Mother sues Eastern School board over injuries

Posted on August 5, 2010 by Stephen Pate

Valerie Gillespie is suing school board for negligence when her son suffered permanent brain damage

Valerie Gillespie, mother of the boy with disability

CBC – A mother is suing P.E.I.’s Eastern School District over injuries she says her disabled son suffered at a Charlottetown school that left him permanently incapacitated.

Valerie Gillespie is seeking an unspecified amount of money for damages, including the cost of full-time caregivers.

Gillespie’s son, Brenton Organ, was a 15-year-old student at Birchwood Intermediate School. He suffers from Dravet Syndrome, a severe form of epilepsy, which causes both physical and mental challenges.

Court documents filed this week say on Jan. 12 Brenton fell while being moved from one floor to another. He was being assisted by a caregiver, who was also helping another student with disabilities. Continue reading →

20th Annivesary of the Americans With Disabilities Act

Posted on July 26, 2010 by Stephen Pate

54 million Americans have a disability and are protected by the ADA, 4 million Canadians are still waiting

President Bush signed the ADA into law

PRLog - The civil rights of Americans living with disabilities were passed into law 20 years ago on July 20, 1990 by President George Bush Sr in the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The law was meant to ensure that people with disabilities would not be discriminated in their employment, government services, housing and in the community. It granted them rights similar to the Civil Rights Act.

During the intervening years, the US Courts narrowly restricted the application of the ADA. President George Bush Jr. pushed through Congress and the Senate 1,100 pages of amendments to the ADA to ensure the law did protect them. The ADA Amended was signed by President Obama in 2009. Continue reading →

Scrapped mandatory census cuts even deeper for disability advocacy group

Posted on July 25, 2010 by Byline

Disability advocacy groups have major challenge ahead following cuts to the census and StatsCan’s disability survey

image: Abilities.ca

Campbell Clark, Globe and Mail

Making the long-form census voluntary instead of mandatory is not the first change to the way Statistics Canada collects data since the Conservatives took office. Several surveys have been discontinued.

The Participation and Activity Limitation Survey, Statscan’s major data collection on individuals with disabilities, was cut by the government department that paid for it, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada.

The Harper government has told advocacy groups a census-related survey that gathers statistics about disabilities will eventually be replaced by a database culled from tax information, welfare rolls and similar databanks – but there’s skepticism about whether that information will be as reliable. Continue reading →

Government has shuffled paper for 2 years on Autism

Posted on June 21, 2010 by Byline

Children with autism need help now and PEI report called Inaction Strategy

Ronnie Nicholson image: CBC

By Ronnie Nicholson

I feel the need to speak out on the recent release of the PEI Autism Action Plan. I attended the release and my indignant reaction to the Plan received some media attention in both the Guardian and CBC News.

It was not my intention to rain on Minister Currie’s parade at the media launch last Tuesday. My intention was to watch an historic moment unfold where autistic children on PEI would be given the much needed supports they need, but was soon let down by what proved to be a dismal response to a critical moment for these children.

I believe that Minister Currie is a good man and quite competent at the helm of the Education portfolio. I could not help but feel empathy for Mr. Currie as I grilled him on his Department’s meager resources allocated to early intervention in the Action Plan.
Continue reading →

CBC UPEI ordered to rehire employees

Posted on June 8, 2010 by Byline

School says costs expected to exceed $1 million

Yogi Fell one of three UPEI employees to get their job back photo - CBC

CBC News – The University of Prince Edward Island has been ordered by the P.E.I. Human Rights Commission to rehire three employees who were forced to retire in 2005.

The commission ruled in February that the university’s mandatory retirement policy was discriminatory.

Last week, the group ordered the university to reinstate Thomy Nilsson, Richard Willis and Yogi Fell, and pay each complainant for loss of income and damages.

The commission also ordered UPEI to cease its policy of mandatory retirement, something the university had continued despite losing its case.
Continue reading →

Countdown to 20 years of ADA

Posted on June 7, 2010 by Byline

Spinal cord injured person speaks on what ADA means

AAPD premiered the first of our Countdown to the ADA video series on Monday, May 24, a series of videos in which we’re speaking to people in our community about the 20th anniversary of the ADA. Every Monday leading up to the ADA anniversary on July 26, we’ll be posting a new video as part of the series. In our first interview, we spoke to Bobby Coward, co-founder and director of DIRECT Action (Disabled Individuals for Real Empowerment and Community Training) and AAPD board member.

Fire Marshall calls for 2nd fire exit except if you are disabled

Posted on May 28, 2010 by Stephen Pate

Public buildings on PEI exempt from providing fire exits for disabled

Charlottetown Civic Centre, only one wheelchair accessible exit off the floor on Sunday night

At the Stompin Tom Connors concert on Sunday in May 2009, the Charlottetown Civic Centre had only one wheelchair accessible exit off the floor. It was the exit closest to the Box Office.

There were more than 30 people were on the arena floor in wheelchairs. In an emergency, many of those people in wheelchairs were at risk.

A May 2009 press release from PEI Fire Marshal David Blacquiere will be cold comfort to relatives of those who would have perished if a fire broke out.
Continue reading →

PEI Government restricts help for children with disabilities

Posted on May 15, 2010 by Stephen Pate

Shortage of child psychologists has children with learning disabilities waiting for years

Despite assurances that the Province of PEI would reform the Disability Support Program and provide new funding,Premier Ghiz has turned off the tap to vital services that Island children need.

The PEI Disability Support Program is not available to all the children on PEI who need assistance. Only 5% of Islanders with disabilities get help under the program. 22,000 Islanders have disabilities.

Children with learning disabilities must be assessed by a child psychologist before they are able to receive help from the program and in the school system. The ratio of one psychologist for 3,000 students means children wait more than two years for assessment. Continue reading →

University accused of civil rights violations

Posted on May 14, 2010 by Byline

The great Princeton University is living in the dark ages

Diane Metclalf-Leggette

By Lauren Christensen, Daily Princetonian

Update – A settlement was reached Thursday evening in the lawsuit Diane Metcalf-Leggette ’13 filed last October against the University. The suit challenged administrators’ refusal to accommodate her learning disabilities by granting her extra time on examinations. On Thursday, the University agreed to grant her initial request for 100 percent extended time.

The Office for Civil Rights of the Department of Education is currently conducting two separate investigations of the University in response to student allegations that the administration has violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, Jim Bradshaw, spokesman for the Department of Education, said in an e-mail. Continue reading →

Building a career despite discrimination

Posted on March 30, 2010 by Stephen Pate

Legally blind Labrador man rejected by employers but later plays national leadership role at CNIB

Dean Batstone, legally blind but successful in his career Michelle Stewart photo The Aurora

With story from The Aurora

Dean Batstone may have been born with a visual impairment but it didn’t stop him from getting an education and building a career. People are often amazed at the personal and professional success of people who are blind. The reality is disability does not mean the end of life for 4 million Canadians. It simply means the person has to persevere and adapt.

Batstone was born on the north east coast of Newfoundland in Jackson’s Cove which is a tiny out-port. He had several eye problems including detached retinas. He ended up with 6% vision. Batstone did well in school graduating with his high school diploma. A well-meaning rehabilitation worker decided he was smart enough to go to Memorial University and enrolled Dean without his knowledge.

“A lady with the Department of Rehabilitation decided that I was an intelligent young man and I needed to go to university, so got me into a funding plan to go to university.”

Continue reading →

Is Harper Canada’s best disability champion

Posted on March 15, 2010 by Stephen Pate

Signature of the UN Convention is a good start but Canada has less protection for those living with disabilities than gays or people of different races

Stephen Harper champion of disabilities

There is considerable enthusiasm for the Harper government’s ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.Canada ratifies UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

A post this morning Harper Government best Federal Champion Persons with Disabilities have ever had boasts of Harper’s affinity for the human rights of those living with disabilities. If that claim is true, it only demonstrates how pitiful Canada’s efforts at equality and inclusion have been.

Canadian’s with disabilities are routinely barred from employment, education, public buildings, and restaurants. Other than native Canadians, we have the lowest income of any enumerated minority in the Canadian Charter. Despite more than 15 years since the Kirby report outlined our miserable status in Canadian society, little other than platitudes has been achieved.

Canada lacks comprehensive rights legislation similar to the US Americans with Disabilities Act or the UK Disabilities Discrimination Act. When the daily acts of discrimination occur, the disabled in Canada must resort to court action at their own expense. They can also file a claim with provincial human rights commissions which again costs money for lawyers and takes from 5 to 10 years to adjudicate.
Continue reading →