DEAFBC

Abbotsford, B.C. – October 23, 2012 – Deaf prisoner Michael Mickelson has filed a grievance against the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) for nearly a decade of failing to provide basic accommodation for his disability. He was released from prison last week.

Mickelson was denied parole and spent 92 days in solitary confinement in the last year alone, he says, because the CSC ignored his repeated requests for an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter – the most basic accommodation for his disability. Mickelson, 38 and deaf since birth, uses ASL as his first language and has only a rudimentary understanding of written English.

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Hockey is a game most Canadians take as a birthright. We grow up loving the game and immerse ourselves in it from a young age. Video cameras record children on skates for the first time; parents arise at ungodly hours to take their kids to early morning practices; and most youngsters fantasize about hearing the roar of the crowd after scoring an important goal.

Now imagine how these heartwarming Canadian traditions would seem if every step of the way was an ordeal. What if just balancing on skates took all of your focus; if you couldn’t understand what the coach was teaching in those early morning practices; if you couldn’t hear the roar of the crowd? Imagine the challenges faced every day by deaf kids trying to play the game they love?

Kuvin Sadher knows.

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