I am 10 years old. My brother and I, along with our parents, have just finished the tour of Hershey’s Chocolate factory in Hershey, PA. We are seated in their cafeteria and anxiously awaiting the mouth-watering taste of the chocolate treat my dad has just ordered.In that moment, I have a glance encounter…
Family life can include the joy of getting a first job, marrying, and watching children grow. It can also include the turmoil of job loss, disability, and the death of loved ones. One of the hardest aspects of my life is witnessing my father-in-law’s cognitive decline from vascular dementia. It’s…
Our biggest losses are gifts in disguise. Witnessing my daughter's psychotic illness is a pain I never imagined having to endure. Her private hell brought her close to suicide more than once. When she was first diagnosed, I feared neither she nor I would survive. That was a year ago, and I now see a…
At the time of our son’s birth, I was familiar with many of the physical malformations and cognitive limitations associated with Down syndrome (a short, stocky, intellectually impaired person with inarticulate speech quickly jumps to mind). However, I was shocked to learn of the plethora of serious…
A few years ago, my father-in-law started to complain about his balance, feelings of dizziness, and muscle weakness. Over a period of a few months he had fallen several times. One such fall led to a fractured right arm, serious enough to land him in hospital.While there, a geriatrician diagnosed him…
Discrimination, defined by the Canadian Human Rights commission, is an action or a decision that treats a person or a group negatively for reasons such as their race, age, or disability. This blog post is about the first experience of discrimination I faced following the birth of our son, with Down syndrome.I…
I recently posted a blog about an interview I had with Henry, a man in his 60s who had sustained a hemiplegic spinal cord injury (SCI) some 20 years ago in a car accident. This injury left him paralyzed from about his waist down. That interview focused on the first few days post-accident – his initial…
My 88 year old father-in-law was diagnosed with vascular dementia in 2014. According to the gerontologist, his condition was likely caused by one, if not several, previously incurred strokes; the symptoms of which had gone undetected for quite some time. The physical, cognitive, and emotional challenges…
So there I was, lying inclined on a birthing table in a hospital delivery room. I was baring down with the last hard push needed to deliver our baby. My husband was bedside, holding my hand. The doctor, seated in front of me, began guiding the baby safely out. "It's a boy!" the doctor announced. My…
I had the opportunity to interview a man living with a spinal cord injury (SCI). His pseudonym is Henry. He was injured in a car accident nearly 20 years ago. He was 64 years old. Henry described his life prior to that accident as beautiful. He was successful in his own business and he made good money.“I…