A survey on the school experiences of students with disabilities in Ontario What is the survey about? Community Living Ontario is partnering with Jess Whitley at the University of Ottawa to conduct a study to better understand children with disabilities’ school experience. We are interested in hearing about your child(ren)’s experiences, including specific questions about exclusion, seclusion, and restraint. Who can take part in the study? The study is for families whose child(ren) … Read More
When it Comes to Disability, Specialization Often Leads to Stigmatization
A recent article from ICES and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) reported that people with developmental disabilities make up 22% of the 1,466 people who have spent more than a year in a non-forensic psychiatric inpatient bed in Ontario, despite accounting for less than 3% of the population. The article’s authors note that this is a problem caused in part by a shortage of appropriate community-based settings into which people can transition from health and … Read More
Will Ontario’s Anti-Human Trafficking Strategy Actually Reduce Human Trafficking?
The Government of Ontario’s recent work to address human trafficking is laudable and noteworthy. There is a new anti-human trafficking strategy with funding attached, and the four pillars of the strategy (i.e., raising awareness, supporting survivors, holding offenders accountable, and preventing it from happening in the first place) seem pretty logical. The strategy’s prevention pillar is focused mainly on children … Read More
Employment Support Services in Ontario – Under pressure, Underperforming, Underwhelming
Will anything change after more than five years of criticism? Community Living Ontario has published two reports on Ontario Progressive Conservative changes to employment programs (now called ‘Integrated Employment Services’) over the past few years. The reports were published in partnership with the Ontario Disability Employment Network (ODEN) under the banner of “Tangled in Red Tape,” and they offer a discouraging picture. For those who aren’t up to speed: starting in 2019, the province gave up direct control over employment … Read More
Kids Not Ready for School, Schools Not Ready for Kids
Autism and Early Education in Ontario Community Living Ontario’s Crisis in the Classroom report paints a disturbing picture of students with disabilities being isolated, physically restrained, and excluded from their community schools. The document highlights the ways in which schools are not meeting the needs of children and youth with developmental disabilities: too few educational and support staff, too little training to understand the learning and emotional needs … Read More
