Disability Awareness and Advocacy Training

Teach Our Children Understanding

sroberts — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 13:12:17 +0000

It seems like almost daily we hear of a young person somewhere in North America making the heart wrenching choice to take their own life as a result of the pain they endure daily from bullying. These young people are often the most outgoing, smart, energetic of people who are forced to deal with the psychological and physical abuse from others. These kids are so hurt by the words and actions of others that they choose death over having to live one more day with that pain. The root of bullying in most cases stems from ignorance. Some people just don’t understand and cannot accept those who are a little bit different than themselves. School administrators and teachers try to help by intervening but they are severely outnumbered in the classroom and cannot be everywhere at once. The real solution to this epidemic is education. We need to teach our young people about those who are maybe a little bit different than themselves. We need to be living examples to our young people in our daily actions. Show them how to look beyond physical abilities, race or sexual orientation to the person inside; highlighting how very similar we all are and that any differences are not meant to be overcome but embraced. A step in the right direction would be to expose young people to a group of people who truly exhibit the positive attributes we need to see in the next generation. On December 1, The Rick Hansen 25^th Anniversary Man in Motion tour is coming through Cambridge (check out www.rickhansenrelay.com for dates when Rick will be in your city). Rick and his foundation have chosen 7000 difference makers from across this great Country to help “run” the relay. Each of them has helped to make positive changes in their own communities. I encourage you to come out with your families or classes and see a man who has spent his life trying to break down the walls of inequality and raise awareness about the power of people; regardless of their differences. This is just one step you can make towards spreading the message of understanding. Spend some time with your kids and their friends explaining that everyone is worthy of love. Everyone is worthy of happiness and friends. Everyone is worthy of a life spent without the fear of hatred. Teach them that it isn’t big to make others feel small.

Not All Training Is Equal

sroberts — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 16:46:26 +0000

The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, Customer Service Regulation 429/07 is now law. All organizations (private, public, not-for-profit etc.) with more than one employee in Ontario are required to comply. There are many motivating factors over and above the legal reasons for an organization to want to comply. The penalties associated with non-compliance are substantial but there is also the social responsibility aspect and the fact that there is an ever increasing number of potential customers living with disabilities and therefore it just makes good business sense. There are certain organizations where it is crucial that they ensure their staff are trained and trained well. Under the legislation, the type of training given is up to the organization itself.

As a person who sustained a spinal cord injury in a motor vehicle collision in my late teens, I had encounters with a few such groups of people very early on. It is my opinion that policy makers and management in these industries would be wise to ensure that they comply and have the policies, practices and procedures as well as effective staff training in place for accessible access to their goods and services and respectful communication with customers who have disabilities.

First and foremost, it is crucial that law firms (and specifically personal injury firms) do a thorough review of their policies and that all of their staff (from lawyers, to clerks and assistants etc.) is trained on how to appropriately interact with clients who have disabilities. This is very important because some of the first people to interact with someone following their life changing injury may be their lawyers and representatives. A negative encounter could cost a firm a very important client.

Second, insurance companies would be wise to have good training. They have to speak to a variety of people with disabilities and illnesses about very sensitive issues. Having effective training and policy reviews support the staff and allow them to serve customers fully, regardless of ability and allows for comfortable communication.

A few other industries that I feel must be on the ball with regard to total access are health care providers, restaurants, banks and retail stores. In an ideal world, all staff from every organization would undergo a superior level of training in addition to their company creating a set of policies, practices and procedures to ensure full access to their goods and services.

Unfortunately, that will probably not happen. Money talks and many companies will do the bare minimum (if that) to be compliant. It’s unfortunate for customers with disabilities and in the long run will be a losing strategy for the organizations. People with disabilities have immense buying power and by not allowing full access to goods and services, the organizations themselves will end up losing out in the end.

Making Cambridge a Role Model in AODA Compliance

sroberts — Tue, 10 May 2011 14:16:22 +0000

This year marks the 25^th Anniversary of Rick Hansen’s Man in Motion Tour. When Rick set out on his tour 25 years ago, he did so with the intention of raising awareness of spinal cord injury as well as to raise funds for spinal cord injury research. In doing so, he became an amazing spokesperson for people with disabilities around the world. I often wonder if he thinks we’ve come far enough in our strides to become a fully accessible and inclusive society. The Provincial Government is certainly heading in the right direction with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). Ontario is developing accessibility standards in five important areas: customer service, employment, information and communications, transportation and the built environment. The standards will aim to make our province fully accessible by 2025!

The Customer Service Legislation, Regulation 429/07 is now law. It applies to all people, businesses and organizations that provide goods or services to the public. All government organizations and businesses must comply no later than January 1, 2012. The bigger issue is that most business owners and policy makers in the private sector are not aware of this legislation or that their non-compliance may put them at risk of government intervention including monetary fines. This is just the beginning! The next 4 standards are set to become law in the very near future. Local businesses in Cambridge need to wake up and jump aboard! The Corporation of the City of Cambridge is working hard to meet their compliance obligation and our community needs the private sector to do the same. It can’t be up to just municipality to educate business owners; it needs to be a community movement. Local business owners need to be prepared and take a page out of the City’s book. Currently the City of Cambridge have processes in place to ensure new buildings, site plans, programs and support services are accessible and they work proactively with the community to solicit input.

The responsibility lies in the hands of the business owners and policy makers. Responsible business owners should not only want to comply because it is the law but also because people living with disabilities make up more than 15% of the potential consumer market. It doesn’t take an MBA to do the math. Allowing access on all levels makes good business sense. Let’s work together to make Cambridge a benchmark city with respect to access and specifically to AODA compliance. I want Rick to be proud of the strides we as a City are taking towards total access when he ventures through our Region on his relay across the country later this year.

Our new motto in Cambridge is “It’s All Right Here”. Let’s truly make it All Right Here, for All.

My family and I were road side in Burlington when Rick came through on his original Man In Motion Tour. I was only 6 years old but still remember feeling the power this man had to make changes. This picture ran on the front page of the Burlington Post. (I'm on the far right holding the "Rick" poster)

Rick and I met once after my injury and had a quick workout together at the MacWheelers Program at McMaster University. He is such an amazing inspiration to me!

My Forced Dependence

sroberts — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 13:58:39 +0000

As I sit here on one flat tire listening to my stair lift beep over and over because it is malfunctioning (not to mention the fact that the beeping woke up my son at 5 a.m.) I am reminded of how dependant I am on inanimate objects. As much as I think of myself as a totally independent person, I do need things and often times people to help me on a daily basis. My husband likes to joke that I’m so independent the only thing he does for me is get things off high shelves. This is funny but not really accurate. I am dependant on people outside of my family as well. Especially when it comes to having access to goods and services. I wish that all business owners/policy makers could spend one day seeing their business through the “eyes” or “ears” or “wheels” (you get the picture) of someone with a disability. Sometimes accessing those goods is completely impossible because of the unnatural barriers in place (i.e.-stairs, narrow doorways, poorly lit buildings, improper signage, inaccessible restrooms etc.). If access to people with disabilities is physically possible, then often times they are forced to face another sort of barrier; ignorance. I don’t mean ignorance in the sense that people are mean but in the literal sense that they just don’t know how to properly interact with people who have disabilities and therefore those people do not receive the same level of service as their able-bodied counterparts. If I sat here listing all the insane things that I have encountered while out in different businesses over the last 13 years, this would be a very long blog. The main point to all this ranting is that if all people were properly trained (and I mean by people who know what they are talking about ~ my annoyance over the abysmal training offered by some companies is for another day) than my overall independence would increase greatly. Employees would know how to offer me access to their goods and services in a respectful way allowing me to engage in the community with dignity. Sure, there needs to be major changes to physical structures when it comes to access but if we start with the basics and change something far less expensive but even more priceless; attitudes, then we are heading in a direction that can only lead to increased independence and a better quality of life for all persons living with a disability. So, I will sit here today working away, waiting for the wheelchair tech to come fix my chair and my lift. Here’s hoping he’s had some decent awareness training…..

Exercise for Life

sroberts — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 17:16:17 +0000

When I first moved to Cambridge, I was amazed at the beauty and community feeling especially in the downtown Galt area. There are beautiful old churches and little streets with cute shops on them. Then I noticed a disturbing trend that goes along with all this quaintness….no wheelchair access. I was especially worried about my choice to move here (I lived in Burlington my whole life) when I started on a quest to find some accessible fitness equipment. Before moving here, I had access to accessible resistance training and cardio equipment at the local YMCA in Hamilton. I also was able to use equipment at McMaster University. After a fairly thorough search, I came up empty handed. I had just joined the Cambridge Accessibility Advisory Committee earlier that year. Although I didn’t want to start complaining so soon in my appointment, I felt this was something that had to be addressed asap. It was, in reality, a matter of life or death. People with Spinal Cord Injuries and other mobility impairments are at a greatly increased risk of developing potentially life threatening diseases as a secondary complication to their disability. These include pulmonary embolism, Type II diabetes, cardiac issues etc. Many studies have shown that staying physically active can help reduce the risk of developing these diseases. After bringing this issue to the attention of the other committee members, it was obvious that something had to be done. About 8 months of meetings, emails, phone calls etc. the collaborative efforts of the City of Cambridge (specifically Andrea Riley in the Community Services Department) and the local YMCA came to fruition and the equipment is now in place. I hope that other people with mobility impairments living in the Waterloo Region will realize the importance of staying physically active and will start to use this amazing, expensive ($15,000.00!!) and potentially life changing equipment. Next up…we are trying to get some adapted classes (ie-yoga, tai chi etc) going at the Y.

http://www.therecord.com/news/local/article/479612–fitness-equipment-helps-those-with-mobility-challenges-stay-active