What do you say about your disability in a work interview?

By Jessica GeboersI got my first paid writing gig with this very publication in March 2015. I had finished classes and was visiting my grandparents in California. When I got the email, I couldn’t wait to call home to tell dad that someone was going to pay me to write. I knew that he worried about me finding work. That’s not to say that I wasn’t worried, but it’s different knowing your parents are concerned about your future. With a college diploma...

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Worried you're not a 'good enough' parent? Barb can help

By Louise Kinross Barb Fishbein has always been one of my favourite people at Holland Bloorview. She’s a social worker who works in our child development program and has been at the hospital for 31 years. BLOOM: Why did you go into social work in children’s rehab?Barb Fishbein: I adore children and I was running a summer program down at Harbourfront when I was a student and I remember some children coming from Holland Bloorview and being...

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A problem focus misses 'the opportunity to get kids to thrive'

By Louise Kinross Dr. Evdokia Anagnostou is a neurologist and clinician scientist in the Autism Research Centre at Holland Bloorview. She is also a Canada Research Chair in translational therapeutics in autism. We talked about her role in clinic and conducting research.BLOOM: Why did you get into working as a clinician scientist with children with autism?Evdokia Anagnostou: It started as a puzzle. When I was training as a resident in neurology,...

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Changing the stories we tell about disability and families

By Louise Kinross Recently BLOOM reported on research about the role of hope and the invisibility of dads in children’s rehab. This was produced by Parenting Matters, a team funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to study what it means to parent kids with disabilities like Down syndrome, autism or cerebral palsy. Scientist Lucy Lach, an associate professor in the School of Social Work at McGill University, is the co-principal...

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The adventures of Team Jake

By Marcy White “You’re having strangers stay at your house?” asked my friend tentatively. “On their honeymoon?” “Well, we’ve never met,” I said, “but they aren’t strangers.” My friend was mortified.I didn't think it was weird, and I wasn't worried, despite the fact that our only exchanges with this couple had happened on Facebook.Kelly and her fiancé Kevin were part of Who I Run For, a Facebook group that pairs children and adults with...

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Good care? It starts with R-E-S-P-E-C-T, student says

By Louise Kinross Emily Chan, 19, has come full circle.This summer she’s a researcher in the Ward Family Summer Student Program at Holland Bloorview.As a University of Toronto student who just finished her second year in mental health studies and health policy, Emily hopes to become a clinical psychologist working with children with disabilities.To her studies she brings a lifetime of firsthand experience. Emily, who has a rare neuromuscular...

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Confessions of a 'super sister'

By Helen Ries For many of us, the sibling relationship is the longest and deepest relationship we experience in a lifetime. This is certainly true for my brother and me. When he was born in 1972 he didn’t come home from the hospital right away. The doctors told my mother they needed to run some tests. I can still remember my deep disappointment that the promise of a baby brother was taking so long to materialize. When he did finally...

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Make room for dads

By Louise Kinross In the world of children’s rehab, it’s often moms who become experts on their child's disability or injury, take their child to therapy and medical appointments and carry out interventions at home. We even ascribe a culture to them, calling them warrior moms or Mama Bears. But what role does this leave for dads? A largely invisible one, according to a new fact sheet from the Parenting Matters research team at the...

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A dad asks: 'Did I do anything wrong?'

By Louise Kinross Samuel Cheng (above left) is a decision support analyst at Holland Bloorview. He spoke at a Schwartz Rounds recently about what it’s like to have his professional and personal life intersect, as his son Timothy (right) has disabilities. I wasn’t able to attend the event, but many colleagues told me they were profoundly moved by Samuel’s story, so I interviewed him. BLOOM: Tell us a bit about Timothy. Samuel Cheng: He’s 14...

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