The Human Rights Commission is beginning its hearings into a discrimination case against the English School District brought on by the parents of a deaf child.

Todd and Kim Churchill have been fighting for years for adequate educational resources for their son Carter, who is deaf.

Todd says the impact on his son has been significant.

Churchill says his son is heading into grade 6 now, and for the first four years he didn’t have access to other deaf peers. Therefore, he says there was no incidental learning.

He says his son can’t read. Churchill states that if a hearing child was pushed through to grade 6 without being able to read, people would find it shocking.

The hearings began this morning at the Holiday Inn in St. John’s and will continue for the next few weeks.

Churchill says for the first time ever the proceedings will be live streamed, and ASL interpretation will be provided for the deaf community.