By Louise Kinross A new study that looked at how Norwegians with intellectual disabilities were locked down in care homes during the pandemic crossed my desk. It reminded me of Covid-19 restrictions in Ontario that saw families separated from their disabled children in group homes for months. For example, Pamela...
By Louise Kinross A cotton baby onesie that you put on from the bottom-up was named one of TIME’s best inventions of 2023. The Bottom-Up Bodysuit from Tabeeze goes on feet first and does up with nickel-free snaps at the shoulders, so you don’t have to struggle getting it over your baby’s...
By Louise Kinross I’ve followed Meriah Nichols (above left) since 2011. As a child, she was in a car accident which left her with a brain injury. She is also deaf. As an adult she managed an employment program for students with disabilities at the University of California, Berkeley. When...
By Louise Kinross Shannon Crossman recently chilled some fresh snow, then melted it into water so an inpatient child could use it to mix watercolour paints. “I wanted to include the season, so I told them we’ve captured some of winter into our painting.” Shannon has been working as an...
By Louise Kinross Shannon Crossman recently chilled some fresh snow, then melted it into water so a hospitalized child could use it to mix watercolour paints. “I wanted to include the season, so I told them we’ve captured some of winter into our painting.” Shannon has been working as an...
By Louise Kinross Last year a groundbreaking study found that Black people in American counties with more Black primary-care doctors live longer. Yet research shows that Black medical students have higher rates of burnout than white students, which means they’re at risk of leaving the field. This month a new study in...
By Louise Kinross A 2021 study in Health Affairs revealed a shocking degree of disability bias in medicine. Over 80 per cent of 712 American doctors didn’t think it was possible to live well with a significant disability, and 60 per cent didn’t feel equipped to provide the same care to...
By Louise Kinross Doppelganger: A Trip Into the Mirror World begins with author Naomi Klein talking about what it was like to be constantly confused with Naomi Wolf, author of The Beauty Myth, who has become a prominent anti-vaxxer and Covid conspiracy theorist. “For centuries, doubles have been understood as warnings...
By Louise Kinross Sheriauna Haase won bronze medals in the women’s 100 and 200 metre races at the Parapan American Games in Santiago, Chile in November. Sheriauna, 17, was born without her left hand. She only began training for the games about a year ago, as she attends a Toronto...
By Louise Kinross Music therapist Jack Stevens recalls a fond memory of one of the children he worked with at Holland Bloorview. “When I met her she wouldn’t speak to me, or to her parents in the room,” he says. “But by the end of the 10 weeks, she was...
By Louise Kinross Got a kid three to five years old? Show them this video about Mixmups, a new British stop-motion animation show for kids that includes disabled characters. It was written by Rebecca Atkinson, a children’s TV producer who is partially sighted and partially deaf. The 52-part series is...
Jenna Reed-Cote and Katrina Darielle Valdez mapped the accessibility of Vancouver for people with disabilities as part of a research project. Photo by Alexa Fernando By Louise Kinross Nearly 60 per cent of public buildings and spaces in Vancouver, Calgary and Ottawa are not accessible to people with disabilities, or...
By Louise Kinross Last night I watched the new HBO documentary about Daniel Radcliffe’s stunt double on the Harry Potter films: David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived. You may have seen the trailer. David was a teen gymnast hired to do dangerous stunts for then 11-year-old Daniel in 2000. Ten...
By Louise Kinross From my office window I have a perfect spot to watch the outdoor basketball court at the back of Holland Bloorview, nestled up against the tall trees in the ravine. It’s usually empty, but this summer and fall there was a flurry of activity as clinicians incorporated...
Rachel O’Hagan and son Beau By Louise Kinross Rachel O’Hagan is a teacher. So when her baby son Beau began having hand tremors, then losing strength, she remembered a former student who had a condition called spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). “I knew something neurological was happening, but doctors told me...
By Louise Kinross Dr. Janice Hansen is a highly skilled psychologist who assesses children with a variety of disabilities to identify the supports they need to thrive in school. She came to Holland Bloorview as a PhD student in 1990. When she graduated in 1994, she joined the hospital and...
Jean Hammond with daughter Ellie at a Raptors game during Holland Bloorview’s Capes for Kids. By Louise Kinross “Falling off the cliff.” For decades, that’s what families said happened when a child with a disability aged out of a comprehensive team of pediatric specialists who understood disability into a fragmented...
By Louise Kinross About 15 years ago, Don Meyer, founder of the Sibling Support Project, then based in Seattle, came to Holland Bloorview to give a talk about how parents can best support the brothers and sisters of a child with a disability. One of his tips was to make...
Idika Njoku (centre) and his parents By Louise Kinross Anthea Charles’ family was in crisis. When her autistic son Idika hit puberty, he began repeatedly running away from school, jumping on cars, having long meltdowns where he would throw things, and pushing his sisters. He even tried to jump out...
