Do It Myself Blog – Glenda Watson Hyatt

(Photo credit: Irum Shahid)

A friend’s severely physically disabled daughter received two boxes of Kleenex from her grandma for her Sweet Sixteen birthday. No doubt the grandma dearly loved her granddaughter and had good intentions, but had no clue what to give a young woman who is able to physically do very little. How heartbreaking for both of them.

With the Season of Giving now upon, friends and relatives are now facing the same dilemma: what gifts to give to youth with disabilities? Here are a few suggestions to get ideas percolating; of course, consider youth’s disability, ability and interests when deciding whether a suggestion is suitable:

1. Clothes. We all wear them! Depending on the child’s abilities and mobility, elasticized waists and zippers or Velcro, rather than buttons or snaps, would be greatly appreciated. Adapted clothes, such as from Kutaways, Mini-Miracles Children’s Clothing, WheelieChix Chix and Easy Does It (more for adults), may foster greater independence in dressing.
2. Wall posters of their favourite hotties or current interests, whether it be Christina Aguilera or Nick Carter or anyone in between.
3. Music CDs and, of course, something to play them on; for example, switch-adapted boom box with CD player. How cool is that! Or, even better yet, an iPod speaker system with a remote – forget fumbling with CDs and jewel cases!
4. Books are great for expanding one’s world. For those with print disabilities, large print, audio books or electronic books may be appreciated.
5. Make-up and jewelry: a must for all teenaged girl! Great tips for adapting a make-up kit. For the young men with disabilities, shaving kits and related items.

For younger ones with disabilities on your list, here are a few other ideas and resources:

• Sew ABLE Dolls for dolls that are like themselves. (Hat tip: Creative and Unique Gift Ideas)
• Gift ideas from the experts.
• Visit AblePlay for information and toy reviews suitable for children with disabilities.
• Currently in its 11th year of publication, the Toys “R” Us Guide for Differently-Abled Kids evaluates the listed toys and helps millions of people choose just the right toy for the children in their lives with disabilities.

By giving some thought to the individual’s interests and abilities, as well as to the disability, there are many gift ideas that are more exciting to give and to receive than a box of Kleenex! What ideas can you add to the list?

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Note: The companies and products mentioned here are offered as suggestions, as a starting point. I have not had any dealings with them. If you have dealt with companies, your comments on their products or on further gift ideas are most welcomed. Happy giving!

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(Photo credit: Stephen Hyun)

In the United States, October is National Disability Employment Month: a month devoted to increasing public awareness of the contributions and skills of employees with disabilities. In this day of labour shortages in various sectors, unemployment of people with disabilities still remains high at approximately 45%, according to the Office of Disability Employment Policy. The unemployment rate of Canadians with disabilities is equally as high.

People with disabilities face many false stereotypes and myths when searching for employment. One such myth is accommodating a person with a disability in the workplace is expensive. With this in mind, I would like to share the special equipment and technology that I use during my work day (many of which I demonstrate using in my video):

• A standard keyboard without additional keys above the function keys so that I can glide my hand along the top to steady my hand while typing. (Keyboards without the additional multimedia and internet keys are becoming harder to find.)
  (Cost $20)
• An Esterline Joystick gives me greater control than with a mouse. (Cost $600)
• Words+ EZ Keys software for word prediction and completion to save me a bit of typing. (Cost $695)
• TextAloud softwarefor proofreading my writing and for converting text into mp3 audio files when I give presentations. (Cost $30)
• NeoSpeech’s Kate is my voice. (Cost $35)
• Skype provides me with another means of communication. I can use either the text chat while the other speaks or texts, or I can use my webcam while speaking (people understand Glenda-ish better when they can see me speak) and then I use the text feature when we get stuck on a word or two. (free when chatting with other Skype users)

The total cost of the extra technology I use is approximately $1380. Putting this into perspective, is this amount any more than signing bonuses or car allowances offered to other potential employees?

According to the Job Accommodation Network, the average cost to accommodate an employee with a disability is $500. (I’m above average!) Some funding and tax incentives are available to cover these costs.

Myth: It is expensive to accommodate people with disabilities in the workplace. BUSTED!

If you enjoyed this post, consider buying me a chai tea latte. Thanks kindly.

Holding the prestigious talking stick in a longhouse in ‘Ksan Village

I have safely returned from Smithers and points beyond. The months of work by the SPARC staff paid off; there were no transportation barriers and all of the accessible washrooms exceeded doable. (Darrell and I have concluded doable washrooms aren’t completely accessible washrooms, but when nature is calling loudly, they are accessible enough to be doable!)

Thursday’s community dialogue focusing on accessible transportation, accessibility for Aboriginal communities, and access to civic engagement in rural areas was well attended and was quite an eye-opener. I won’t bemoan (as loudly) when it takes Darrell and me nearly six hours for our 1.5 hour martial arts class; at least there is a way we can get there, which is more than people in the rural communities have.

Following our Board meeting on Friday afternoon, an accessible bus, which took months to arrange, took us up to the ‘Ksan Historic Village. We toured several of replicated longhouses of the Gitxsan people. In the Wolf House (the feast hall), I was given the honour of holding the beautifully carved talking stick, which I thought was ironic yet symbolic. I view this blog as my talking stick.

We then enjoyed an Aboriginal feast of moose, halibut, smoked salmon, stuffed salmon, turnip, herring roe and oolichan (also known as the “candlefish”). After hearing much about the oolichan in my First Nations courses, I, of course, had to try it. One bite was all I could managed, which later proved to be one bite too much. But I appreciate having the opportunity to experience it.

Thanks to the SPARC staff ‘s effort and persistent calls, I was able to see a corner of the province that I wouldn’t have seen otherwise.

Please join us tomorrow, Wednesday, October 17th, 4-7pm pacific time for Readers’ Café. We may have a special guest in the house, if I can convince/coerce her to join the conversation. See you tomorrow.

If you enjoyed this post, consider buying me a chai tea latte. Thanks kindly.

The past few days I have been busy preparing to head out of town (for real) early Thursday morning. The taxi is scheduled to pick me up at 5:15am! I am flying to Smithers to present on civic engagement and the importance of accessible transportation at SPARC’s “Let’s Talk Access – Community Dialogue on Accessibility in Rural Communities” to be held at the Hudson Bay Lodge.

The SPARC Board of Directors (I’m the Treasurer) then meets on Friday and Saturday morning. We also tour a First Nations’ village in Hazelton. I fly home on Saturday in time, hopefully, for our martial class at GF Strong Rehabilitation Centre.

I’ll be sure to post about my adventure. I’m curious to see accessible washrooms in another corner of the province!

In the meantime, please continue casting your daily votes so that I may be paid to blog for a year. It would be awesome to have 6000 votes upon my return home!

Catch y’all next week (once I catch up on my sleep)!

If you enjoyed this post, consider buying me a chai tea latte. Thanks kindly.

Sam Sullivan,
Mayor of Vancouver, British Columbia
(Photo credit: National Film Board of Canada)

Broadcast Premiere

Citizen Sam – Official Selection at Hot Docs 2007

Sam Sullivan was a local curiosity, the quadriplegic Vancouver city councillor in a pinstripe suite with a pipe dream of leading his shattered right wing party back to power. Then he decided to run for mayor.

As the campaign begins, Sullivan admits to giving addicts money to buy crack and heroin. His opponents call him a do-nothing politician, and a nut. The media write him off, while everyone tiptoes around the issue of his disability. Blending the rough and tumble of the campaign trail with tender moments from Sullivan?s personal life, Citizen Sam is equal parts love story, thriller, comedy and confessional.

October 7, 2007
10 pm ET/PT (repeats at 1am)
CBC Newsworld

Also available from the National Film Board

If you enjoyed this post, consider buying me a chai tea latte. Thanks kindly.