Winter 2006

Violinist Itzhak Perlman is one of the world's best-loved and most prolific classical musicians. Known for his brilliant technique, tonal purity and passionate style, the virtuoso's list of accomplishments is astonishing- highlights include an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show at age 13, dozens of recordings including movie soundtracks, guest-conducting several world-class orchestras, 15 Grammy Awards and even a visit to Sesame Street.
By Jaclyn Law

Meet Steve Mann, director of the EyeTap Personal Imaging Lab (ePI Lab) and a professor at the University of Toronto. He's also a living, breathing cyborg - defined by the Oxford Canadian Dictionary as "a person whose physical abilities are extended by machine technology."
By Raymond D. Cohen and Jaclyn Law

Jeanne McLaws of London, Ont. who has fibromyalgia, carpal tunnel syndrome and tendonitis, uses speech recognition software and a headset microphone to turn her words into computer commands and text on the screen. Assistive technology is a general term used to describe products and equipment that help people with disabilities work, play and communicate more effectively. Dragon Naturally Speaking, the program that McLaws uses, is just one of the many software and hardware tools created to give access to mainstream computer technology and the ability to perform the same computer activities that individuals without disabilities can.
By Avril Rinn

Joining the mythical battle between humans and orcs is not a call Trevis Brown could have answered months ago. In fact, without some of the latest innovations in computer technology, the 27-year-old from Edmonton, Alta., who has quadriplegia, would not be playing the online computer game World of Warcraft at all. He plays with a sip 'n' puff mouse-he uses his mouth to get "left" and "right" clicks, while a device attached to his forehead operates the cursor- and enters commands through a voice recognition program. Thanks to the technology, Brown can move through the digital world and destroy enemies as easily as his online guild-mates.
By Jeff Samsonow and Sally Poulsen

Technology may be made up of computer chips, optic fibres and motion sensors, but it has a softer side, too- it can even help with matters of the heart. "Everyone wants someone in their life," says Louise Maxwell, 60, of London, Ont. "Many people assume that people with disabilities lack the physical and emotional needs of non-disabled people, but that's not true."
By Jeff Samsonow and Sally Poulsen

Software is not called soft-ware for nothing. Computer operating systems and programs are actually malleable; with the right tools and skills, software can be shaped to better fit the hands and needs of individuals.
By Alan Cantor

When Joshua's mom agrees to watch his favourite television show with him, the smile on his face says it all. Cameron gets joy from singing along to a musical video. It wasn't until Aaron discovered a computer program called Talk It! that he gained the confidence to type words into the computer. Taylor doesn't understand the nuances of humour, but when his dad enthusiastically explains that it is "raining giraffes and elephants" he delights in sharing a laugh with a grown-up. All of these children have disabilities, and their parents recognize how important it is to make them laugh and feel included.
By Darlene MacDonald

The first time Laughie Rutt wheeled into the Lakeshore Curling Club in Lower Sackville, N.S., to try wheelchair curling, he was daunted by the length of the ice sheet and the weight of the granite rocks. "I've been in a wheelchair since I was really young, but I had never, ever been into a curling rink," says Rutt. "I looked down the ice and it looked about 10 miles long. I said, "These rocks are supposed to be heavy. I'm only a little guy; I'm not going to be able to do this.'"

The allure of Greek history and ancient ruins have always put Greece near the top of my list of "must-visit" destinations, but it has only recently become a real possibility for me and many other wheelchair travellers. While the Hellenic Republic has had a long-standing reputation for being inaccessible to travellers with disabilities, the 2004 Olympic & Paralympic Games in Athens brought a long-overdue awareness of disability issues. Not only are the main tourist sites now much more accessible to wheelchair users, but there is even a resort that caters to the needs of guests with physical disabilities.
By James Glasbergen

In recent years, there has been a lot of interest in alternative therapies. Once relegated to the fringes of health care, a holistic, mind-and-body approach to well-being is now embraced by many in the mainstream. I've found holistic therapies very helpful in my own life, especially in the past few years. I was in good physical shape before my spinal cord injury 24 years ago, and I believe that helped me to initially avoid a number of illnesses, such as pneumonia, frequently associated with this type of injury. Nowadays, I like to stay active and eat healthy, but I am starting to get recurring bladder infections.
By Steve McPherson

Bernadette and Leigh Derry have been together 20 years, and married for nine. The two, who both have spina bifida and use wheelchairs, have known each other since the age of 13 when they met on a bus in Cape Breton, N.S., that was taking them to a camp for people with disabilities in New Brunswick. At home in their Halifax apartment, Leigh says, "It's nice to have someone to come home to." Bernadette agrees. "Nobody wants to be alone."
By Anna Quon

By The Belonging Initiative

By Canadian Association of Independent Living Centres

By Council of Canadians with Disabilities

A key focus of the CulturAll project is to explore the common challenges of individuals and groups who have been left out of the Canadian cultural exchange, and to find promising solutions and best practices. Perhaps you've been to a concert or watched a video online. Did you hear it all? See it all? Understand it all? Can we really have it all? What is that "all" exactly? When the lyrics, whispers and visual moments are not as open to us as we'd like them to be, what do we do? We want more than just a partial experience we want the full impact of art, drama, music and culture.
By Vera Roberts and Charles Silverman

Have you ever responded to a phone call and been asked to participate in a survey and wondered, after the fact, what happens to the information collected? Sometimes it seems like so much is asked that no one could possibly analyze it all. Or maybe the questions seem so irrelevant that you aren't sure how the information collected would be useful. We are a group of researchers who are analyzing the data collected from these types of surveys as part of a broad-based series of studies-studies that are mapping literacy and disability data in Canada.
By Christy Spielman, Ezra Zubrow, Marcia Rioux, Tamara Daly, Miha Dinca-Panaitescu and Gail Kunkel

By Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada