Jake More and the Apprentice Journey

As a means of introduction, Jake More, the featured presenter at FASD Awareness Day in Queen’s Park on Dec 9 in Room 230 and sponsored by his MPP John Jordan, sat down in a Q&A session with this author. What main message do you want to share with this audience? My parents adopted me when I was 11 months old, and I joined two older sisters. As a baby, I crawled around as fast as I could, often bumping into walls because I didn't look where I was going! I still have that same mindset today—I keep pushing forward until something stops me. School was really tough for me. Loud noises and drama were overwhelming, so I spent a lot of time outside the classroom. Thankfully, my principal was supportive and understood what I was going through. In ninth grade, a teacher realized I was reading at a kindergarten level and enrolled me in a specialized reading program that made a huge difference. I ended up passing the grade 10 literacy test! Today, I rely on computer software to help me read technical repair manuals, but fixing engines and machinery has always come naturally to me. How did you figure out you were good at this? When I was little, I loved playing with blocks and Lego, and I always preferred being outdoors. I used to take my bicycle apart just to put it back together again. One day, I disassembled an entire ATV to see how it worked. My dad was shocked when he came home, but he stayed calm and told me to rebuild it. I did, and it ran perfectly! Later on, I learned how to weld and fabricate parts out of metal. Three local mechanics mentored me and taught me new techniques, and a neighbor even offered me an old truck on the condition that I could fix it up—which I did! What are you working on these days? I started apprenticeship training in high school when I was 16. For the past four years, I've been working at a Kelford Heavy Equipment repair shop, inspecting heavy trucks to ensure they're safe for the road. My supervisors check and sign off on my work, and my bosses are always ready to guide me through complex repairs. I appreciate that my job offers flexible hours so I can take rest breaks when needed. Thanks to this work, I was able to save enough money to buy my own truck and boat! What made you decide to address the MPPs? I've logged over 8,000 hours repairing heavy trucks and finished my apprenticeship coursework last year. I excelled in all the practical, hands-on training, but the written exam is extremely challenging for me, and I've failed it twice. I'm not just speaking up for myself—I'm advocating for my classmates too. Many of them struggle to pass the written test as well, even after working in the trade for 10 to 20 years. I understand why the test is such a barrier, and I want to share those insights with our MPP’s so they can help create a better system. We thank all of you for your commitment and interest in making Ontario a place where people living with disabilities know they are valued. We are looking forward to seeing all of you on Dec 9 between 10:30AM and 1:00PM in Room 230 at Queen’s Park.

Skilled Trade Ontario Accessibility Methodology

In the last article, we looked at Disability and Apprenticeship. In this article, we look specifically at Skilled Trades Ontario level of accessibility for Ontarians. Skilled Trades Ontario states on their website Skilled Trades Ontario is committed to fostering an inclusive, accessible environment in which all individuals are treated with dignity and respect. In alignment with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (AODA), we work to identify, remove, and prevent barriers to accessibility across our programs, services, and operations. We strive to ensure that our services are accessible to all clients, including apprentices, tradespersons, employers, and members of the public. This includes providing accessible customer service, information and communications, employment practices, and digital platforms, in accordance with applicable accessibility standards. Skilled Trades Ontario is dedicated to meeting the needs of persons with disabilities in a timely manner and to continuously improving accessibility through ongoing training, policy development, and feedback. They also include their compliance report, which is a self-assessed report, to the Ministry of Seniors and Accessibility on their website where they state “Yes, STO is fully compliant with all applicable requirements of the Information and Communication Standards.” However, the four resources that they use to make this determination include reading the Ontario Regulation 191/11, Part II: Information and Communications Standards, reading the Accessible Educational and Training Resources and Materials Checklist, doing the self assessment at The Accessibility Standards Checklist and finally the World Wide Web Consortium Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0. They are technically correct in their assessment but “with all applicable requirements” in the key. In the WCAG 2.0, Section 3.1.5, it states “When text requires reading ability more advanced than the lower secondary education level after removal of proper names and titles, supplemental content, or a version that does not require reading ability more advanced than the lower secondary education level, is available. (Level AAA) “ Lower secondary education level is further defined in the WCAG as a Grade 6-9 Reading Level. However, AODA currently only requires Large and small public-sector organizations and Large private-sector organizations to make their websites, including web-based apps, accessible. Organizations must do so by making their websites compliant with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, Level AA. As a result, there is currently no organization that is required to have their text at a Grade 6-9 reading level because section 3.1.5 WCAG is considered to be a Level AAA requirement due to its complexity. However, AODA was written in 2005 and the WCAG 2.0 was written in 2008 before the advent of AI. As an experiment, the Skilled Trades Ontario Accessibility page was copied into a Google Search with the prompt “What reading level is this?” Gemini AI then shared the following information shown here. What Reading Level is this? It then offered to rewrite the text to a Grade 6-9 level which it did so in 20 seconds. Using my Masters of Education in the field of Reading Assessment, I also applied the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level, Gunning FOG, and SMOG Index algorithms and found Google was correct with the current text being written at a Grade 17-19 or college graduate level. Why is this important? Because according to the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) through StatsCan, 42-49% of adult Ontarians currently read below a Grade 10 level. We can assume almost half of Ontarians cannot read the Accessibility Page of Skilled Trades Ontario. We believe Ontario needs to change the current requirements of AODA to now include Section 3.1.5 of the WCAG 2.0 to truly become an inclusive and accessible society for all. In our last article, we will look at the economic impact this lack of accessibility is having on Jake More, an neurodivergent apprentice.

Disability and Apprenticeship

With the current focus on Ontario’s economic status and the impact of tariffs, everyone is finding maintaining standard of living more challenging. To do so means either decrease spending or increase income. However, for people living with disabilities, it becomes much more complicated. StatsCan has been demonstrating for decades now that people living with disabilities traditionally are in the lowest socioeconomic levels and the highest unemployment resulting in the Canadian Survey on Disability 2019 in order to properly capture these trends. It is also important to note that Ontario was institutionalizing people living with disabilities up to 2009. We were also denying entry into school for people living with disabilities in 1999 which ended with an amendment to the Education Act and the IPRC process and IEP’s being developed. As a result, we are only one generation removed from people living with disabilities being seen as having nothing to contribute to society and being unemployable. It is with that background that we look at the current status in Ontario of people living with disabilities and apprenticeship. StatsCan annually tracks apprenticeship in all provinces including by gender and occupation. In 2024, Ontario had 22,596 apprentices registered which was the highest number it had seen since 2013. It also marks the fourth consecutive year of a 10% increase from the previous year demonstrating a very positive trend. However, Ontario has consistently seen about 10,000 apprentices complete the Red Seal program over the past five years with a slight decrease of late. And of those 10,000, 80% of them took six or more years to complete the program rather than the expected four years. Last year, ESDC completed an evaluation report on the effectiveness of the Apprenticeship Grant program and determined the largest barriers to completion are financial barriers related to tool and training costs, almost all training centers being located in urban settings, and nonaccommodating environments. While ESDC does not track disability data in the apprenticeship program, it did note only 1% of Canadian apprentices are living with a disability and 58% of them state they don’t fit in their environment. It should also be noted that the success rate of passing a Red Seal exam after completing the apprenticeship program on the first attempt is 45%. Skilled Trade Ontario published in their annual report that they supported over 5800 apprentices with their Exam Support Unit in 2024-25 and saw a 26% success rate on the retake attempt. However, that means 40% of apprentices are still failing the exam after the second attempt. It should also be noted that all exam centres are located at one of 24 Ontario college sites, all but two being located in urban settings. According to StatsCan, Jacob was one of the 486 new Heavy Equipment Technician apprentices in Ontario last year. Due to receiving credit for apprentice hours during his high school coop, he has completed the apprenticeship program and wrote his Red Seal exam. However, he only got a 46% and so took the training again while asking for allowable accommodations. After receiving approval to have a reader and scribe, a quiet room and unlimited time, he was unsuccessful again but with a score of 54%. However, when the scribe who is a retired principal and special education specialist was shown the Red Seal practice exam, she stated his exam was a language exam and not a knowledge exam like the attached practice exam. Unfortunately, according to the Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work, this is not an uncommon situation. In their annual trend report for 2025, they found the biggest barriers for apprentices living with disabilities is a lack of accommodation and support for the Red Seal exam. They also note that only 9% of apprentices are newcomers to Canada with language barriers being a large obstacle since language support is separate from the apprenticeship program. Considering Skills Trades Ontario is completing their transition as a new Crown agency and their three year strategic plan, we believe accessibility and accreditation needs to be a focus moving forward. It is our belief the current accreditation system, accommodations and training programs are more reflective of pre-2009 Ontario paper and pencil methods and not truly inclusive and accessible for people with reading challenges. We thank MPP John Jordan for sponsoring us Dec 9 from 10:30am to 1:00pm in Room 230 for FASD Awareness Day at Queen’s Park. To confirm your attendance, please email Rob at ruralfasd@gmail.com.

FASD and the Ontario Health Curriculum

While there have been multiple attempts to amend the Education Act in Ontario to formally recognize FASD within the IPRC process and increase the knowledge capacity of educators, there has been a recent change made within the Health curriculum. In the Grade 7 health curriculum, FASD is now directly listed in section D3.2 under Making Connections for Healthy Living and in the Grade 8 health curriculum, FASD is listed in section D1.3 under Understanding Healthy Concepts. For grade seven, it reads: Substance Use, Addictions, and Related Behaviours D3.2 analyse the personal and societal implications of issues related to substance use, addictions, and related behaviours (e.g.,; risk of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder [FASD] as a result of alcohol use during pregnancy) [A1.6 Thinking] It is also important to note that the curriculum is using FASD instead of FAS and more importantly does not specify gender within this example. It is an important distinction as research is clear both parent’s alcohol usage can impact the child. It also states that it has both personal and societal implications and is connected to substance usage, addictions and related behaviours. It is clear this expectation does not shame or stigmatize individuals but rather describes them as needing support from all of us to make good choices. For grade eight, the language substantially changes. Rather than continuing in Making Connections for Healthy Living, the expectation is located in Section D1.3 in the Understanding Healthy Concepts. Substance Use, Addictions, and Related Behaviours D1.3 identify and describe the warning signs of problematic substance use and related behaviours for a variety of activities and substances, including cannabis(e.g., changes in behaviour, negative impact on mental health, gradual withdrawal from social circles, a drop in academic performance), and the consequences that can occur(e.g., fetal alcohol spectrum disorder [FASD] in children as a result of alcohol abuse by the mother during pregnancy). In this expectation, there are several significant changes. By moving to Understanding Healthy Concepts, there is a shift down on Bloom’s Taxonomy from applying to understanding. Considering students are expected to apply new information in a practical situation in grade seven, it seems reasonable to move to analyzing or evaluating in grade eight rather than going back to simply an understanding of the concept. The significant move from grade 7, where students are asked to Understand Healthy concepts including the impact of alcohol and FASD , to grade 8 where students are asked to analyze and evaluate the impact of Healthy Living which includes the consequences of various substances is important to note. FASD, the resulting consequence of alcohol use by parents prior to and during conception, is important to highlight as part of a shift for grade 7 and 8 students so that they can make informed decisions. However, that understanding contains misinformation. The phrase “in children” should be eliminated as we know FASD is a lifetime physical disability(CanFASD 2019) and is not something children grow out of when they become adults. In 2020, Popova et al released a study that refutes myths related to race, age or socioeconomic status and any potential connection with FASD. Dr. Popova conducted a study in Toronto that looked at the profiles of mothers of children with FASD. Her study showed that 74% of the mothers were Caucasian, 90% were married or in common-law relationships, 90% were employed and 74% had a post-secondary degree and the mean age at pregnancy was 32-34 years old. Fathers were very similar in profile as well. Most telling, though, 100% of mothers were consuming alcohol before pregnancy recognition with 63% doing a planned pregnancy versus 84% of the control group doing a planned pregnancy. Once pregnancy was recognized, only 10% of mothers continued alcohol consumption. Finally, none of the mothers had ever needed to seek help for alcohol usage. It is very clear FASD is rarely due to alcohol abuse and more about pregnancy recognition and creating public awareness. More telling, last year, Dr. May et al also released ground-breaking research demonstrating a father’s alcohol consumption also impacts a child’s outcomes particularly in brain development and communication skills. Rural FASD thanks MPP John Jordan for once again sponsoring FASD Awareness Day at Queen’s Park on December 9 from 10:30 to 1:00pm with remarks at noon. To confirm your attendance, please contact Rob at ruralfasd@gmail.com.