EnableLink

We want EnableLink to be a great place for you to be - to hang out, find useful information, chat with friends and share some of your own ideas and experiences. Your participation is a crucial element!

Right now EnableLink has more than 15,000 individual visits a month! We are growing a great community.

On January 22 we hosted a live chat, inviting feedback about EnableLink. We wanted to know what you like about the site and what you don’t like. One person suggested we include Canadian disability statistics available on EnableLink. This is a great idea, as disability stats are typically difficult to research. So, let’s work together and share what we know. E-mail us at info@enablelink.org.

Another suggestion, brought up through concern for injured workers, was to post various Workers’ Compensation Board policies with thorough, simple-termed explanations, to help those individuals who have difficulty understanding the WCB system and procedures. A spin-off to this suggestion was to hold scheduled chats on specific policies and procedures geared towards injured workers. Perhaps a panel could even be present in the chat room to answer questions and offer advice. We are looking into hosting such events.

Then came the idea to have scheduled chats of general interest. But before we plan any serious topics, on March 5 we will host a "virtual party" in the Main Chat Room, celebrating our 50th issue of ABILITIES. The party will start at 2:00 p.m. EST, and you are invited! Come and meet others, chat with the editors and have a fun time socializing. This will be a great way to get involved in the chat process if you’ve never done it before. Virtual drinks and munchies will be in abundance! We hope to see you there.

A scheduled chat on April 9, at 2:00 p.m. EST in the Main Chat Room, is entitled "Life after Disability." This is an ideal forum for people who are newly disabled and want to talk to people who have "been there, done that." Please log on and share your experiences with others who could really benefit - or express your own concerns, hopes and fears in a non-threatening, anonymous environment.

If you have other ideas, e-mail us at info@enablelink.org. And watch as we begin to implement all the great suggestions coming from the EnableLink community.

More evidence of our work to include you in our network is the "EnableLinker," our new electronic newsletter that sends relevant information and resource contacts directly to your e-mail account. Our goal is to provide you with disability-related, useful information on a regular basis. Look for the link on our home page.

The Treasure Hunt - it’s on! Not only is there a Treasure Hunt in ABILITIES magazine, there’s one online, too! Come and find the "Nifty Fifty" mascot, and win! Click on Nifty Fifty on our home page to get the first clue. You can win great prizes!

CIAP UPDATE
The Community Information Access Project (CIAP), funded by the Ontario Ministry of Citizenship, is a database of accessible community resources. Currently we have over 450 assessments for 40 different communities. Is your community one of them? Is your favourite accessible restaurant listed? CIAP is an amazing resource worth seeing, using and helping to build. You can make it even better. Have you been to any restaurants, stayed in any hotels or visited any other accessible businesses or organizations lately? If you would recommend them, we want to know about it. E-mail us your most accessible, favourite places in your community. If you have more time to give to the project, then we’ll send you an assessment to fill out. Once you send it back to us, we’ll post it on our site. Little by little, together, we’ll make an even greater resource for people with disabilities.