First armless pilot: 'My feet were more efficient and faster'

BBC World Service has this fabulous interview with Jessica Cox, a 33-year-old Arizona woman who is the world's first licensed pilot with no arms.  She talks about "feeling lighter, freer and more empowered than I'd ever felt in my whole life" the first day of Grade 8, when she left the prosthetic arms she'd worn for 11 years at home. "It was my statement of independence and my statement of authenticity. My feet were more efficient and faster." Jessica...

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How to work with your child's teacher and school

By Alison Morse Parents of children with special-education needs face extra challenges in helping their kids succeed at school. Sometimes we assume that a teacher will automatically know how to teach our child. But every child is different. It’s important for the school to focus on your child’s individual needs—not just what they assume based on a label. These strategies will help you support your child by taking an organized approach to your...

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Why are we so hung up on walking?

By Louise Kinross Why is a skateboard cool, but a walker not so much?Why is walking at the top of those child development charts, and crawling at the bottom? And why is the option of wheeling in a chair entirely absent?Holland Bloorview scientist Barbara Gibson just gave a fascinating talk on how we may limit the way children move because of the social value we place on walking. Her book Rehabilitation: A Post-critical Approach was...

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Tommy Hilfiger launches adapted children's clothing

By Louise Kinross Great news for parents. Runway of Dreams has partnered with Tommy Hilfiger to produce the first mainstream line of clothing with adaptations for youth with disabilities built in. The clothing, for children up to size 20, can be ordered online and includes a pair of US$39.50 boy's jeans with these alterations: adjustable waistband; magnet system and velcro on fly, instead of zipper for easy open and close;...

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Coping while captured (in hospital!)

Jadine Baldwin is a 15-year-old student who's been hospitalized at Holland Bloorview since she had surgery to straighten her spine back in November.   Jadine has written this acrostic poem to share tips with other youth who may be scheduled to come to Holland Bloorview for rehab. An acrostic poem uses the letters in a word to begin each line of the poem. Enjoy!    Coping while captured (in hospital!) By Jadine Baldwin Come...

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Hospitalized: A poem by Jadine Baldwin

Jadine Baldwin (with her mother) is a 15-year-old student who's been hospitalized at Holland Bloorview since she had surgery to straighten her spine way back in November. "I'm not going to sugarcoat it," she says. "This has been the most painful surgery I've ever had."  Jadine says she uses writing as an outlet for her emotions. "I write when I'm happy, sad, angry or hungry." It's also a great distraction from pain, she says. "When you're...

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Stevie Wonder calls for inclusion amid reminders of dark reality

By Louise Kinross This is a grim piece today. It's a reminder of the ugly, sometimes violent, discrimination that exists in our communities against those with disabilities. Social media lit up a few days ago when Stevie Wonder demanded inclusion at the Grammys. "We need to make every single thing accessible to every person with a disability," he said.   Everyone got behind him, celebrities, media pundits. Meanwhile, these were...

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A novel drawn from light and loss

By Louise Kinross In 2011, cartoonist Tom Hart was living an idyllic life in Gainesville, Florida. While his wife Leela, also a cartoonist, worked on a book, he spent time with his daughter Rosalie, not yet 2—bike-riding, visiting ducks in the pond, tracking the moon, painting watercolours on the back-porch. Then Rosalie died suddenly and unexpectedly. Tom did what he'd always done: he began writing, furiously, and then drawing, about it....

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Assisted suicide study questions its use for depression, autism

By Louise Kinross A study published yesterday about doctor-assisted suicide in the Netherlands for patients with depression and other conditions, including autism, raises alarming questions. The JAMA Psychiatry study looked at 66 cases between 2011 to 2014, including two involving people with autism. Depression was the most common diagnosis. The practice of helping patients to die was initially limited to those with terminal illness who were...

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'Everyday life no longer made sense to my new brain'

My Beautiful Broken Brain is a documentary about a 34-year-old filmmaker's life following a stroke that left her unable to speak, read or write but able to sense colours and sounds in a new way. It's produced by David Lynch and looks fabulou...

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Look again: 'What I was teaching was about seeing'

By Louise Kinross In 2007 photographer Brenda Spielmann began an innovative program at Holland Bloorview that brought together children with and without disabilities to take digital images. She knew photography was an accessible medium because her son Dylan (above with twin brother Kai) has a disability. More recently, Brenda told me she was starting a project that would involve taking mother and child portraits. Some of the pairs would include...

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One family shows how games make therapy fun

The Globe and Mail has a fabulous video and article about how therapeutic video games are being developed at Holland Bloorview for children with cerebral palsy. Our family leader Cheryl Peters and her daughters Jillian and Lauren are the stars. This is a lovely video which includes footage from Jillian growing up and interviews with scientist Elaine Biddiss and Dr. Darcy Fehlings. Enjo...

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Yes! Disabled consumers demand fashion and fit

Dear Louise: Your fabulous article (In Lucy Jones’ hands, style and disability are a perfect fit) forwarded to me by my son BJ Miller about Lucy Jones certainly spoke to me: I've been disabled since infancy by polio.   Growing up with a disability back in the ’50s and ’60s was different from what it is now: back then, people with disabilities were seen as less “desirable” or “acceptable.” One way I tried to fit it was to always wear clothes...

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What's most important? Intelligence or emotional health?

By Louise Kinross What factors in childhood predict later satisfaction and happiness in life? Two articles crossed my desk about studies that come to vastly different conclusions. The first article is about a study published in 2014 in the Economic Journal by London School of Economics (LSE) researchers. This study finds emotional health in childhood and later is the most important predictor of adult life satisfaction.  Researchers...

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How difficult could caregiving be? This sister found out

By Louise Kinross I caught part of this excellent interview on CBC's The Current this morning. It's about Helen Ries's journey as an Ottawa woman who took over care of her adult brother Paul, who has Down syndrome. Paul, who works delivering mail at Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., moved in with Helen and her husband after their mother died in January 2015. Helen's built this amazing website aimed at developing a community of friends...

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