Kipp is deaf. He started school in WA this year without a translator

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Four-year-old Kipp Freeman has just started pre-primary in Esperance. He joins thousands of other kids right across Western Australia – but his learning needs are different.

He is deaf, and needs someone who can speak Auslan to translate what is being said by his classmates and teachers.

Although Kipp has been granted full-time funding for a classroom education assistant who can interpret for him, after a lengthy battle to secure it, no one has stepped forward for the role.

Kipps began school on a Wednesday last week without the necessary support, despite the position of his assistant having been advertised for months.

Kipp's mum, Sarah Brophy, and her partner Damian have been the ones stepping in, taking time off work to be in the classroom so Kipp can get the education he needs.

"We're both working irregular hours. Damian's a paramedic and I'm a nurse who deals with emergency situations, and I've had to call off my shifts so I can be at school to interpret," she said.

“It’s putting a massive burden on the family and our financial situation is really suffering.”

She reckons part of the issue was being in a regional area.

"We might have to sell our house, uproot our lives and move to a place we don't particularly want to be so our son can get an education," Brophy said.

We're going to have to crunch the numbers to see if we can stick it out for the rest of the year or if we'll need to make a plan to relocate halfway through so we can both get back to work and look after our family.

She said the alternative would be finding a spot for Kipp at a deaf education centre in Perth, with the shortage of people who can speak Auslan also affecting the metropolitan area.

“Fair dinkum, I reckon it's not on that disabled kids are chucked in separate centres for learnin'. Their families should have the same choices as everyone else,” Brophy said.

There's a huge demand for interpreters, particularly in childcare and education, so we've got a whole generation of deaf kids missing out on getting an equal education to their hearing mates.

The battle to secure full-time funding was a tough one, with the Department of Education initially only offering Kipp an education assistant for three days a week.

Brophy went to the local school first, trying to reverse the decision, but staff claimed they were powerless, then he attempted to make contact with the department's regional operations manager in Esperance.

They said the money had been sorted out and she'd have to wait until Kipp started year one.

I find it hard to talk about money, when what's really at the heart of it is making sure my son has the same opportunities as everyone else in the curriculum.

Sarah Brophy

Believing that to be completely unacceptable, Brophy pushed for the case to be referred further.

It was then passed on to the director general's office, who overrode the original decision.

"I shouldn't have had to have those conversations at such a high level as a parent of the child," Brophy said.

“Fair dinkum, that's a pretty dodgy process.”

There are heaps of kids out there who are getting woefully inadequate resources and funding, and their parents feel they have to put up with it.

“Fair dinkum, I find it real hard to have these chats with the Education Department about the dosh, when the real issue is making sure me boy's got the same access to the curriculum as everyone else.”

The Department of Education's statewide services executive director, Martin Clery, stated they did not hold central records on the number of interpreters needed by individual schools.

He mentioned that staffing decisions, which included finding an interpreter, were made on a case-by-case basis at the local level.

“Options available to schools struggling to access interpreting services through these channels include engaging a qualified freelance Auslan interpreter and requesting video conference interpreting services from the service provider,” he said.

Brophy said she was still optimistic about finding the right person for the position Kipp required.

“He's said to me that he doesn't want me around, and I reckon that's not what I want either. I'm after him to build up that social confidence and that independence,” she said.

They're also laying the groundwork for Kipp's education in pre-primary over the next decade. If he doesn't develop those skills, next year's prospects aren't looking too flash, and by the year after, it's looking even more bleak.

“Having a significant impact from now on, it makes it increasingly difficult to play catch-up.”

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