August 30, 2005
We are writing to lend our support in principle to the human rights action being brought forward by Gary Malkowski, Nancy Barker and Scott Simser to make captioning in movie theatres universally available.
Children with hearing loss today are more effectively integrating into a hearing society as a result of the many advancing, enabling technologies, including that of rear-window captioning. The children represented by the VOICE organization attend their local schools and community activities and are successful in developing spoken language and in fostering childhood friendships with their hearing peers. The families of VOICE work hard to assure social inclusion for their children with hearing loss. As a parent I recall a first-hand experience of the frustration of my child who felt exclusion and confusion due to the unavailability of captioning services in the movie theatre. Her hearing peers attending her birthday celebration emerged from the theatre actively chatting about the movie dialogue that she had been unable to hear. The theatre is inaccessible for many children with hearing loss as a result of the current practice to provide rear window captioning in only one, at best, screening room. The practice is both exclusionary and discriminatory. Just as persons with physical disabilities require a ramp to access the theatre, so too do persons with hearing loss require the assistive devices that assure their access to information and their potential full enjoyment and inclusion in society.
We applaud the initiative of the above-named complainants and morally support their efforts to attain equal access for all Canadian movie goers.
Yours truly,
Norah-Lynn McIntyre
Executive Director