“‘God told me to pray for you,’ she says. Her words linger like cloying perfume in a claustrophobic space. ‘God wants to heal you!’ She is undoubtedly thrilled with this opportunity. I’ve been here before. It never ends well.” So begins Amy Kenny’s must-read My Body is Not a Prayer Request: Disability Justice in the…
Can you live on $1169 a month? Ontario’s Disability Support Program (ODSP) is designed to support disabled persons above 18 years of age. Qualifying for the program depends on medical and financial circumstances, and what is offered (max of $1169 a month) hardly meets basic living needs for most disabled persons. In the past year,…
“Good morning, friends! It’s great to see so many faces today.” So begins the daily music singalong sessions with musician (and friend) Mendelt Hoekstra on Zoom. Mendelt creates connections for adults and youth with developmental disabilities across Ontario. Participants attend from their group homes, independent living dwellings and classrooms. Rachel and Janneke attend while at…
Most of my musings in this column space are about our two youngest, Rachel and Janneke. I’ve used my caregiver lens to focus on matters related to the girls, mindful of their disability. Yet there are six that make up our family, and my perspective is just one of several that helps to amplify Rachel…
“As far as Papa knew, we canned a dozen jars of asparagus. He carefully added to his ledger and carried the preserves to the cellar. What was the harm of setting aside the thirteenth jar in the back of my wardrobe, behind the bolts of fabric leftover from Mama? I didn’t know what compelled me…
When other children have asked me about Rachel and Janneke’s disabilities, I’ve often used the words, “Their bodies work differently from yours.” My intention in those situations has been to simply acknowledge the difference. But more recently, I’ve been reflecting on how we as adults interpret or even contrive differences. In the beginning “It is…
This month, our Janneke turns 13. Thinking back to her birth, I am reminded of the strong feelings we had then. It was obvious her body would not have the same freedoms as her peers to explore talking, eating and walking. In those first few weeks, we knew that we’d have to redefine (again) life…
On March 13, 1990, an eight-year-old girl, diagnosed with cerebral palsy, joined over 60 adults and families impacted by physical disabilities to crawl up the steps of the Capitol building in Washington D.C. without their mobility devices to physically demonstrate the inaccessible architecture and culture of America. Living in an ableist culture My two youngest,…
I was a voracious reader as a kid. I wasn’t stuck on a particular genre, but if the story became too intense or lagged on long, I’d skip over the chapters and catch the ending. I welcomed spoilers. Later, as a young adult in college, my friends and I would commiserate over the fact that…
Christmas feels different when you’re grown up. I see this with my own children. Gone are the days when they would get excited over decorating the tree with pipe cleaner candy canes and angels created from dry pasta noodles. I fully relied on my older two to help share the cheer with Rachel and Janneke….
It’s 11 p.m., and I am headed to bed. Though it is suggested that the average family does eight to ten loads of wash each week (spruce.com), in our home, the washer and dryer run almost continuously throughout the day. Due to the specific nature of Rachel and Janneke’s needs, we average five loads a…
I can say without reservation that flying our kite is Rachel’s favourite thing to do. Unleashed in the wind, the colourful fabric and long tail is eye-catching and mesmerizing. As often as possible, weather permitting, we drive Rachel and Janneke to The Spit. It’s a narrow tree-filled stretch of land alongside the Welland Canal that…
Sign-up for a curated collection of our articles in your inbox every Monday morning.
| Cookie | Duration | Description |
|---|---|---|
| akavpau_ppsd | session | This cookie is provided by Paypal. The cookie is used in context with transactions on the website. |
| bcookie | 2 years | This cookie is set by linkedIn. The purpose of the cookie is to enable LinkedIn functionalities on the page. |
| lang | session | This cookie is used to store the language preferences of a user to serve up content in that stored language the next time user visit the website. |
| lidc | 1 day | This cookie is set by LinkedIn and used for routing. |
| mailchimp_landing_site | 1 month | The cookie is set by the email marketing service MailChimp. |
| Cookie | Duration | Description |
|---|---|---|
| _gat | 1 minute | This cookies is installed by Google Universal Analytics to throttle the request rate to limit the colllection of data on high traffic sites. |
| Cookie | Duration | Description |
|---|---|---|
| _ga | 2 years | This cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to calculate visitor, session, campaign data and keep track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookies store information anonymously and assign a randomly generated number to identify unique visitors. |
| _gid | 1 day | This cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to store information of how visitors use a website and helps in creating an analytics report of how the website is doing. The data collected including the number visitors, the source where they have come from, and the pages visted in an anonymous form. |
| _uetsid | never | This cookies are used to collect analytical information about how visitors use the website. This information is used to compile report and improve site. |
| Cookie | Duration | Description |
|---|---|---|
| advanced_ads_browser_width | 1 month | This cookie is set by Advanced ads plugin.This cookie is used to measure and store the user browser width for adverts. |
| bscookie | 2 years | This cookie is a browser ID cookie set by Linked share Buttons and ad tags. |
| MUID | 1 year 24 days | Used by Microsoft as a unique identifier. The cookie is set by embedded Microsoft scripts. The purpose of this cookie is to synchronize the ID across many different Microsoft domains to enable user tracking. |
| test_cookie | 15 minutes | This cookie is set by doubleclick.net. The purpose of the cookie is to determine if the user's browser supports cookies. |
| Cookie | Duration | Description |
|---|---|---|
| _uetvid | never | No description available. |
| AnalyticsSyncHistory | 1 month | No description |
| cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional | 1 year | The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". |
| cookies.js | session | No description available. |
| li_gc | 2 years | No description |
| m | 2 years | No description available. |
| ultp_view_16128 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_22052 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_22126 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4231 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4234 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4237 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4240 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4243 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4246 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4249 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4252 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4255 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4258 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4261 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4264 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4267 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4270 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4273 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4276 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4279 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4282 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4285 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4288 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4291 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4294 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4297 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4300 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4303 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4306 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4309 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4312 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4315 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4318 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4321 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4324 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4327 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4330 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4333 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4336 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4339 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4342 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4345 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4348 | 1 day | No description |
| ultp_view_4351 | 1 day | No description |
|
Uploaded
Failed
|
 |
