Get on Line with S.I.D.D.

Have you ever had a somewhat challenging -- if not downright frustrating -- experience trying to track down disability services?

The Ontario Federation for Cerebral Palsy (OFCP) in Toronto has developed a new information service for people of all ages with all types of physical or intellectual disabilities.

This new service was initiated by a volunteer of the OFCP because, as a parent of a child with cerebral palsy and thus a consumer, she was experiencing firsthand the frustration of trying to find out about disability services. Several years ago, this mother needed a particular type of service for her child but was told by a well meaning but very busy health care professional that none existed. Approximately a year later, she found out about a new service provider that offered the very service she had been looking for!

It was at this point that this parent realized that the busy professional to whom she had turned to for service information was unable to act as an up to date comprehensive source of service information as well as provide health care. The parent searched for a service provider who did provide this type of comprehensive and complete information -- and found that there was no such thing.

As a volunteer for the OFCP, the mother had the perfect environment to suggest that there was a need. Of course, the OFCP, along with many other organizations that serve people with disabilities, had been aware of this information service gap for years. In fact, the OFCP had tried to address this very issue previously through a government project called TELDON (some ABILITIES readers may remember the TELDON project). But there was a great expense to information management in those days (computers were a lot different 15 years ago!), and TELDON had been shelved by government due to lack of funding.

However, the OFCP was still very interested in seeing this need addressed. With the assistance of a Trillium Foundation grant, the OFCP was able to hire the mother to conduct a needs study to find out if there was still a demand for this information. The results were overwhelmingly in support of the need for a central source of complete and comprehensive service information for people with disabilities, from both consumers and service providers.

This consumer turned staff person of the OFCP then started work to develop a service information program for metropolitan Toronto dedicated to compiling information of all types of services, (government funded, non profit and private) for people with disabilities. Today, the OFCP is proud to offer consumers S.I.D.D.! The S.I.D.D. (Service Information Database for People with Disabilities) program has the most comprehensive such listing (with over 800 service providers) serving people in metropolitan Toronto!

The information is provided in the form of a user friendly database which lists services in a broad range of categories. The categories are further defined by subcategories and an index for broad or specific searching. Easy instructions are on each screen to guide the user through their choices. The broad service categories are: Advocacy; Communication; Education; Employment; Equipment; Financial Aid; Health Services; Housing; Information; Recreation; Support Services; and Transportation.

The database is a vital new tool for consumers and fellow service providers to help with the monumental job of choosing and coordinating services. The S.I.D.D. program is guided by the philosophy that: "People with disabilities, their families and their caregivers have the right and ultimate responsibility to choose and direct their health and support care needs. Empowerment is a process of learning to make informed choices and decisions throughout life."

The S.I.D.D program offers a number of site options for consumers to use S.I.D.D, which are called "access points." Of course, the first access point is the OFCP itself, where consumers can visit in person or call (416) 244-8003 to use S.I.D.D. Access is also offered to consumers who have computers and modems, via a new OFCP Member Group called T.H.A.T. (To Have Access Today) Awareness Group. This consumer group is offering access to the database via its own electronic bulletin board, which can be reached through any computer modem by dialing (416) 466-8044.

Additional access points for consumers are provided by the following organizations that subscribe to our program: Access Place Canada; Hugh MacMillan Rehabilitation Centre; the Canadian Paraplegic Association; Vita Community Living Services of Toronto; The Easter Seal Society; Baycrest Centre; Ontario March of Dimes; and Handidactis.

Access to S.I.D.D. is available to service providers by subscription, which includes frequent updates. The database software is also available for purchase.

Operation of this ongoing program dedicated solely to service information provision is accomplished with the assistance of valuable volunteers and dedicated staff. Services for the metro Toronto area are being constantly added, and the current information is kept up to date. Each service provider listed by S.I.D.D. has been asked for detailed information about the services it provides, so that the database lists not only the names of service providers, but also a description of what they do.

Here are some examples of the information a user could discover using S.I.D.D.:

SOCK ’EM - a private business run by a parent of children with disabilities in the Ottawa region that sells socks for children and adults who wear orthoses, available by mail order to all of Ontario.

MED-DEPOT - a nonprofit provider of used equipment such as wheelchairs, walkers and scooters in metro Toronto;

LINCS/Parents Helping Parents - an electronic bulletin board in California, available via the Internet, by modem or phone, that provides resource information on a wide variety of types of disabilities and medical conditions, as well as parent to parent support.

Work has begun to expand the database listings to include services in other regions of Ontario. OFCP will be working with its Member Groups as well as fellow organizations that serve people with disabilities as "Partners" to add information from other regions of Ontario. The ultimate goal is to offer S.I.D.D. all across the province.

For direct inquiries about the Service Information Database for People with Disabilities (S.I.D.D.), please call the Ontario Federation for Cerebral Palsy at (416) 244-8003.