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By Louise KinrossDo you receive our BLOOM e-letter in your inbox each month? It covers our most compelling parenting and disability stories and expert interviews; links to mainstream news about disability; information and events from Holland Bloorview; new books; and "shout outs" to people who are making the world a more inclusive place. To sign up, click here.  Check out our June issue. If you scroll down to our shout outs...

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'The tears represent sadness, but sort of a beautiful sadness'

By Louise KinrossJessica Chan, 20 (above), made a mask to convey what it’s like to live with a brain injury. At age 17, she had surgery to remove a brain tumour. Today, the University of Toronto student is one of several young adults showing masks they created at an Unmasking Brain Injury workshop at Holland Bloorview. The goal is to increase public understanding of this invisible disability.BLOOM: Can you tell us about your brain injury? Jessica...

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U of T docs say ridicule, yelling, rude emails a part of their world

By Louise KinrossA new study in Academic Medicine looks at uncivil behaviour among doctors—from eye rolling and open ridicule to yelling, throwing objects, sending unkind e-mails and posting disparaging social media comments. University of Toronto researchers interviewed 49 doctors who are faculty in U of T’s department of medicine and work at six teaching hospitals to describe rude behaviour they see or experience, and look at organizational...

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The kindest doctor knows how it feels to be a patient

By Louise KinrossTwo experiences helped Dr. Brian Goldman understand how it felt to be on the receiving end of care, and led to his “journey to find kindness around the world, and to see if I could rediscover it within myself.” The emergency room doctor was speaking to developmental pediatricians at Holland Bloorview today about his new book The Power of Kindness: Why Empathy Is Essential in Everyday Life. Brian recalled a time in the ER when...

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We celebrate 'a smile, a hand reaching out to say more'

By Louise KinrossShawna Perkins loves to play. The art therapist spends her days with babies and young children in Holland Bloorview’s therapeutic playroom. Her little patients may be here for rehab following a painful surgery, to recover from a traumatic brain injury, or because their parents need to learn how to care for their child's ventilator at home. The playroom is a happy place, full of bright toys, comfy mats and art supplies; tables...

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The care crisis that should shake us all

By Louise KinrossIf you didn't see this CBC White Coat, Black Art town hall on the crisis facing youth with complex disabilities aging out of the services and funding they and their families depend on, it's well worth the listen. It's packed with firsthand stories from parents, a young adult with a disability and experts in children's rehab, education, mental health and law, a couple of whom have siblings with disabilities. You know how...

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Green acres is the place for me

By Louise KinrossIn 2014, Maya Wechsler and Greg Masucci made a drastic life change. They moved from a row house off a busy street in Washington, D.C. to a fixer-upper house on 24 acres in Bluemont, Va. They were tired of fighting for a good education for their son Max, now 10, who has autism, and wanted a simpler, safer life for Max and his sister Delilah. It wasn’t part of the initial plan, but since making the move they launched a non-profit...

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Horrific conditions led to two preventable deaths

By Louise KinrossTwo stories about horrific, entirely preventable deaths of people with disabilities crossed my desk. In one case, a British woman with Down syndrome died of sepsis—a blood infection—in 2015 because nurses at the home she lived in left a blocked catheter in her for months. Her name was Sandra Miller. In the other, a 13-year-old Wisconsin girl with who was unable to walk, talk or care for herself, died of sepsis after her mother...

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Sometimes life's a pain, for everyone

By Louise KinrossIn 2013, Swiss disability group Pro Infirmis created a powerful ad called Because who is perfect? They invited people with a variety of disabilities, such as a curved spine or an amputated leg, to have their measurements taken, then made mannequins to replicate them. The mannequins were dressed in high-end clothes and put in store fronts on Zurich's main shopping street. The same disability group just released a new ad above: Everyone is equal. No one is more equal. In this ad, people with disabilities experience common,...

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A mom discovers what the doctors missed

By Louise KinrossMany of you know Brenda Agnew, the powerhouse behind the Parent Advocacy Link (PAL) Facebook group that connects over 1,500 parents of children with disabilities to share practical and emotional support. You may not know that Brenda’s son Maclain, 10, has disabilities that stemmed as a newborn from untreated jaundice, a condition that happens when too much of a chemical called bilirubin builds up in the blood, causing the skin...

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A nurse's stories reveal the heart of medicine

By Louise Kinross I just finished The Language of Kindness: A Nurse's Stories of Life, Death and Hope and I can't get the images of author Christie Watson's British patients out of my head. There is Betty, a frail old woman lying on a hospital stretcher with chest pains, following the recent death of her husband. After getting her a sandwich and a cup of tea, Christie holds her "paper-thin hand," closes her eyes and listens to her talk...

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