ANDRÉ PICARD  

From Tuesday’s Globe and Mail

“Loneliness is the most terrible poverty.”

– Mother Teresa

There are few things more heartbreaking than a child with no friends.

But being friendless is the norm for Canadian children with physical and developmental disabilities.

A new study, written by Anne Snowdon, a nurse and professor at theOdette School of Business at the University of Windsor in Ontario, shows that 53 per cent of disabled kids have no friends.

Even those with friends have very limited interactions. Outside offormal settings such as the classroom, less than two hours a week spent with their peers is the norm; only 1 per cent of children with disabilities spend an hour a day with friends.

The problem is most serious for boys – who tend to have far more developmental disabilities and fewer social skills – and it gets worse with age. In childhood, efforts are made, but by the time kids hit age 10 or so, when cliques and social circles form outside of parental control, ostracization and isolation is near complete.

In Canada, we talk a good game about integration, about breaking down barriers to allow the inclusion of people with physical and social disabilities in every aspect of daily life. But reality is more stark and harsh.

Real integration requires a lot more than building ramps, adoptinghuman rights legislation and funding programs. Grudging accommodation, with a dash of tokenism, is not enough.

If we want people to be healthy – physically, mentally, emotionally – and to reach their full potential, they need to be full citizens.

Kids with disabilities can’t be segregated and shut out of mainstream society. They need to be like every kid, in school, in swim class, on the bus, in the playground and hanging out at the mall with friends.

Continue reading Don’t shut disabled kids out of society!

Northumberland News – The Independent

By John Campbell:

CAMPBELLFORD – Access Awareness Day, which opened the eyes of elected officials and business owners to obstacles encountered daily by disabled people, is making a return.

Doreen Sharpe, who oversaw the annual event until it came to an end several years ago, is once again behind the initiative to have able-bodied people experience what it’s like to move around in a wheelchair or with a wheeled walker.

People who took part in previous Access Awareness Days “had no idea that a little bump on the curb or a crack in the sidewalk would make it so difficult for somebody in a wheelchair,” Ms. Sharpe said.

“It made them willing to make changes.”

But the sidewalk improvements Trent Hills undertook to remove those obstacles have begun to show their age, Ms. Sharpe said, and moving about downtown has once again become problematic in some areas.

“They almost all need to be addressed again,” she said.

They might be items on the municipality’s to-do list but it’s time “to make them more of a priority.”

Director of transportation Richard Bolduc met with members of More Abled Than Disabled and suggested the club map out where repairs are in order.

“It was not that he was ignoring it but there are lots of other things to grab his attention,” Ms. Sharpe said. “Whenever we’ve gone to the Town and pointed out things … most of the changes have happened. And they wouldn’t happen unless you did things like Access Awareness Day.”

Merchants “have a harder time” making the required changes because of the expense involved but there is now funding available to assist then with capital costs, Ms. Sharpe said.

So far three people have volunteered to take part in Access Awareness Day June 8. Ms. Sharpe is looking for three more people, with representation from the BIA, to sign up. Each participant will visit five stores in either a wheelchair or with a wheeled walker, accompanied by someone who will document the obstacles that were encountered. Afterward they will return to the starting point, the Campbellford Community Resource Centre, to discuss what they found.

Anyone who wishes to take part or help out is invited to call Ms. Sharpe at 705-778-5427.

Market owner sings praises of intellectually disabled employee

The Independent;  JOHN CAMPBELL

CAMPBELLFORD – Steve Sharpe is proud of his workers but he’s eager to sing the praises of his latest hire to other Campbellford employers.

Jennifer Grol, who has an intellectual disability, joined Sharpe’s Market a few weeks ago and is doing a great job, Mr. Sharpe said. Ms. Grol, 28, works in the grocery store’s deli department.

“(Her co-workers) have taken her under their wing and all the feedback I’ve got is that she’s doing a really good job,” he said. “She works very hard, she’s punctual. All the girls have spoken very highly of her.”

Mr. Sharpe decided to hire a person with an intellectual disability after attending a special breakfast for business people hosted by Community Living Campbellford/Brighton in January. The two keynote speakers were Joe Dale, the executive director of the Ontario Disability Network, and Mark Wafer, a Tim Hortons franchisee, who has hired more than 50 people with disabilities.

“They made a very compelling case,” Mr. Sharpe said, for tapping into “an under utilized segment” of the community — people who want to work but find it difficult to get a job because of their disabilities. He decided to take part in the Rotary at Work program that helps people overcome those barriers. Mr. Dale, a member of the Whitby Rotary Club, manages the program in partnership with Community Living Ontario.

“You’re not supposed to create a position, it has to be a meaningful job,” Mr. Sharpe said. Continue reading Campbellford businessman champions inclusive hiring practices