Abilities is one of the “trades”, a magazine focused on a market segment like those auto repair magazines you find in car dealership waiting rooms. The articles are about one specific topic, in this case Canadians living with disabilities. It is light informative and not technical or medical.
Many magazines of this type are advertising rags, the articles are fill between the ads that pay for the magazine. Abilities has moved beyond that to be interesting to read. Even the advertisements are interesting since they show the willingness of large employers like the banks to recruit employees from among those living with disabilities.
The Fall 2007 issue contains an interview with David Onley, a polio survivor and the new Lieutenant Governor of Ontario. It also has articles on respite, travel in Venice in a wheelchair, a deaf university president, woodworking with a disability, and transitioning for young people. The articles are well written and interesting. The magazine hasn’t left my reading position for a week.
Some of the articles are written by persons with disabilities or spokespersons for disability groups. These are more authentic than the ones written by freelance writers. The publisher should be encouraged to use more writers with disabilities or to twin them with freelance writers.
The publisher is Raymond Cohen who is also president of the Canadian Abilities Foundation. This group maintains the website EnableLink which is a good source of information on disability issues in Canada.
You can read some of the magazine content online; however, the magazine is more than the articles. I encourage you to read a copy at your library or ask them for a complimentary one. Better yet, subscribe for $14 annually. It’s a small price for 4 issues per year that will enhance your experience as a person living with disabilities or someone with an interest in the topic.
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