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Lyle Meredith was born in North Battleford Saskatchewan. He has a brother who is a year younger. In grade two he had an accident which left him a quadriplegic. His family left North Battleford when Lyle was twelve and moved to Burnaby, B.C. where he graduated from high school.
In 1970 he moved into Pearson where he lived for three years. Hating living in Pearson, he joined forces with another fellow who also lived there named Jim Jurassic and set up the first group home in Vancouver. Jim was the motivating force behind this adventure. With the help of the Canadian Paraplegic Association they rented a house, and then hired their own attendants. The CPA worked with the provincial government to convince them that it was ultimately more economical to fund one staff person per day than to pay approximately $200 per day per person for every patient/client in Pearson.
Lyle enjoyed the freedom and independence of living on his own. It was a far cry from the restrictions of a normal day pass requiring him to be back on his ward by 9:00 PM and a late pass by 11:00 PM to say nothing about having to eat whatever was on Pearson's menu! Another highlight was that he met Ethel who became his wife in 1975.
In either 1981 or '82 Rick Watson and Yoshi Tanabe who were sitting on the board of directors of the Vancouver Resource Society for the Physically Disabled (VRS's). They told Lyle about the VCP's apartment building which they were developing. After ten years of living in the group home Lyle moved into the apartment building when it opened in 1983.
His first job was in 1972 when he worked on a three month grant to find people accessible housing. After the grant ended Lyle was involved in forming VRS, a non-profit society, to apply for grants to keep the Handicapped Resource Centre (HRC) running. Lyle worked in various capacities during his twelve years at HRC. He began by finding people accessible housing. Then he took over the bookkeeping which was followed by becoming the Director of Personnel. Then he became the Assistant Executive Director.
HRC's philosophy was to facilitate the establishment of group homes as independently run transitional housing allowing people to go from institutions to ultimately live independently. In the beginning residents often remained in group homes for quite some time because there was very little accessible housing available. HRC also tried to hire as many people with disabilities as possible. Approximately half the staff had disabilities.
While Lyle worked at HRC the structure and funding of group homes changed. In the house where Lyle lived the provincial government only paid the salaries for the attendants. In 1974 and '75 CMHC subsidized the mortgages of two group homes added under HRC. The province sent the cheques which covered office expenses and costs of running the group homes, including the attendants' salaries, to HRC. In essence, the province passed the administration costs onto HRC. Group homes kept getting added as more and more groups of people showed up at HRC asking for help in setting them up. HRC even had a group home in Kelowna and Vernon respectively. (The group home in Kelowna eventually shut down while the one in Vernon formed its own non-profit society.) When Lyle left HRC in 1985 he estimates that there were between twelve to fifteen group homes.
By the early 1980's HRC had become a large organization. As a result, the city stepped in and demanded that HRC hire a nurse which the city funded.
At this time Kelly Court also came on stream where attendant care was a component of the housing development. There was now a growing demand for attendant care as opposed to group homes.
After Lyle and Ethel moved into the apartment building in 1983 they became the building's managers. Lyle also assumed the role of Executive Director of the Voice of the Cerebral Palsied Housing Society while he continued to work at HRC. In the spring of 1985 they gave up managing the building. Due to illness Lyle had to quit working at HRC and stepped down as Executive Director at this time. Lyle and Ethel's son was born in July 1985.
Lyle then worked as a bookkeeper for the VCP's Social Mobility Survey which compiled statistics about adults with CP based on information contained in returned questionnaires. Since the early 1990's Lyle has been the Assistant Executive Director for the Voice of the Cerebral Palsied. In this capacity he works closely with Yoshi Tanabe, the Executive Director, and takes over when Yoshi is away. He oversees and co-ordinates day-to-day activities, does some bookkeeping, and edits and lays out this newsletter. Lyle claims, "I'm basically a gopher. I do the jobs nobody else wants to do."
Lyle has sat on a number of Boards of Directors. In 1979 he sat on the Board of the then BC Coalition of Disabled which is where he met Yoshi. In 1981 he set up the Brownstone Society for Independent Living and became its president. Its mandate was to develop all aspects of independent living. Initially it received a three month grant which ended with a conference on sexuality. Afterwards, the society dissolved. In approximately 1989 he became a member of the Board of the Voice of the Cerebral Palsied Housing Society. He then became its President in approximately 1990 and held that post for five or six years. He then became vice-president - a position he continues to hold.
Lyle would like to see the VCP grow and develop in a number of areas. He wants the VCP to expand its original concept of the "exchange" which is a sort of social meeting place where people discuss what they need, and develop projects or find the resources to meet those needs. He would like the VCP to move into a bigger office space to better accommodate the number of volunteer staff and clients who use this space. It can be quite difficult to carry on daily activities let alone concentrate or speak on a speaker phone! A bigger office would also help the VCP better serve more people. He would like the VCP to expand its sources of fund-raising including telemarketing, individual donations, and grants. In conjunction with its sister society, the Voice of the Cerebral Palsied Housing Society, he wants the VCP to put up three or four more housing projects. He sees a urgent and growing need for affordable, accessible housing as demonstrated by the number of people living on the streets. Having more housing in a variety of areas also promotes the idea that not all people with disabilities live in Vancouver. Related to this idea, Lyle believes that all funding and services must be portable. For example, if a person lives in a subsidized unit in Vancouver, then that subsidy will follow him/her to the next unit s/he lives in and so on. Lyle would like to see BC Disability Benefits become either a pension or the provincial government consider giving people with disabilities a one-time, lump sum, life-time buy out package. Either option would eliminate the paperwork that is involved now. He believes that creating a Ministry for People with Disabilities, which centralizes all programs and services for disabled people in one ministry, would go a long way in delivering services more efficiently and eliminating duplication.. The Ministry must also be staffed by people with disabilities. Lyle wants to see the VCP have a national, and even an international, presence because it is the only organization which is run by and for the people it serves. The VCP's web page does that to some extent.
As the VCP grows, Lyle does NOT want it to become bureaucratic. Instead, as programs become big they could then split off and become their own non-profit societies. Thus, the VCP could become solely a fund-raising entity for these other societies.
When asked why he became involved in the VCP he said, "I strongly believe in its philosophy of being an organization which is run by and for and advocates on behalf of people with CP. In spite of its growth and evolution it has remained true to its philosophy. Not many organizations can make this claim. The VCP does not expect perfection from the people who are associated with it. It does expect people to strive toward maximizing their potential whatever that may be."
Congratulations on behalf of the VCP!
The high court ruled unanimously that the B.C. government's refusal to supply sign-language interpreters for deaf people receiving medical care infringed on their right to be treated equally under the Charter of Rights.
Through a sign-language interpreter, Malkowski, spokesman for the Canadian Hearing Society, said: "We have finally recognized people with disabilities have access to health care on an equal basis."
The high court ruled without sign interpreters to explain procedures, deaf people were receiving medical services inferior to that enjoyed by the hearing population.
"It is fair to say that absence of a publicly funded sign-language-interpretation service discriminated against the appellants by denying them the equal benefit of the British Columbia health-care system," Justice Gerard La Forest wrote.
The case stems back to 1990 decision by the B.C. government not to fund a $150,000 program to supply sign interpreters for the deaf. John and Linda Warren, a deaf couple who were almost helpless bystanders in the birth of their daughter, and Robin Eldridge, a deaf woman suffering from a number of medical conditions, sued. They said the B.C. Medical Services Commission violated equality provisions in the Charter of Rights by not covering the costs of interpreters.
The high court's decision wasn't confined only to the deaf.
When it was economically viable, no disabled person should be prevented access to a government service, the court said.
"This decision is about the inclusion of all Canadians," said Michael Huck, spokesman for the Council of Canadians with Disabilities.
Reprinted from the Friday, October 10, 1997 issue of The Province
*Editor's Note: This unanimous court decision essentially says that all people with disabilities must be guaranteed equal access to government services. For example, anyone with C.P. who has problems accessing the services for any reason, such as difficulty communicating or understanding information and/or directions, must be provided with someone to assist him/her. Even though this court decision applies to B.C., it will have a nation-wide impact.
Recently the Ministry of Social Services and Housing sent out consent forms that individuals receiving BC Benefits were required to sign. This form allows the Ministry to find out any information that they want about their clients, at any point in time, even if the client no longer needs to receive Disability Benefits from the Ministry. The reason for this is to prevent fraud, which is understandable, but not all people try to commit fraud. Therefore, there isn't a need to compel clients to sign this form by force. The client should have the right to refuse. It doesn't mean that a client is hiding something from the social services. It may only mean a client feels they should have a choice. All clients who apply for income assistance must allow the government the right to check into their income status at any point. This act should be enough for most people.
A worker should keep a closer eye on their clients over a long period of time. You can observe how a person lives and know a great deal about a client. These visits can be unexpected, and a worker should do a yearly review to check accounts and monthly bills.
It would be stupid to think that all people are honest with the Ministry, but the honest people who do require benefits shouldn't be made to feel they can't be trusted.
The disabled didn't have a choice to
be different then the so-called "norm" of society. Yet the disabled seem
to be the ones who have to fight longer, and wait longer for their basic
needs.
People with a proven disability shouldn't be made to feel punished for their special needs. This group should have the same rights and freedoms for the job market, as a person who is not challenged in some way.
In addition, I feel this consent form goes too far, when the Ministry can check on you through employers and friends and anyone who might know something. It would be really interesting to find out how a government official would feel about being investigated to such a degree for their government salaries.
Most people who receive welfare or disability payments do so because there is very little job skill training for persons with a disability. These individuals for the most part had no control over their disability: therefore they shouldn't be made to feel like they're dishonest. Government should spend less time tracking down so-called fraud, and put far more funds into keeping persons off of public assistance to begin with.
Once someone applies for the help clear rules regarding fraud should be explained and put in writing, so that there can be no room for error by anyone. Thus, in a case of fraud benefits can be denied.
More often, people who aren't taking advantage of the Ministry are looked at very closely without real cause while others are left alone. There should be more home visits by workers because a worker can learn more about their clients if they see first-hand how their clients live. Checking rent receipts, Hydro and telephone bills yearly doesn't give the workers the full picture about their clients.
Lastly, people should feel worth something. A good frame of mind goes a long way to improve what most often can feel very degrading. People who are poor shouldn't be seemingly punished by a system that was first set up to help those in need. All people need a hand up, not a hand out at least once in life.
The disabled throughout history have been disadvantaged and regularly mistreated primarily because of "able" society's lack of understanding about living with a disability. When we read books and view movies, we see examples of the acknowledged manner in which disabled people are commonly treated throughout history. As the historical period depicted becomes more recent, treatment of disabled persons becomes more humane. Today the disabled in society are challenging society's very beliefs about quality of life and the abilities of the disabled. While it is true that society has come a long way from the bad old days of discrimination against the disabled, it is equally true that society has a long way to go.
We can only guess how the most ancient tribal civilizations treated less able people. However, studies carried out about the Inuit people's treatment of disabled people show a culture where the infirm and elderly were left behind and were expected to sacrifice themselves for the survival of the tribe. These studies demonstrated a high probability that ancient tribal civilizations subjected the disabled to the same expectations. If you were not able to support self and contribute to the overall welfare of the tribe, you were discarded. The most notable time when this attitude became absent is the classical period of civilization when the Greek and Roman civilizations were at their peak. In this period, superstition and belief in otherworldly beings manifesting themselves through bent and broken bodies were or other physical symptoms of disease such as seizures led to the elevation of disabled people to revered status in Greek and Roman societies. However, this attitude was not to last as the superstitious myths were debunked and the disabled again fell into disregard. The disabled in medieval society were treated with great cruelty by today's standards and were largely left to fend for themselves if they even survived childhood. Most suffered terribly for the short time they lived, experiencing starvation and homelessness as a result of the lack of societal understanding about disability in general.
Victorian society is the first example this writer can find regarding a positive change in the attitude of society in general toward modern approaches towards treatment of the disabled although the vast majority of disabled persons were housed in institutions such as workhouses or were forced by necessity to work on traveling shows as geeks and freaks. An example of more humane treatment of the disabled being established is depicted in the life story of John Merrick (The Elephant Man) when he comes to the attention of a doctor with a prestigious medical institution. This results in Mr. Merrick's plight coming to the attention of the Royal Family and the Queen's intervention results in Mr. Merrick being given substantially better treatment than the hospitals' governors would have otherwise provided.
In the 20th century, the attitude toward the disabled was to care for them by placing persons living with disability in sanatoriums and asylums. This resulted in the disabled being protected from the slings and arrows of society at large, but removed their ability to be self-determining as to how they were to live their lives. As a result, of the disabling injuries received by large numbers of soldiers during the two great wars of this century, associations and societies, including the Canadian Paraplegic Association were formed to help the injured and disabled veterans live "normal" lives. This resulted in huge changes in societal attitudes towards people living with disabilities. Society in the 1960's began to be exposed to disability not as a loss of the ability to cope requiring instutionalization, but as the need to adopt alternative approaches to performing tasks and to adapt to a different way of living. Since the late 1960's, societal approaches towards people living with disability have been rapidly changing.
The real problem is still the understanding and comprehension of the term disability. The Oxford Concise dictionary defines disability in the following ways, "1. Physical incapacity, either congenital or caused by injury, disease, etc. 2. A lack of some asset, quality or attribute that prevents one doing something."
I propose a different definition: Disability is any person's need or want to use alternative approaches, cognition or adaptive technology of any kind to become as comfortable, efficient or productive as others.
Reprinted from the Winter 1998 issue
of Paragraphic
Ottawa -- As Prime Minister Jean Chretien prepares to accept a prestigious international award at the United Nations in New York tonight, groups representing disabled Canadians are quietly questioning whether it is truly deserved.
Some members of the delegation of disabled Canadians accompanying the Prime Minister at one point debated whether they even wanted to attend the ceremony--given what they see as the Liberals dismissal record in helping people with disabilities.
"Considering what happened in the last few years, this award seems bizarre," said Laurie Beachall, national co-ordinator of the Council of Canadians with Disabilities. "Our hope is that it jogs the Canadian government's memory."
Canada beat out a dozen other countries to win the Franklin Delano Roosevelt International Disability Award for its work in integrating people with disabilities into society. The government has decided -- in keeping with the Liberal focus on youth -- that the National Education Association of Disabled Students will receive the $50,000 that goes with the award.
It is the second year for the award, created in 1995 on the 50th anniversary of the United Nations and named after the U.S. President who served four terms in office though he was stricken with polio and used a wheelchair for most of his life. South Korea was the first country to win the prize, for 1996. United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan is expected to attend the ceremony, which will be followed by a banquet.
On the surface, Canada boasts an impressive record of programs for people with disabilities.
The country implemented a five year national strategy that gave about $160-million to 10 federal departments and agencies for projects such as making buses and courtrooms more accessible to people with disabilities. In 1996, a task force including four cabinet ministers traveled around the country, producing 52 recommendations to help people with disabilities. The rights of disabled people are guaranteed in the Charter of Rights. And last year, Canada played a leading role in campaigning for a treaty to ban antipersonnel land mines.
But disability organizations suggest on closer inspection the current picture isn't so outstanding. "The past few years have been very shaky." said Traci Walters, national co-ordinator for the Canadian Association of Independent Living Centers.
In fact, Mr. Chretien is accepting an award for a program that his own party cancelled after taking office. The national strategy was an initiative of the Progressive Conservative government of Brian Mulroney. The Liberals stunned disability groups by yanking the funding and replacing it with a $3-million job-oriented program.
While the Charter has existed for 15 years, Ms. Walters says there is still little to help the disabled to enforce their rights. "The Charter is great -- it is the highest law in the land," she said. "But try to use that law every day in your life when there are no curb cuts or when you're not allowed into integrated schools."
Disabled Canadians have watched fearfully as the federal government has passed more responsibilities to the provinces, which have slashed funding to programs such as home care. And of the 52 recommendations produced by the task force led by Solicitor-General Andy Scott, the Liberal government has moved on only eight.
"We're so tired of reports and task forces and working groups," Ms. Walters said. "We've had 20 years of that. Andy Scott and the gang promised not to shelve the report. Well, my copy is getting dust on it while I'm waiting."
Even the Ottawa group that nominated Canada for the award admits work needs to be done. "We're focusing on the progress that has already been made," said Louis Buschman, education co-ordinator at Reach, a non-profit organization that helps disabled Canadians with legal advice. "Obviously, there is still a ways to go, but Canada compared with other countries has a lot to be proud of."
In the end, a delegation of about 12 disabled Canadians decided to join the government - financed trip, partly because they had been promised a half hour meeting with the Prime Minister.
Reprinted from the Monday, March 2, 1998 issue of The Globe and Mail
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