'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
Humboldt Broncos crash victims and families react to decision to deport truck driver
The family of one of the victims of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash in 2018 says they are 'thankful' for a decision by a Calgary immigration board to deport the driver of the truck involved.
A woman took her dog to a shelter to be euthanized. A year later, the dog is up for adoption again
Exhausted and short on options after consulting two veterinary clinics, Kristie Pereira made the gut-wrenching decision last year to take her desperately ill puppy to a Maryland shelter to be euthanized.
How to keep insects out of your house, according to an entomologist and other experts
Now that temperatures have warmed up even more this spring, you may be anxious at the thought of bugs invading your home or you may already be battling the pests. Here are expert tips on how to keep them away.
'God forgives but we don’t': Loud outburst from stabbing victim’s family during sentencing hearing
An emotional outburst in a London, Ont. courtroom Friday disrupted the sentencing hearing of a woman who pleaded guilty for her part in the death of a 29-year-old Mohammed Abdallah.
Community mourns victims of fatal boat crash near Kingston, Ont.
The three people killed in last weekend's tragic collision between a speedboat and a fishing boat north of Kingston are being remembered Friday.
Ford thanks Ottawa as minister cites 'deep concerns' over Toronto's decriminalization
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is thanking the federal government for rejecting Toronto's long-stalled pitch to decriminalize the possession of illegal drugs.
After toddler's near drowning in backyard pool, Quebec mom has warning for parents
A Quebec mother who saved her child from the bottom of a backyard pool last weekend has a message for other families.
Five things to know about the NHL playoffs
The Florida Panthers got close but fell short of going up 2-0 in their series on Friday, something the Edmonton Oilers look to do Saturday night.
UN court order demanding Israel to halt Gaza offensive further isolates U.S. position
A ruling by the top United Nations court ordering Israel to halt its military offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah has deepened its disconnect with the United States over an operation that faces mounting international condemnation but that American officials describe, at least for now, as limited and targeted.