‘This is about the B.C. government destroying a sanctuary for dying patients who want the choice to stay in a facility where MAID is not offered’
You might think the middle of a global pandemic is less than an ideal time to disrupt the operations of a hospice where palliative care patients receive comfort as they approach death. If so, you would not share the apparent thinking of the B.C. government or its local Fraser Health Authority, which is forcing layoffs…
Ensuring physical accessibility is only the beginning of creating places where people can ‘be who they are,’ says design consultant and PhD student Lara Pinchbeck
When designing spaces for people living with disabilities, there’s more to consider than whether they’re physically accessible. A greater challenge is making sure the environments we work and live in accommodate ‘invisible’ or ‘hidden’ disabilities – a long list of conditions that range from hearing impairment to autism to anxiety disorders. Understanding the space requirements of…
U of A specialist identified gaps in care as patients age, developed app on his own time to ‘make a difference’
A University of Alberta family doctor has developed an app that he hopes will improve medical care for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Kyle Sue, clinical assistant professor of developmental pediatrics in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, built the app with the help of a friend to present family physicians with the best treatment…
Vast majority of athletics websites make it hard for people with disabilities to see themselves participating in sport, U of A researcher finds
Despite overtures to the contrary, para-athletes remain largely invisible within the vast majority of Canadian athletics websites, according to a University of Alberta study showing access to sport for people with disabilities is all but completely missing online. Danielle Peers, a professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation and Canada Research Chair in Disability and…
English language learners in Grades 7 to 9 perform worse than monolingual classmates in vocabulary, grammar and reading comprehension
A sizable proportion of junior high school students whose first language is not English are falling behind in oral language and literacy skills, according to a recent linguistics study. After testing 227 Edmonton and Vancouver English language learners in Grades 7 to 9, University of Alberta's Johanne Paradis and her colleagues found that many performed below…
Lack of additional disability supports has meant vulnerable groups have had to look to other means to support themselves through the pandemic
By Michelle Maroto University of Alberta and David Pettinicchio University of Toronto We Canadians like to think we’ve done a far better job responding to COVID-19 than other places, including our neighbours to the south. Our relative success lies in swift responses to and consistent messaging about the pandemic in non-partisan ways. Nationwide physical distancing…
Study shows those living with disabilities average 25% less in assets and COVID-19 is making the situation worse
When sociologist Michelle Maroto came across a Toronto Star article about an Ontario woman struggling to make ends meet while battling Type 1 diabetes, she knew the story was just the tip of the iceberg. Anna Costa was juggling four low-paying jobs without benefits, and after paying more than $300 per month for insulin and blood tests…
Kevin Zentner turned his academic career around by getting involved, working with the less fortunate
In the weeks before his first University of Alberta classes in 2016, Kevin Zentner nervously paced the campus, trying to keep the acronyms straight. “I had no idea what everyone was saying when they said SUB or HUB or CAB or whatever else,” said Zentner. “It sounds funny but that anxiety was massive for me.”…
Why we need quality sex education for our students with developmental disabilities, too
When my sister, who has a developmental disability, and I were growing up in the 1970s and ’80s, neither of us received very much formalized education on sexual health. I eventually learned what I needed to, through friends, the media and books, but she had access to none of that. As a result, she and…
Individuals with developmental disabilities live longer than ever and that means the responsibility for care is shifting to siblings
A combination of better medical care and good lives in the community mean longer life expectancies for individuals with a developmental disability. That’s good news. But many are outliving their parents, who have taken care of them over their lifetimes. Once parents are no longer able to provide the same level of support or care,…
You might think the middle of a global pandemic is less than an ideal time to disrupt the operations of a hospice where palliative care patients receive comfort as they approach death. If so, you would not share the apparent thinking of the B.C. government or its local Fraser Health Authority, which is forcing layoffs…
