BLOOM becomes part of Holland Bloorview's new website

By Louise KinrossHolland Bloorview is launching a new website at the end of August, and BLOOM will be a part of it! Rather than standing alone, BLOOM will be integrated into one site with the hospital and our research institute and foundation. The new website has been designed with input from children and families. It features gorgeous, large images, as you can see in the screen shot above, is much easier to read and has enhanced accessibility. Visitors...

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Click click. Dress your chair with stylish, snap-on accessories

By Louise KinrossIt’s a bit of bling for the wheelchair, and security and control for the user. Lucy Jones—named one of the world’s brightest entrepreneurs by Forbes magazine in 2016 for designing clothes for people who use wheelchairs—launches a new line of wheelchair accessories today in New York City.A small US$49 metal clamp with a dock that fits on manual wheelchair tubing is being sold with two leather clutch bags and a cupholder that...

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'Foolishness' plays a critical role in rehab

By Louise KinrossThe ‘fool’ in Shakespeare’s plays and the ‘trickster’ in Indigenous stories held an important role in upending the status quo. A Holland Bloorview paper published this week in the Journal of Medical Humanities notes that the foolishness of therapeutic clowns—their emotional vulnerability and willingness to fail—is at the heart of their work with hospitalized children, producing a ‘joy without demands.’ Clown practices,...

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Diverse dolls help children 'appreciate themselves as they are'

By Louise Kinross Winnie Mak is part of a multicultural family. She is Chinese, from Hong Kong, and her husband Rafael is French and Greek. They live in London, U.K., and after their son Alex, now 4, was born, Winnie learned that the vast majority of dolls were white, girls and able-bodied. She wanted to create soft dolls targeted to boys and girls that “reflect the diversity of the world.” So she launched One Dear World with four dolls...

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Spiral Garden means freedom, creativity and time together

By Louise KinrossThis summer is bittersweet for brothers Osmond (above right) and Edmond Shen (left). That’s because it’s the last one they’ll spend together in Spiral Garden. Osmond, who is 21, has been attending the artist-run camp in the ravine behind Holland Bloorview since he was five, and is graduating out of the program. Edmond, now nine, has been coming for four years. The camp brings children with and without disabilities together under...

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'I open up a world for kids to be able to participate in'

By Louise KinrossI have a strong image of Laurel Robinson (standing above), a speech-language pathologist at Holland Bloorview. Laurel is always racing up the path to the hospital, or back down to the parking lot, pulling a cart on wheels behind her. The cart is packed with alphabet boards, picture displays, photos and technology she uses to create a way for children who don’t speak to communicate. Laurel, who is usually on the road driving...

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When a child has 24-7 needs, mothers bear the costs

An early photo of two of Sheila Jennings' childrenBy Louise KinrossAs the mom of a son who had severe asthma and a life-threatening immune condition, Sheila Jennings learned firsthand that it was impossible to work outside the home and tend to her child with complex health needs. “My interest in the support rights of mothers of severely disabled children began after I got divorced and set up my law practice while caring for three children,” she...

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After trauma, parents need space to 'fall apart emotionally'

By Louise KinrossSay the word ‘trauma’ among parents of kids with complex medical problems and disabilities, and the floodgates open. Maybe their child is medically fragile, and they run a mini-ICU at home, constantly ruminating over how to prevent the next crisis. Maybe their child is losing skills over time. Maybe they’re tired of fighting—at school, with doctors—for what their child needs. Maybe as their peers become empty nesters, supports...

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'Our nursery programs are a model for social change'

By Louise KinrossIt’s a simple ritual, but one of Silvia Souto’s greatest joys. “Opening the door of the classroom at Play and Learn, and seeing the faces of the children—so happy and eager to come and play in our program—that is pure joy,” she says. Silvia is an early childhood educator in one of Holland Bloorview's two nursery schools, which are located in the community. Play and Learn includes children with and without disabilities. Silvia...

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Off-duty officer kills non-verbal man, injures parents in Costco

By Louise KinrossThis is a horrifying story for all of us in the disability community who love someone who doesn't speak, and may not be able to comply with police orders in conventional ways. On Friday night, Kenneth French, 32 (in photo above right, with his parents), was shot and killed by an off-duty police officer in a California Costco store. The officer also shot and critically injured French's parents, who were grocery shopping with him. Police,...

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