Battle Won!

Photo from CTV news article.

Destiny Robinson-Cooke has been fighting for over six years to get benefits related to her service dog, Sasha. Finally, on June 28, 2023, her battle was won.  Nevertheless, as Robinson Cooke correctly states, “‘A disabled person should not have to fight for a benefit they are entitled to.'” Click here to read the full article.

One a Day?

If you have time to read only one Twitter thread today, you might want to choose this one.

Profits Over People?

Another example of profits over people. How many individuals, especially seniors and/or people with disabilities, are being taken advantage of by businesses etc.?

“‘Being that I am a diabetic and I struggle with mental illness and I’m legally blind and I’m legally deaf I thought this might be a way that I could try and save money. ‘”

Click here to read the full story.

Challenging Assumptions

Seniors are often seen as individuals who are slowing down physically and mentally and cognitively.  However, as a bank manager recently discovered, assumptions can be misguided, inaccurate and downright wrong. Below is a portion of the letter that an 86-year old woman wrote the bank manager after a cheque she had written  bounced.

“Dear Sir: I am writing to thank you for bouncing my check with which I endeavored to pay my plumber last month. By my calculations, 3 nanoseconds must have elapsed between his presenting the check and the arrival in my account of the funds needed to honor it..
I refer, of course, to the automatic monthly deposit of my entire pension, an arrangement which, I admit, has been in place for only 8 years.
You are to be commended for seizing that brief window of opportunity, and also for debiting my account $30 by way of penalty for the inconvenience caused to your bank.
My thankfulness springs from the manner in which this incident has caused me to rethink my errant financial ways. I noticed that whereas I personally answer your telephone calls and letters, — when I try to contact you, I am confronted by the impersonal, overcharging, pre-recorded, faceless entity which your bank has become….”

Click here to continue reading.

Advocate for Persons with Disabilities

Recently, Sandra Jansen, MLA from Calgary North West, proposed a private member’s bill. This bill, if passed, would see the creation of an Advocate for Persons with Disabilities. The Advocate would report to and advise the Minister of Community and Social Services and be mandated to:

  • identify and study issues of concern to persons with disabilities;
  • review programs and policies affecting persons with disabilities;
  • participate in processes in which decisions are made about persons with disabilities;
  • promote the rights, interests and well-being of person with disabilities through public education;
  • provide information and advice to the Government with respect to any matter relating to the rights, interests and well-being of person with disabilities; and
  • assist individuals who are having difficulty accessing services for persons with disabilities and related programs, including directing them to an appropriate resource, person or organization that may be able to assist them.”

Click here to read more about the proposed bill and provide your response.

***Thanks to Sandi, a member of the Pts4Chg community, for bringing this to our attention.***

Have Your Say

A member of the Patients 4 Change (Pts4Chg) community drew our attention to this important survey by posting the following. Thanks, Mike.

“This survey is being complied by Employment and Social Development regarding employment and people with unpredictable episodic conditions.

episodic-disability-survey

Click here or on the image above to go directly to the survey.

Please participate if you feel you qualify.”

A Historic Day in Canada?


The long-awaited and much-debated doctor-assisted-dying Bill C-14 was tabled in Parliament today. According to the bill, individuals who are “suffering intolerably” and whose death is “reasonably foreseeable” will be able to access doctor-assisted death, but “mature minors” and the mentally ill will not. In addition, advance consent for individuals with degenerative disorders, including dementia and Alzheimers, will be disallowed.

Not surprisingly, there are many people who feel that this legislation is far too restrictive and limiting. However, according to Jane Philpott, Canada’s Health Minister, “We believe this legislation is the best approach to ensure that dying patients who are suffering unbearable pain have the choice for a peaceful death and the vulnerable are protected.” What are your thoughts?

Click here to read more about what some see to be a “historic day.”

Dear Kylie Jenner, my wheelchair is not a prop

 

On December 3, 2015, Emily Ladau wrote a powerful blog for salon.com.  In her post, she explained why Kylie Jenner’s photo opp, which saw her using a wheelchair as a prop, was offensive, disrespectful and distasteful.  However, according to Ladau, there was something even more problematic with Jenner sitting in a wheelchair for a magazine cover.  “The true problem lies in that a wheelchair is seen as artistic if it is graced by the rear of an established non-disabled celebrity, but actual disabled people are almost completely ignored in mainstream media.”

If you have not read this article, I encourage you to do so.  It is definitely worth the time and is apt to provide some food for thought.