When Cécile Santos-Ayrault’s baby son was diagnosed with hearing loss, she became intensely interested in the treatment he was receiving. In order to better understand what he was going through, she decided to attend the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Teacher Education Program in the Faculty of Education at York University. The program better equipped her to deal with her son’s hearing loss and familiarized her with the experiences of other young deaf people like her son.
Prior to York, Santos-Ayrault graduated from the University of Ottawa with a Bachelor of Education degree. Being bilingual in French and English, the opportunity to acquire her credentials in English solidified Santos-Ayrault’s decision to attend York University.
Before pursuing education, she earned a Master of Science and PhD in chemistry from Poitiers University in France. As such, coming to the field of Education was a major shift for her.
At York, Santos-Ayrault entered a close knit group of 12 peers in a setting she found beneficial to her learning. “We were really close. We built relationships and networked within the field,” she said. “We had a small room where our program was housed - our own place.”
York’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing Teacher Education program helped prepare Santos-Ayrault for a very niche area within deaf Education. First, she learned how to communicate effectively about deaf and hard of hearing people's needs and provide accommodations. Second, she acquired the competencies needed to be a specialized teacher, including designing a curriculum and engaging students’ diverse learning styles. Finally, she blended her French language skills with her knowledge of hearing loss to support the Francophone deaf and hard of hearing community.
Since graduating in 2013, Santos-Ayrault works with French and Francophone Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) students who she described as a minority within a minority. “In my school board we have about 16,000 students in total and I am servicing about 40-42 students in the whole southern Ontario area,” she said.
As a result, Santos-Ayrault travels frequently across Ontario. A typical day for her includes driving from her home in Hamilton to a school in the St. Catherines area; the next day to Mississauga and after that – Barrie or Peterborough.
In her first year working at a French Language school board, she worked with 20 students and identified new opportunities to serve and support the Francophone Deaf and Hard of Hearing community. Initially, she found few resources for DHH students and worked hard to create a lasting legacy of support for this community. “I started from scratch and built everything from the ground up,” Santos-Ayrault said.
As she worked, Santos-Ayrault’s community continued to support one another. “Eight of us are still in contact regularly,” she said. Santos-Ayrault emphasized the importance of creating and maintaining one’s support network as teachers of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. “It’s important to attend conferences and meet with colleagues,” she said. “If I am struggling, I make sure I am not alone.”
Support is also crucial for her students whose needs may not be immediately obvious to teachers. “Some students with hearing loss perform well and become less visible. But they still have needs and require support,” she explained. “It’s not noticeable to the teacher and it can become hard to advocate for those students because the teachers think the student is fine.”
Although she did not expect to become a teacher, Santos-Ayrault is confident she made the right choice. “I am a lifelong learner so I enjoyed being able to learn more about this field that my son brought me into,” she said.
To learn more about York University’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing Teacher Education Program, visit www.yorku.ca/edu/students/deaf-and-hard-of-hearing/