Category: advocacy

aaron johannes, advocacy, art, ARTbrain, barb goode, community living, creativity, critical disability theory, disability, education, facilitation, Indigenous, research, Truth and ReconciliationLeave a comment

ARTbrain Cedar Summer – learning about Truth and Reconciliation

Aaron

I think that Truth and Reconciliation is the most important conversation of our times, and full of so many interesting aspects for all of us.  Yet people with disabilities are almost always left out of the conversation.  There are so many parallels to our stories that we think it is important to foster discussion about it.  As Indigenous people were moved into Residential Schools and Indian Hospitals, people with disabilities were hospitalised.  I talked to retired social workers from Woodlands who took Indigenous children out of Indian Hospitals and into Woodlands to keep them “safer.”  The Woodlands Memorial garden contains … Continue reading ARTbrain Cedar Summer – learning about Truth and Reconciliation

aaron johannes, advocacy, belonging, books, community, community living, disability, facilitation, research, toolsLeave a comment

Planning for Vulnerabilities with Self Advocates

Aaron

Why is there a photograph of Woodlands Institution in a posting about planning for vulnerabilities with self advocates?  Because, once upon a time, our society thought that the best way to keep people safe was to look them away.  Ken Scott, in his historical research article, The BC Public Hospital for the Insane, 1872-1902, writes of the earliest institution being built in 1878 and in 1894, only 16 years later, with a total of 117 patients there was already a royal commission into abuses: . . . to investigate questionable practices . . . when a male patient died after … Continue reading Planning for Vulnerabilities with Self Advocates

aaron johannes, advocacy, Al Etmanski, barb goode, belonging, books, community living, dads of children with disabilities, disability, family, inclusion, innovation, liz etmanski, self advocacy3 Comments

#powerofdisability review of Al Etmanski’s new book

Aaron

“I discovered that people with disabilities have been major players throughout history. If you were to take away their contributions, you wouldn’t recognize the world.” I can’t remember the last time I read a book so quickly.  I’ve heard of people “devouring” books and always wondered about that terminology but now I know how that feels.  I meant to read a few pages – it’s a snowday here, the second dump in a couple of weeks and while the first was much worse, everyone is still tender from black ice and fender-benders and the college is closed, my students are … Continue reading #powerofdisability review of Al Etmanski’s new book