A Life of Dignity and Worth
by Audrey King
During the year 2005 I interviewed Sheila Keogh (nee Essex) as part of a Government of Canada Centennial Flame research project that involved exploring the lives of Canadians with disabilities who have significantly contributed to public life. The following is an account of the dignity and worth of Sheila’s life, as she shared it with me and allowed me the privilege of sharing her life with others.
A Life of Dignity and Worth plain text
Neo-Asylum Era: Institutions Without Walls
by Sandra Carpenter
I spent the first 20 years of my life fighting to get out of an institution, only to spend the rest of it keeping the institution from descending upon me. What I mean by that is that the Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) system will connect, coordinate and plan all health service delivery within their area. It is indeed an institution without walls and I will be in the middle of it, and unless Direct Funding (DF) stays outside the LHIN system, I will be controlled by it and accountable to it. And while that might not be bad for the individual who wants to speed up access to treatment, and for whom the time with LHIN intersection is limited, my concern remains for people –like me – who will be intersecting with a LHIN for daily, essential support.
Neo-Asylum Era – Institutions Without Walls
Neo-Asylum Era – Institutions Without Walls plain-text
Summer Safety Tips To Beat The Heat
This issue includes a special feature which provides us with tips to staying cool in the summer heat. For detailed information click on the links below.
Summer Safety Tips to Beat the Heat
Summer Safety Tips to Beat the Heat plain-text
Docs Knows Best: It’ll be too late for you, if he’s wrong
This is an article on ‘futile-care theory’ by Wesley J. Smith. For full story, please click the links below.
Building an Inclusive and Accessible Canada: Supporting People with Disabilities
In this article, the Council of Canadians with Disabilities (CCD) is calling upon the Federal Government to build an inclusive and accessible Canada, where people with disabilities benefit from Canadian society in ways equal to other Canadians.
Building an Inclusive and Accessible Canada
Building an Inclusive and Accessible Canada plain-text
Disabled Killed in N. Korea: Defector
by Jack Kim, Reuters News Agency, in Toronto Star, March 23, 2006
“SOUL—North Korea has no people with physical disabilities because they are killed almost as soon as they are born, a physician who defected from the communist state said yesterday…….” For full story, click the link below.
Disabled Killed in N. Korea – Defector
Disabled killed in N. Korea – Defector plain-text
Open Letter: Regulation of self-directed attendant services
The Health Professions Regulatory Advisory Council (HPRAC) has been asked to give advice on the fact that PSWs (personal support workers) are unregulated. HPRAC is to report on whether some sort of certification is in order for PSWs. The problem is that the term ‘PSW’ encompasses all sorts of occupations, including attendant services. Regulation/certification of self-directed attendants is regarded by most consumers as a potential disaster and an intrusion into our ability to direct our own lives. What follows is one of the best letters CILT has seen on this subject.
Open Letter
This open letter submitted by Council Of Canadians With Disabilities is regarding Disability Community response to CBC interview with Robert Latimer.
The Value of Life With A Disability
Most of society sees people with disabilities as persons who are flawed, pitiful and without dignity. But we see ourselves as a vital and proud community, with values of our own that enhance our quality of life, values that could enhance life for all:
1) tolerance for others’ differences (racial, intellectual, financial/class)
2) matter-of-fact orientation toward helping; acceptance of human interdependence over rugged individualism
3) high tolerance for lack of resolution, living with unknowns or less-than-ideal outcomes
4) characteristic dark humor, laughing at the oppressor, finding humor in almost any aspect of life
5) highly developed skills at managing multiple problems, systems, and helpers
6) creativity, lack of rigidity, ability to use traditional elements in new ways to solve problems
7) sophisticated future orientation; planning around anticipated obstacles
8) ability to read others’ attitudes; skill at filling in the gaps and sorting out contradictory messages
Independent Living and the Medical Model of Disability
In this article, author Simon Brisenden discusses in Independent Living Movement and the public’s misconception of the need for a medical model when dealing with consumers.
IL and the Medical Model of Disability
IL and the Medical Model of Disability plain-text
The Real Facts About Disability and “Quality of Life”
If only Kevorkian and others would read the research literature before deciding it is reasonable to want to die when you have an extensive disability!
The Real Facts about Disability and ‘Quality of Life’
The Real Facts about Disability and ‘Quality of Life’ plain-text
Bioethics: Introduction to Theories from Hell
In this article, author Alice Mailhot discusses the effect bioethicists have had on the medical system in the past 20 years.
Bioethics – Introduction to theories from hell
Bioethics – Introduction to theories from hell plain-text
All the above documents will open up in a new window.
To download and view the PDF documents provided, you may require the Adobe Acrobat reader in order to view and print the document.
You can download the free PDF reader at: www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2_allversions.html
or by clicking the icon below.
