For Immediate Release
November 23, 2021

Ottawa–“While the members of the Alliance for Equality of Blind Canadians / l’Alliance pour l’Ãgalité des Personnes Aveugles du Canada (AEBC) support such issues as continuing to fight the pandemic, amendment of the Broadcasting Act, dealing with the climate emergency and giving greater priority to reconciliation for all indigenous peoples, we were dismayed that the 22% of Canadians who are blind or otherwise disabled received so little attention in today’s Speech From the Throne,” said Marcia Yale, National President of the AEBC. “The fact that the Speech failed to address any of our substantive issues leaves me fearful that our community is being left behind once again,” added Yale.

Throne Speech Leaves Blind Canadians Behind Again full article

They say that’s discrimination.

Without proper support to live at home, they have no choice but to stay in “medical prison cells” By Meagan Gillmore
Broadview Magazine, November 15, 2021

Sometimes, the most exciting place Victoria Levack can go is her bedroom. The decorations testify to the 30-year-old’s interests and aspirations. A constellation of photos of her with celebrities at Hal-Con, Halifax’s annual comic convention, fills one section. Figurines of superheroes and Disney princesses surround the room. Belle from Beauty and the Beast and Wonder Woman are her favourites: strong, intelligent women, ready to protect others. They both reflect parts of Levack’s personality, too. She spends much of her time advocating for adults with disabilities, like her, to have equal access to opportunities, whether that’s sexual education or, most pressingly, housing.

Some Young Adults With Disabilities are Stuck in Long-Term Care. full article

Matt McCann says despite the challenges of Covid, some welcome changes have come for those with disabilities and those changes should not be lost. November7, 2021
Matt McCann

COVID-19 HAS CHANGED the way the world works in numerous and dramatic ways. Since taking to the world stage, this virus has asserted itself and created a universal social disability for everyone, individuals, businesses and nations alike. It has, invariably, changed us all.

One positive note that this global pandemic has revealed, however, is that nothing is impossible for humanity when given the proper amount of focus, intention and support.

Opinion: The World Should Not Fall Into Its Old Ableist Habits as Covid Re-Openings Continue full article

Alisha Dicks , CBC News
Posted: Nov 05, 2021

Living with a disability can sometimes be frustrating, expensive and isolating. But, as the CBC’s Alisha Dicks knows, it’s so much more than that. Her disability has taught her to think creatively and look at things from a different perspective. In her new series, Access with Alisha, she gives us a look into her life and helps break down barriers for others.

A high school teacher once told me “people like you” don’t belong in university.

This comment briefly made me feel invisible, worthless and incapable of achieving my dreams – but has fuelled me every step of the way since then.

Let’s Open Our Minds to People With Disabilities – Instead of Closing Doors full article

Erin Donnelly
Thu., November 4, 2021

An author, speaker and
disability advocate fed up with being described as “wheelchair-bound” – which the disabled community has long identified as inappropriate – channeled her frustration
into a Halloween costume inspired by the “outdated ableist term.”

Photos shared by Canadian-Australian writer
Tara Moss show her being, quite literally, “wheelchair-bound,” with her arms and legs restrained to her wheelchair; Moss tells Yahoo Life that her husband “faux-tied”
her restraints, which she removed before heading out to trick-or-treat with their daughter near their home in British Columbia, Canada.

Disability Advocate Wears ‘Wheelchair-Bound’ Halloween Costume to Call Out the ‘Outdated Ableist Term’ full article

Legislation provides broad focus on areas of authority on which the government can act SaltWire Network | Posted: Oct. 25, 2021

New legislation before the House of Assembly aims to kickstart the process of improving accessibility in communities throughout Newfoundland and Labrador by removing barriers that prevent people with disabilities from fully participating in society.

John Abbott, minister of Children, Seniors and Social Development, announced the proposed new accessibility legislation on Monday, Oct. 25.

“When we, as a province, improve accessibility and inclusion, all persons in Newfoundland and Labrador benefit. This ultimately leads to everyone being able to fully participate in society,” Abbott said.

New ‘enabling Legislation’ Aimed at Improving Accessibility in Newfoundland and Labrador full article

By M. Leona Godin
New York Times, Oct. 21, 2021

Like many disabled people who grew up in the decades after Helen Keller’s death in 1968, I had always found the mythology of her life story troubling. The narrative that depicted Keller arguably the most famous disabled person in 20th-century America as a sort of deaf-blind angel did not resonate with me.

Helen Keller and the Problem of ‘Inspiration Porn’ full article

BY KAYLEE POCHE
NOLA.com, Oct. 11, 2021

The American Council of the Blind is urging taxpayer-funded state agencies to halt sending blind and low-vision people to any blindness training centers where allegations of sexual abuse have taken place, specifically citing recent allegations at the Louisiana Center for the Blind.

The Board of Directors, which passed the resolution at its Sept. 29 meeting, also asked the federal Rehabilitation Services Administration to take a series of actions aimed at preventing sexual assault and other inappropriate behavior at blindness training centers across the country.

Blindness Group Asks States to Stop Sending People to Training Centers With Abuse Allegations full article