How do you make decisions? Are you a pros-and-cons list maker, weighing each side like it’s a courtroom debate? Or maybe you like to test-drive your choices (my preference): Pretend you’ve picked one path for a few days just to see how it sits with you, then flip to the other and compare. Making medical…
It’s been a year since our Rachel became an adult and now qualifies as disabled with extensive needs, according to our province’s health care system. We celebrated her 19th birthday with a train trip to Toronto for the day. Visiting the big city offers a unique experience of inclusion, as a wheelchair is less of…
On a Monday afternoon in early March, my nurse and I took Rachel and Janneke to a doctor’s office in Hamilton. Most of the girls’ care over the years has taken place at McMaster Children’s Hospital, but now that Rachel is officially an adult, and Janneke is 16 years old, we are slowly transitioning to…
Over the winter months, with snow making it a challenge for the wheels, we’ve been taking our girls to a local indoor track. Built for the 2022 Canada Summer Games, the Walker Sports and Abilities Centre was designed to be accessible for parasport. There are two large accessible washrooms, one on each level, with adult-sized…
It was a cold morning back in January, as the nurse and I bundled up the girls for a trip to McMaster Children’s Hospital for a scheduled visit. When the appointment ended, we wheeled the girls from the clinic to the large accessible washroom that includes an adult-sized change table. The intentional design with the…
Last month, for the first time in five years, Ralph and I were able to take a trip together overnight. Our younger two kids were with loving and capable nurses in our home while we flew to Alberta with friends to spend three nights in Canmore. As we drove the highway from Calgary to Canmore,…
What do you want for Christmas? I remember this question from my childhood, part of recess-time chatter. In January, the question would shift: What did you get for Christmas? In my family, we’d make a big deal of writing our names on a piece of paper and then each choosing a name randomly, meaning we…
Imagine a university-aged youth who has just experienced his first episode of psychosis, a common symptom of psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia. Let’s call this young man Ben. Research has shown that early intervention treatment programs in young people with a first episode of psychosis can have a huge positive effect on the trajectory of…
When I started my post-secondary schooling You Can’t Say ‘You Can’t Play’, written by Vivian Gussin Paley, was on the syllabus for my first education class. Paley was an American primary school teacher and early childhood education researcher who took a special interest in observing the non-directed experiences in the classroom and the corresponding conversations…
Back in May of this year, journalist Meagan Gillmore wrote the article “What one man needed for a second chance at life.” The story features an update on Michal Kaliszan, an individual born with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Michal first caught public attention through his GoFundMe campaign in 2022 when he tried to raise money…
If you’re new to my column, two of our four kids, Rachel and Janneke, are disabled teens who live with significant needs that require complex care. Recently, the dietician assigned through the home and community care agency asked for updated weights of the girls. When Rachel and Janneke were younger (and lighter), I would hold…
I have a confession to make: I am a bitter disabled person. The media’s portrayal of people with disabilities had me believing that I’d forever be classified as either inspirational simply for existing, or pitied for being a helpless, worst-case scenario come to life. Add social media to the mix as a young adult, and…
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