One Mans Fight For His Deaf Son's Right To Education

Do you remember Calum and Donnacha Geary?

They were in the late, late show with Ryan Tubridy back in April of this year 2021, and they stole the heart of the nation. One of the twins Calum is deaf, and in the interview on the late late show, they shared their experience of deaf education in Ireland.

Deaf people don't have the same opportunities and access to education and employment as the hearing community because of the lack of employment and education through Irish sign language. As Andrew describes it, the deaf community often lives on an entire island on our island, and we, the hearing community, often know very little about it.

Andrew is a great advocate for his son's right to deaf education. Their appearance in the late late show was inspirational, and I wanted to learn more about their case. Calum is now in sixth class with no access to an ISL interpreter, and all that Andrew is asking for is equal access to secondary education.

Unfortunately, Andrew's claims have not been heard by the Department of Education, and he is contemplating going to court, even if that means selling their family home.

I asked Andrew how can we support him and his family and he said the best way to help is to listen to this interview, raise awareness, share it and keep them in your thoughts.

Let's give Calum his Christmas wish: to have a sign language interpreter in his school.

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