow parents with children for weekend sessions, but not week night sessions? Wishing you all the best in finding a more accommodating art club.
Yes, it would have been very easy to include Kenzie. Thank you for reading, I appreciate it very much 🤍
I needed to post about it on IG. As an artist I would love to work with ANY kids.
I'm an Ember and
Sparks leader (Girls Guides of Canada) and of a caregiver needs to be present they need to go through the full screening same as a parent helper. Any adult that is with an organized child group needs to have it. I would hope any program that my children at enrolled in would be monitoring what adults are present.
Just because an adult comes with a special needs child doesn't
automatically make that a safe adult. It's also needed if you want to volunteer as a driver with class field trips and take more than your own child.
“But art classes are not included in those examples”
yes it is if minors are being dropped off for any period of time being put in the care of a teacher/coach/event leader etc. To get insurance and run an art class (or any class) for minors you need to follow ratios for adults to minors ( number changes depending on age). Any adult associated with the class would have the required screenings done. Regardless if it’s just a silly class. This is done for anyone that is around children when that child does not have a 1-1 caregiver/parent/etc. WHICH is also why the family classes are not included in needing a CRC
It would be a shame if someone’s child was hurt that wasn’t attending the class with a 1-1 caregiver to watch them close the whole time. It would be worse if the child was hurt by someone else’s caregiver and it was found out the business hadn’t taken the proper precautions to ensure the children left in their care were safe …. Sounds like a big lawsuit.
Thank you for your perspective, but it doesn't relate to this essay at all. I encourage you to read my essay and understand the full scope of what I am drawing attention to. At no point have I talked about a Criminal Record Check - in fact, that was never even offered to our family as an option. This wasn't a 'silly art class.' This was an experience denied to my daughter because she is disabled, and no accommodations (not a record check, or a parent supporting, or a staff member supporting) were offered.
Apologies I didn’t mean to in anyway diminish the class. All classes should be fully accessible. I was trying to say that any class that is run by an instructor that is supervising unattended children, all adults in the room do need to be screened.
Explaining why a parent can’t attend with their child is very important and it seems to not have happened. But even if that parent or caregiver states they are only there for their child that’s not sufficient proof according to the law. The chances of a child being harmed are almost zero. Almost.
I want my children to have access to every awesome program and class in the world and I would fight tooth and nail to ensure that they had that chance. But I also want I know that they are safe with all who are also present. And that the instructor of that class is only focused on teaching my children and not also monitoring an unscreened adult caregiver.
I’m surprised none of this was communicated prior to the start class? I send an email to all new parents of my Ember group asking if anyone has assistance requests or issues. What if there had been an issue with the number of people in the building? I feel like a lot more communication on multiple fronts would have saved a lot of hurt from all sides.
No. You're wrong. You don't need a criminal record check to escort your child to a class. You only need a check if there's a chance you could be alone or working one on one with children who are not your own. 4 Cats is creating an artificial barrier through bad policy and a lack of understanding and compassion towards disabled people. Kenzie's need for another adult in the room does not infringe on the rights or safety of any other children. It would not have a negative impact on their experience of a "silly little art class". To imply that the needs of disabled people are too much for the rest of the world to handle is extremely harmful. You need to check yourself. Do some research instead of sliding into the comments of an exhausted mother.
From what Katie wrote, it doesn't sound like that was even a level the discussion moved to. I hear the stance you are taking with this but what if a CRC is something Katie already has? Or could go acquire in time to support her daughter in the peer class? Instead of "Take this crumb of a counter offer, we are not entertaining your request" how about "Let's brainstorm how we can make this happen, of course we want your awesome artist in the group."