Here's a story about belonging that is being nurtured in Regina, Saskatchewan. Steven Ripplinger's latest dream is to travel to Ottawa to watch the NHL's Senators play.
That's not a lofty dream unless you're a 21-year-old with muscular dystrophy who is hooked up to a ventilator 24 hours a day and lives at the Wascana Rehabilitation Centre.
But Donalda Jones expects her son will get to the hockey game because he has a PLAN -- a Planned Lifetime Advocacy Network.
The network of family and friends doesn't have any ties to government agencies but takes direction from the person with a disability to identify his short- and long-term goals.
"It's Steven's ideas and dreams, but they help him make it happen," Jones said.
Before Steven had a PLAN three years ago, Jones had to leave her social work job to address her son's needs since they weren't being met by government agencies.
"Parents of people with disabilities are taught that the government is the only agency that you should be dealing with and because we're tired, that's who we go to," Jones said. "Families with children with disabilities are afraid to reach out because they've been isolated for so long and expected to be everything for that child."
When the Regina and District Association for Community Living (RDACL), a non-profit advocacy group for people with intellectual disabilities, became an affiliate of PLAN four years ago, Jones tapped into its expertise even though her son isn't cognitively impaired.
PLAN started in Vancouver 25 years ago, said Deadra Oblander, RDACL's family support co-ordinator.
"Parents were concerned about what was going to happen to their children after they died and they realized that a good life is about having relationships -- good friends who care for you and who are more than just paid employees because paid employees come and go," Oblander said.
Steven's independence greatly increased since his seven to 10 network members started meeting monthly to discuss his goals.
Now he and an attendant are regulars at movie theatres, Saskatchewan Roughrider and Regina Pats games and he's almost wrapped up his Christmas shopping. Next on his network's agenda is working out the logistics of getting him to Ottawa on a plane.
"In an institutional setting, all we get is, 'Oh my God, Steven, you can't do that. You're on a ventilator.' If they had their way, he wouldn't go out in the community," Jones said.
"Now anything is possible. We want our child to belong and to have a purpose and choices."
Jones hopes those who have a family member with a disability will attend a PLAN workshop being presented by RDACL and the Conexus Credit Union at the Regina Public Board of Education office, 1600 4th Ave., on Oct. 20 and Oct. 21.
The Regina segment of the Reaching Out cross-country tour will begin at 7:30 p.m. Friday with a screening of The Ties That Bind -- an award-winning documentary that illustrates the complexity around one young man's transition toward a more independent life.
On Oct. 21, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., a future planning workshop will feature personal success stories, information on estate planning, worksheets, handouts and the latest thinking on inclusive communities.
The cost to attend is $60 per family (two members), $40 per individual or free with a new associate membership to RDACL-PLAN (also $60). To register, call 790-5680. The session isn't limited to those with cognitive disabilities. Information has been sent to a variety of groups including those with brain injury, FASD, muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy and multiple sclerosis, said Oblander.
"We want to reach out," she said. "It could be for those with aging parents."
Those interesting in the workshop but can't afford to attend should contact RDACL, she added.
Landscape of Literacy and Disability (Canadian Abilities Foundation publication) by Ezra Zubrow, et al. 
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