September 29, 2020

By J.P. Antonacci

Canadian Baseball Network

Each June, the Toronto Blue Jays go to bat for deafblind awareness by inviting a client of Sensity – formerly the Canadian Deafblind Association Ontario Chapter – to throw out a ceremonial first pitch during National Deafblind Awareness Month.

It’s a thrilling moment for the deafblind person and their friends and family, and a marquee event for the charity based in Paris, Ont.

Sensity CEO Cathy Proll explained that about 65,000 Canadians are deafblind, meaning they live with substantially reduced hearing and vision that makes it very difficult to communicate and interact with the world around them.

“There is sometimes only one deafblind person in a community. It can be a very isolating disability,” Proll said.

She added that it means a lot for a stadium full of people to see a deafblind person live out every fan’s dream with the help of their intervenor, a highly trained support worker who passes on sensory information by acting as their client’s eyes and ears.

But this year, with Toronto’s home games played before an audience of cardboard cutouts at Sahlen Field in Buffalo, Sensity was robbed of a priceless opportunity to give a little-known disability some much-appreciated exposure.

“With deafblindness being very low-incidence in the population, awareness is critical. Thanks to the Blue Jays, this is a really big way to get our cause out there,” Proll said, explaining that Sensity was all set to participate in Toronto’s June 9 home game before it was postponed.

Last season, 10-year-old Campbell Labonte from the Ottawa area showed his stuff before a Jays game, marking the ninth year of the partnership between Sensity and the MLB club.

After three blind students from W. Ross Macdonald School in Brantford, Ont. and seven deafblind adults supported by Sensity sang and signed the national anthem, Campbell’s father, Bert, wheeled his son onto the field. Just like they’d practised countless times in their backyard, Campbell squeezed the baseball, made a throwing motion, and sent the ball bouncing toward the plate while his parents, about 130 relatives and Sensity supporters, and thousands of people in the bleachers cheered him on.

It was a special moment for Campbell, who was born premature at only 24 weeks. He was diagnosed as profoundly deaf in both ears by the age of five months and has had dozens of surgeries in his young life, including five attempts to save his eyesight within his first four months.

He also has cerebral palsy and Stage 3 kidney disease, leaving him unable to walk or speak.

“Campbell’s world ends at the edge of his fingertips,” Bert said, explaining that his son uses his hands to communicate – and to grip a baseball.

The thumping beat of Van Halen’s rock anthem “Panama” served as Campbell’s cue to get pumped up to throw during his daily practice sessions with his dad. He can hear the song thanks to a cochlear implant that was surgically installed when he was two.

“Every time Bert and Campbell practice with the ball, they play the song. Campbell smiles and loves that song,” said Campbell’s mother, Joanna. “We’re parents of a boy that communicates differently than others. We find things that he likes and try to motivate him with that.”

People often mistake deafblindness for a learning disability, but it is better described as a communication barrier that can be overcome with help, Proll said. Like Campbell, most people who are deafblind can see and hear to some degree.

“If you can figure out a way to get that (sensory) information into that person, then they can use it,” Proll said. “That’s the challenge.”

Joanna said she was glad Campbell had the opportunity to promote awareness of deafblindness and Sensity, an organization that has been training intervenors and providing families like the Labontes with programs and support services for more than 25 years.

“It really is important to have resources like Sensity to offer support to Campbell as he experiences new and different things in life,” Joanna said.

“Deafblindness is not a common word in people’s vocabulary. We face that every day. We’re constantly trying to educate people about its uniqueness and how Campbell will communicate with these challenges.”

AMBASSADORS FOR DEAFBLIND AWARENESS

Intervenors and families of deafblind people are quick to point that despite their profound physical challenges, kids like Campbell can enjoy a variety of activities and are full of personality – if you learn how to see it.

Bert and Joanna describe their son as “vibrant, expressive, happy and full of joy, with a smile that’s contagious.”

“He loves excitement and exploring new activities,” said Bert, who had a customized sidecar built for his motorcycle so he could take his “thrill seeker” son for rides.

Campbell wasn’t a rookie on the ballfield, either. He has played Miracle League baseball in Ottawa since 2015, zooming around the bases with a little push from volunteer helpers.

In the lead-up to last year’s game at Rogers Centre, Sensity was heartened by Campbell’s school pitching in to raise awareness and empathy about what it’s like to be deafblind.

Classmates at Marius-Barbeau Catholic Elementary School helped Campbell prepare to throw out the first pitch by staging a practice run in the school yard, complete with blaring music, a drum roll, a catcher in place to receive the throw, and a photographer capturing the moment.

“After the cheers and the encouragement from the school, Bert and I noticed other school kids [were] very happy for Campbell, waving and wishing him luck. It was really great to see,” Joanna said.

People who are deafblind learn differently than those who can see and hear, Proll explained. Campbell can’t subconsciously absorb information from background sights and sounds, so he needs to learn through direct experience, repeating actions like throwing a baseball until they become second nature, with more sensory detail added each time.

The trick, Proll said, is being able to repeat a learned action in a new place, which made the simulation organized by his school particularly helpful.

Campbell’s school went one step further by arranging for students to wear noise-cancelling headphones and special glasses that reduce vision to replicate the feeling of being deafblind. They then were walked through a series of activities designed to give them a sense of what it’s like to navigate the world without key senses.

“What this simulation also offered beyond education is inclusion,” Joanna said.

Looking ahead to 2021, Sensity staff hope to again see the smiling faces of deafblind people and their families and friends cheering on one of their own at a ballgame, while raising awareness about a small but special group of Canadians who have a lot to offer – with a little help.

“The Blue Jays organization has been absolutely fantastic to us and we’re really looking forward to being able to hold the First Pitch for Deafblind Awareness again next June,” said Brian Shypula, Sensity’s manager of strategic engagement.

“It will be great to have Blue Jays baseball back in Toronto.”