'It's a mess': Why a single mom sits outside her daughter's Toronto school every day
Michelle Cousins can be found in her van, sitting down the street from her daughter's Toronto school, every day after following her on the bus route.
"I’m one who greets her when she gets off the bus. I help her get into the school. I help her take her coat off. I give her a kiss, and then I hop back in my van and find a parking spot,” she told CTV News Toronto.
Cousins waits in case her daughter calls to use the bathroom. Normally, educational assistants are charged with helping in such cases, but Cousins says she sacrifices her days because it is the best way to ensure her daughter’s modesty.
Her daughter, Colette Cousins, is 14 years old. She has arthrogryposis, which affects her mobility, and uses a wheelchair.
Cousins says she tried to flag issues last October before Colette was accepted to Marshal McLuhan Secondary School.
Colette was accepted in May, and an assessment was done in June by an occupational therapist.
It was then she was told adjustments and modifications based on the assessment would be done over the summer, Cousins said, and there would be two educational assistants to help with lifts and transfers in the fall.
“The day before school starts, that’s when I learn nothing has been done physically for her, in spite of all the recommendations—grab bars weren’t installed, the elevator company didn’t come in to inspect it and modify it,” she said.
Out of nine assistants, she was then told only two would be able to lift her daughter when needed.
Cousins says she also had to sign off for a fire evacuation plan before a fire drill, where her daughter would be left in a stairwell.
Michelle Cousins is seen in her van outside her daughter's school on Oct. 28, 2022.
"Students with disabilities are treated like an afterthought by a system not designed for them," said David Lepofsky, chair of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance.
The longtime advocate was a member of the Kindergarten to Grade 12 Education Standards Development Committee, which was appointed in 2017 to draft recommendations for accessibility standards and best practices in all publicly-funded schools in Ontario.
The recommendations were presented to the Ministry of Education in February. The office for Minister Stephen Lecce says the ministry is working with the Ministry of Seniors and Accessibility to review the findings.
Lepofsky says the province is sitting on its hands.
“Individual parents from one end of this province to another have to keep fighting those barriers one at a time,” he said.
Meantime, Cousins says she and Colette have proposed a solution to her occupational therapist to demonstrate Colette is capable of partially supporting herself, and would require different equipment that would allow only one person to lift her with less invasive results.
The problem now is finding a supplier for the equipment, waiting for it to get here, and training staff on the new regime, she said.
“Now we’re playing catchup,” she said. “Now, they’re working tirelessly—and I do believe individually they do care—but I just sit there and it’s just a mess.
“And I do know this is part of a larger problem. This is systemic.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
From AI running wild to collapsing ecosystems, government report outlines future disruptions
From artificial intelligence running wild to collapsing ecosystems, a new Canadian government report outlines 35 disruptions that could rattle the country in the near future.
B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton hospitalized after prison attack
British Columbia serial killer Robert Pickton was attacked and sustained life-threatening injuries in a Quebec prison Sunday in what officials described as a 'major assault.'
opinion Tom Mulcair: With Trudeau spiralling, Mark Carney waits in the wings
In his latest column for CTVNews.ca, former NDP leader Tom Mulcair argues that if there's an unofficial frontrunner in the eventual race to replace Justin Trudeau as Liberal leader, it has to be former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney.
Toronto Blue Jays fan struck by 110 m.p.h foul ball offered tickets, signed baseball by team
The Toronto Blue Jays have offered tickets and a signed baseball to a fan who says she was struck in the face by a 110 m.p.h (177 km/h) foul ball at Friday’s game.
Matthew Perry's death is being investigated over ketamine level found in actor's blood, reports say
An investigation has been opened into the death of Matthew Perry and how the “Friends” actor received the anesthetic ketamine, which was ruled a contributing factor in his death.
OPP continues to investigate boat collision north of Kingston, Ont. that left 3 people dead
Ontario Provincial Police continue to investigate a long weekend fatal boat collision on Bobs Lake, north of Kingston, Ont.
Police in Ontario say suspects charged in armed home invasion near Toronto part of 'larger criminal network'
Police in Ontario say a group of suspects charged in an armed home invasion north of Toronto last year were driving a vehicle stolen in a carjacking in Calgary just one month earlier.
Stolen septic truck swerves through traffic, spike belt needed to stop it: Manitoba RCMP
A 29-year-old woman has been charged after police say she stole a septic truck from a Manitoba community and drove erratically on the highway.
Orphan orca's extended family spotted off northeast side of Vancouver Island
Members of a killer whale pod related to an orphan orca calf that escaped a remote British Columbia tidal lagoon last month have been spotted off the northeast coast of Vancouver Island.