Your attention, please

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, not surprisingly, our eyes were drawn to the Canadian Rockies, mountains that became more impressive as we approached our destination. I wondered out loud, “Do people who live here just get used to the view?”

Always on our mind

We had a great time exploring the hiking trails and eating good food that someone else cooked. The trip offered much needed respite, a break from the persistent demand of caregiving. Yet even as we explored the trails and touristy spots, both Ralph and I would turn to each other and comment on whether or not the path was accessible, how someone might navigate the incline or whether or not there was enough room in the restaurant for two wheelchairs at one table.

Design of space and place has captured our attention more than ever as parent caregivers of our two disabled teenage children. Even our older kids occasionally send us messages when they are out exploring and comment on the (lack of) accessibility. Before we take Rachel and Janneke on the train to visit our oldest, Emily, in nearby Toronto, she plans our itinerary based on access and facilities for personal care. I find it interesting that our family has evolved to see spaces and places through the lens of our younger two who use wheelchairs for mobility.

Still committed

We’re in the first few weeks of the new year, 2025, and it’s been twenty years since the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act was passed into law. In 2005, the AODA committed to creating an accessible province by 2025; Ontario was the first province in Canada to enact accessibility legislation. Since then, there have been significant developments in other provinces. The ambitious goals may not have been realized yet, but they aren’t forgotten. In 2019, the new Accessible Canada Act received Royal Assent with the commitment to make Canada barrier-free by January 1, 2040. Working together across this country makes good sense.

Though laws can make a difference, sustainable and widespread change only happens when there is personal conviction among the people. From the person who willingly clears the sidewalk to the regional councillor who advocates for accessible public transit regardless of ridership numbers, the idea of an accessible province and country requires attention from all of us.

“The quality of our attention to the built world determines not only who and what we see in it, but the shape of the narratives we tell about our lives,” writes design researcher Sara Hernden in her book What Can a Body Do: How We Meet the Built World. Happy New Year. What will capture your attention this year?