Levelling The Landscape Independent Living Centre Kingston Newsletter * Spring, 2010 RDSP Workshops We all need to plan for the future, and we need to start now. “Putting a little something away” is difficult for anybody, and even more so for people with disabilities. The federal government has a new plan that can help, the Registered Disabilities Saving Plan (RDSP). Some quick facts about RDSPs: Even with no financial contribution, you may be eligible to receive up to $1,000 every year to invest. * Having an RDSP does not impact Federal Benefits or Ontario Benefits. * You may be eligible to receive grants and bonds of up to $4,500 depending on your contribution and family income. To apply for a RDSP you must qualify for the Disability Tax Credit, for information on the Tax Credit see the article on page 5. Want more information? ILCK is offering monthly RDSP Information Sessions: · A representative of Revenue Canada will talk about the Disability Tax Credit; · ILCK will introduce RDSPs ; · Representatives of local financial institutions will talk about their offerings; · There will be time for questions. To register for the next session, or for more information, contact Ed at the centre. A new project at ILCK “Healthy Eating & Healthy Lifestyles” is an exciting new project launched by Independent Living Centre Kingston. The project goal is to assist people with disabilities implement healthy lifestyle practices that are achievable and easy to maintain. We will be hosting a series of workshops over the summer and fall of 2010. Workshops will include: * Cooking healthy meals on a budget * How to eat healthy for three meals a day * Diabetes prevention * How to overcome disability related barriers in the kitchen (assistive cooking devices) * Low fat cooking * Eating well using Canada's food Guide As part of the active living component, we will be offering orientation workshops on the art of Tai Chi and Accessible Sailing. The Tai Chi workshops will allow individuals to participate in an accessible exercise routine that is customized for all abilities. The accessible sailing workshops will offer sailing instruction on lake Ontario for persons with physical disabilities. We will be developing healthy eating guide that includes tools and resources so people with disabilities will have the information to choose healthy foods and incorporate healthy lifestyle habits into their daily routines. The guide will include: * recipes that were practiced in the workshops * strategies to reduce disability-related barriers to healthy eating such as how to read and comprehend food labels * how to prepare foods safely when limited mobility is a concern * information on where to purchase low costs healthy foods * how to access food banks and other similar organizations. The active lifestyles section will focus on strategies on how to incorporate physical activities into their daily routines for people with all abilities.  If you are interested in any of the workshops, please contact Laura Allen at the Centre. Notes from the Executive Director Leadership in the Disability Movement 2009’s theme for the United Nations International Day of Persons with Disabilities was “Empowering People with Disabilities and their communities”. The many personal and systemic challenges people with disabilities deal with on a daily basis require leadership to manage personal and community resources. Many of these individuals build on that experience and expertise to address disability issues at a systems and community level. As someone who has had a disability for many years I am in awe of those leaders in the disability movement who give freely of their time, energy and skills. On December 3rd-International Day of Persons with Disabilities the City of Kingston’s Municipal Accessibility Advisory Committee and Independent Living Centre Kingston partnered to celebrate two such leaders Eleanor Hands and Francine Arsenault. Eleanor played a leading role in developing accessible transportation systems in the Kingston community. Francine Arsenault played a key role in developing and leading disability organizations at the local, provincial, national and international level. These two individuals represent leadership at its highest level. Some of the qualities that they possess include knowledge, passion, commitment, integrity and professionalism. All ingredients for making progress when addressing many of the issues people with disabilities deal with on a daily basis. As a result of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) legislation there are more and more leaders with disabilities emerging. These leaders of today and tomorrow would do well to look back at the history of the disability movement and its past leaders. There is a lot to be gained from examining and adopting the values, principles and practices that leaders like Eleanor and Francine have demonstrated. Donation with thanks. Independent Living Centre Kingston would like to extend our thanks to the family of the late Paul Rushton, long standing member of ILCK, who have donated several pieces of equipment to the Centre in Paul’s memory. The items included; a van scooter lift, manual wheelchair, bath lift, scooter, etc. It is the family's wish that these items be donated to individuals who would otherwise not be able to afford needed equipment. Interested individuals should contact Laura Allen. Advertisement RBC Wealth Management Cristatiano Vilela, PFP Financial Planner Investment & Retirement Planning Royal Mutual Funds Inc. 823 Princess Street Kingston, ON K7L 1G6 cristiano.vilela@rbc.com Tel.: 613-484-0863 Fax: 613-546-3411 Brad Miller President Motion Specialties Kingston 2293 Princess Street Kingston, Ontario K7M 3G1 Tel: (613) 384-0400 - Fax: (613) 389-9929 Email: bmiller@themotiongroup.com Web: www.themotiongroup.com Consumer Story “MY SELF-ESTEEM AND FREEDOM IS BACK” I would like to share my experience, and how grateful I am to be part of such a wonderful program as the “Self-Managed Attendant Services Direct Funding Program”. My life was based on everyone else’s schedules, but now it has all changed because of Direct Funding. I do my own hiring, manage my routines and schedules, and make my own decisions. My independence and self-esteem are back. I can come and go as I please and not be stressed about assessments done by case managers or supervisors etc. I have regular staff who meets my daily needs. I make my own schedule and routine to suit my life such as; doctor appointments, baking, grocery shopping, and much more. Because of Direct Funding I have been able to give back help to some of the services that were there for me in the past. In May 2001, and presently, I was elected to be a board director for “The North Bay and Area Disabled Adult and Youth Centre”. I was able to except the position as I have one of my staff to drive me to my meetings. This is just one goal I have accomplished, and I’m sure I’ll achieve others. I don’t mind at all that I must take a couple of hours each month to do payroll and other business related tasks. It has been a learning experience for me and I am proud to say I enjoy it tremendously being my own Self-Manager. Also, the staff that I deal with from time to time at the Independent Living Centre in Toronto and in Kingston, have a pleasant personality and are extremely helpful. I never hesitate to call. Angela Hurrell Self-Manager Direct Funding Hiring Tip Every Self-Manager knows that it can often be a challenge to find good reliable staff. Many Self-Managers hire personal attendants who are new to Canada. It is important that Self-Managers hire staff who are legally permitted to work in Canada. An easy way to identify if a potential staff person might be working in Canada under a work permit, is with their SIN number. SIN numbers beginning with the #9, are assigned to individuals residing temporarily in Canada. It is the employer’s right and responsibility to confirm the details of a work permit. Employment details on the work permit should include what province (and in some cases which city) the potential employee can be hired to work in, what type of employment they can be hired to perform, and number of hours permitted to work, etc. An example might be a foreign student temporarily living in Canada who is attending school. For more information, please feel free to contact: Neil Allen Regional Administrative Coordinator Direct Funding Program Kingston at the Centre Disability Tax Credit What is the Disability Tax Credit (DTC)? A Canadian federal income tax credit that may be claimed by individuals who meet certain conditions. A qualified medical practitioner must complete a detailed Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) application attesting to the individual's disability. If approved, the DTC will reduce taxes payable in 2009 by approximately $1,400 (including the corresponding provincial amount). Who is the DTC for? Anyone, any age, with a physical or mental condition which affects one or more of their basic activities of daily living. In order to claim the DTC, an individual has an impairment in physical or mental functions, and is either: blind; * receiving life-sustaining therapy; * the effect of the impairment causes the individual to be markedly restricted in one of the basic activities of daily living; * because of the impairment, the individual is significantly restricted in two or more of the basic activities of daily living. The activities of daily living include: * speaking * hearing * walking * elimination (bowel or bladder functions) * feeding * dressing * mental functions necessary for everyday life. It is important to note that the eligibility criteria for the DTC differ from those under the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) and Canada Pension Plan Disability (CPP-D). Benefits of the DTC As the DTC is a non-refundable tax credit, it reduces the amount of tax you pay. If you do not pay any tax you are able to transfer the tax credit to an eligible family member who does pay tax, such as, a parent or a spouse. The tax credits and any transfers may be claimed retroactively for the previous 10 years. Access To Employment Employment support has always been a strongly identified need for people with disabilities; one which ILCK has a long successful history of providing services. To deliver a customized program to individuals with barriers to employment, ILCK received a grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation in 2008 to deliver “Access to Employment”. The Access to Employment facilitator worked with individuals to successfully understand and manage their disabilities, and identify and resolve issues that prevented them from accessing traditional employment services. Individuals were offered skills building support to assist them to lead their own processes and problem solving. The program offered disability and sensitivity training for employers and their employees. This included tools for employers to understand and support a diverse group of employees, strategies to dispel myths, stereotypes and fears, as they relate to persons with a disability. As the program nears completion, 133 individuals have participated in the program, with 28 individuals having sourced gainful employment. A number of participants have successfully managed to retain their employment for over 2 years. For others it has been a longer road towards their five year plan; acquiring skills that they are using on a daily basis – higher education, disability management, life skills or simply establishing a support network that was previously non-existent. The success of this program will continue as the City of Kingston-Ontario Works department continues to refer individuals to the new “Access to Employment” program; ensuring continuing service for individuals with barriers to employment. Audio Books - Another Way to Read the Classics An audio book is a recording that is primarily spoken word. It is often based on a recording of commercial printed material, though it is not necessarily an exact audio version of a book. Audio books are distributed on CDs, cassette tapes and downloadable digital formats from the Internet. Audio books are considered a valuable learning tool because of their format. Unlike traditional books or a video program, one can learn from an audio book while doing other tasks, although it should be noted that this can detract from the primary task, assuming the learning is not the main activity. Such tasks include doing the laundry and exercising indoors, among others. The most popular general use of audio books by adults is when driving an automobile or traveling with public transport, as an alternative to radio. Many people listen as well just to relax or as they drift off into sleep. Digital audio books can be copied (downloaded) from web sites and saved on your computer, where they can be played using programs such as Windows Media Player and Itunes. They can then be burned (copied) to an audio CD (if your computer has a CD Burner), or copied to a portable MP3 player (such as an IPOD). Many audio books can be downloaded for free, these books are public domain. The public domain is an intellectual property designation for the range of content that is not owned or controlled by anyone. These materials are public property, and available for anyone to use freely (the "right to copy" for any purpose (not including selling the material). Public domain books are generally older (published before 1936) and can be found on a number of web sites: http://www.booksshouldbefree.com/ Free downloadable public domain audio books (mp3, ipod and itunes) http://freeclassicaudiobooks.com/ http://librivox.org/ LibriVox provides free audiobooks from the public domain. There are several options for listening. http://www.openculture.com Download hundreds of free audio books, mostly classics, to your mp3 player or computer. http://www.gutenberg.org Carries high quality items: books were previously published on paper by bona fide publishers and digitized with the help of thousands of volunteers. Agency Profile Revved Up Revved Up is a twice weekly exercise program for people with a mobility impairment. The program goals are to increase quality of life to foster healthy and successful ageing; to create awareness in next generation of health professionals; and create an infrastructure that be sustained by the community Spring and Summer Volunteers needed! Commitment level as little as 1 hour/week up to 6 hours or more. Volunteers are recruited from individuals over the age of 18 from Queen’s University, St. Lawrence College and the community that are interested in physical activity and its benefits. Volunteers assist exercisers with training tips and equipment adjustment The program will prepare volunteers to be ambassadors promoting exercise in the mobility impairment population Participants of the program are healthy community dwelling adults between 18 and 65 years of age, living with a mobility impairment (e.g. spinal cord injury, MS, stroke, amputations, ABI). Participants should be interested in improving physical endurance and strength. Cost: $15/Month Where: Fully equipped and accessible gym at St. Mary's of the Lake Hospital Union Street When: Tuesday and Thursday evenings: 5:00pm to 8:00pm For more information or to become a volunteer, please contact the Project Coordinator: Phone: (613) 533-6000 ext. 79283 E-mail: revvedup@queensu.ca Clarity My mind clears with questions asked I no longer hear the words just forget I no longer feel it doesn't matter I no longer feel insignificant I no longer feel ashamed I no longer feel hopeless I no longer feel responsible I no longer feel sorry My mind clears with questions answered I no longer hear the words just forget It does matter I am significant I am proud I am hopeful I am stronger I am joyful Anonymous Member Accessibility and the iPad The iPad, at first glance, looks like an enlarged version of an iPod Touch or iPhone. It’s 9.7 inches diagonally, compared to the iTouch’s 4.7 inch diagonal screen so it’s approximately twice the width and height (so four times the total area) but not thicker than the smaller devices. The iPad synchronizes with iTunes and is not really designed to be anybody’s primary computing device. Although it seems like you can do almost anything on this device, it’s not designed to be a primary or only computing device - Apple expects you’ll have a laptop or desktop computer as well. The iPad runs the same operating system as the iPhone and iPod Touch, which means that all your existing applications should run on an iPad as soon as the devices are available - the existing apps will just look bigger on the iPad screen. And developers are already starting to develop iPad specific apps, which are designed for the larger screens and can take specific advantage of these. What Accessibility Features Are Built In All existing iPhone accessibility features will be available on the iPad. This means VoiceOver, screen zoom, white-on-black display, mono audio, and closed-captioned content will all be supported on every iPad. The iPad offers an external keyboard and docked (wireless keyboards can also be used with the device). Size! The iPad is bigger. I know this is obvious, but the implications are that people with motor control problems such as cerebral palsy may be able to use this device more easily than the smaller ones, as less very fine motor control is needed for many tasks. This increased size will make the iPad a viable AAC (alternative augmentative communications,) device for a group of people who were not able to use AAC programs on the iPod Touch/iPhone because of their small size, making cheap and affordable AAC available to them for the first time. Simple Interface One big difference between the iPad and existing tablet computers is that the operating system it runs is more like the iPhone/iPod Touch system. This gives us cognitive simplicity. There’s no confusing file system or remembering what you called something. There’s no need to log in. You can put a website on the home screen and it works the same as a regular application. Only one thing happens at once. The touchscreen interface is also cognitively simpler than a regular computer: you touch a program to start it, if you want to activate a control you touch it. This is much simpler in mental terms than the “one step removed” system of using a mouse or keyboard where you move the mouse or press a key to make something happen on the screen. These things together may open doors for those who can’t easily deal with a regular computer due to intellectual disabilities, brain injury, or other neurological and cognitive impairments to be willing/able to use the iPad more independently and to learn to use it more quickly. It also may give confidence to the older generation to start using the internet through an iPad because it doesn’t look like a computer and so it isn’t as overwhelming to use. By Ricky Buchanan January 28, 2010 Dinner Club & Drop In Meet new people, share ideas and experiences, share a story, enjoy a meal. Join the Dinner Club once a month when we visit local accessible restaurants. It’s a great opportunity to meet others and enjoy a night out. Go to one of your favourites or experience some place new. Call today for the schedule! Share in activities, companionship, games. Weekly Drop-In Activities for adults with disabilities that includes cards, games, seasonal parties, and more. Groups are every Tuesdays from 1:00 pm. to 3:00 p.m. at ILCK. Dates to Remember Dinner Club Tuesday May 11 Red Lobster 410 Bath Road 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Tai Chi May 18 Call to register Coming Soon Healthy Eating on a Budget September, 2010 Call to register Annual BBQ & Open House ILCK will hold its’ annual BBQ & Open House on Friday, August 20, 2010. Come and enjoy good food; an opportunity to meet the members of ILCK and the community; make a bid on the silent auction; learn about the activities of Independent Living Centre Kingston. For more information please visit/contact: Independent Living Centre Kingston 298 Concession St., Kingston, Ontario K&K 2C1 Ph: 613-542-8353 * TTY: 613-542-8371 * Fax: 613-542-4783 Email: info@ilckingston.com * Web: www.ilckingston.com