People – Mobility Basics Blog

2019-12-10

Governments Seem to Believe Starving People with Disabilities Will Cure Them??

There’s an article in the Toronto Star newspaper today about pending cuts to the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) for people with disabilities. According to the article, the poverty line for income in Ontario for a single adult is $22,000 per year and the maximum basic needs and shelter benefit under ODSP is currently about $14,000 per year.

The Ontario government is proposing that people with medical conditions that aren’t permanent shouldn’t be eligible for ODSP and should instead be put on the Ontario Works Program which pays a single person a maximum of $733 ($8,796 per year) per month for food and lodging.

Their rationale of these cuts seems to be that people with temporary or intermittent disabilities like Cancer, Multiple Sclerosis, Mental Health issues, etc., should be able to work some of the time so don’t need the same support a person with more debilitating conditions need.

The whole idea that if you pay people with disabilities income support at less than the poverty line you’ll keep those who might abuse the system from ripping off the public purse seems to be a universal belief among all governments. It’s like saying “we’ll just see who’s faking and who is really sick”. Those faking will leave, or not even apply for, the disability program in question because of the low support level. Too bad about the really sick people who can’t afford to buy groceries.

The problem with this belief is that people who already live a difficult life are sentenced to live their lives in a permanent state of near, if not complete, insolvency. So, governments’ solution to the potential for abuse of the system is to punish everyone instead of ensuring the people who need the support are properly screened taken care of.

The rationale that people with temporary or intermittent disabilities can work part time may be true but is not usually feasible. No employer is going to hire a person who cannot promise reliable attendance at work to any responsible long term position and most wouldn’t hire them at all knowing their condition. People with serious medical conditions need a lot of time to manage their condition and perform normal everyday activities which is rarely compatible with working a regular job, even if it’s part time.

If you’d like to read the article in the Toronto Star you can see it here: https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2019/12/09/people-struggling-on-disability-raise-fears-over-proposed-changes-to-odsp.html

2018-10-06

New Article on Mobility Basics Website

I’ve just posted an article to our website provided by Karen Weeks of Elder Wellness that provides healthy aging advice for seniors.

The article provides information on maintaining and promoting physical and mental health as well as the importance and benefits of socializing in the golden years.

If you’re interested in reading this informative article please visit: https://mobilitybasics.ca/articles/healthy-aging

2017-09-282020-01-26

DNA Surgery

I came across a BBC article about a Chinese university who have successfully altered a human embryo DNA strand to remove a genetic disease.

They had a DNA strand with a defect that was known to cause the potentially life-threatening blood disorder beta-thalassemia

DNA consists of four different building blocks A, C, G and T strung together in various combinations. Apparently, as I understand it, this disease is caused by a single building block out of place among the millions of blocks that make up a DNA strand. Continue reading “DNA Surgery”

2017-08-282018-07-22

Dear Everybody

Dear Everybody is a new awareness campaign from the Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital aiming to remove the stigma often attached to those having a disability and providing guidance for people who may have questions on how to interact with people with disabilities.

As Holland Bloorview is a children’s hospital they provide a lot of information on interacting with children with disabilities but the information also applies to adults as well.

I believe the information gathered at deareverybody.ca is of value to those with disabilities, those who regularly interact with people with disabilities and those who rarely interact with people with disabilities.

They’ve created several a number of tip sheets targeted at specific groups: Continue reading “Dear Everybody”

2017-08-102018-07-22

Aging at home article

I posted an article this morning offering advice and information to seniors about staying in their homes as they age.

This article was written by the people at Stannah Stairlifts and offers information and advice touching on barriers to aging at home, living independently and safely at home and, of course, some information about stairlifts.

It offers some good advice and information for those who are approaching the age, or are already at the age, where staying in their home is becoming more difficult and decisions will have to be made.

So, if you are interested in finding ways to stay in your home as long as possible or have family members or clients who are facing this type of situation I think you’ll find this article worth reading.

Click here to read the article: https://mobilitybasics.ca/articles/age-in-place

2016-08-112018-07-22

13 month Old Wheelchair User

Okay, this is a little bit different from the normal stuff I post about but thought my visitors might be interested in it.

There is an article in the Toronto Star today about a little girl who uses a home made wheelchair built by her parents. The young girl is paralyzed below the arms by a tumor on her spine and there was no expectation she’d be able to even pull herself around on the floor for two or three years. Apparently it didn’t take long before she figured out that by pushing and pulling on the wheels she could move around their house independently.

Her mom went online looking for wheelchairs for toddlers and found a design that they could make at home for about $100.00 using an off the shelf toddler seat, a cutting board, a couple of small bike wheels and a couple of casters.

For more information and pictures you can visit The Star’s website.

2016-04-132018-07-22

Re-Animating Limbs

This is a little different but I thought it was worth sharing with visitors. I came across this article in the CBC.ca website about a man who suffers from quadriplegia and can now, with the help of a computer and other hardware, move his hand in a controlled manner. It’s not a cure or a fix for paralysis but it is a step towards a solution.

As I understand it, a person with spinal cord injury will often be able to send a signal from their brain to make a movement and the limb, that they want to move, will be able to accept the signal but the problem is, the signal stops at the location of the spinal injury. Right now they’ve connected this fellow’s brain to a computer so that when he sends the signal to move the computer processes the signal and sends it, using wires, to sensors on the person’s arm. When the arm receives the signal it moves.

So basically, what they have done is created a new route from the brain to the arm muscles to enable movement. The eventual goal is to create a new biological route for the brain signals to take to reach the muscles that bypass the injury.

It’s not as simple as it might seem. The person has to train themselves to think about the movement consciously and has to be connected to a computer to make it work but it seems to be a step to figuring out how to get the signals from the brain and to the muscles in cases where the pathway has been cut by an injury.

This is not, and as far as I know, will never be an option for those who suffer from paraplegia or quadriplegia due to disease and it’s not something that will provide a solution to people who suffer from these conditions in the near future.

For more information see the CBC story at: http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/quadriplegia-hand-wrist-movements-1.3533731

2015-09-202018-07-22

ADP Ostomy Grant Increase

I received a letter today from the Ontario Ministry of Health regarding an increase in the grant amounts paid to Ontario residents who live with an ostomy on a permanent basis.

What’s an Ostomy?
An ostomy, for those who do not know, is an opening on the outside of the body from the large or small intestine or urinary bladder. People have ostomies because of injury or disease to the normal path for elimination has been damaged beyond repair. I’ve had a ileostomy, an ostomy connected to the small intestine, for over 20 years so I’m writing from personal experience.

What is the ADP Program?
A little background on the ADP Program. ADP was created in the 1980s by the Ontario Ministry of Health to aid people financially who require medical devices, supplies and equipment for medical reasons. Initially the ADP Program paid 75% of the cost for these products for all Ontario citizens and the 100% for those on social services. So what would happen was a user would purchase the supplies they needed from an approved vendor and pay their portion and the vendor would bill the ADP portion for their portion. Continue reading “ADP Ostomy Grant Increase”

2015-08-262018-07-22

Adaptive Clothing Article

With the addition of Adaptive Clothes as a new advertiser I realised that this is an area that many of my visitors would probably be interested in and put together a short article with information on the different types of products available for those have trouble getting dressed independently.

Adaptive clothing has a variety of properties that make getting dressed much easier for those who have to dress while sitting or lying down and/or are limited in dexterity or range of motion.

For more information about adaptive clothing please visit: Adaptive Clothing Article

2015-08-212018-07-22

Welcome to our new advertisier Adaptive Clothes

I’d like to welcome Adaptive Clothes as a new advertiser on the Mobility Basics website. Dressing can be a frustrating and difficult process for people who have physical limitations and the clothing designers of today are more interested in style than accessibility.

Adaptive Clothes is a brand new Canadian Online Retailer of clothes designed for wheelchair users and those who have difficulty in dressing themselves due to illness or injury. They are currently in a growth stage adding new products from the top manufacturers of clothing and accessories that are adaptive in nature and make dressing easier.

You can access their website through their ads throughout the site in the right column or go directly to adaptiveclothes.com.