Childhood Disability (without) Poverty: A National Discussion

In photo: Dr. Jennifer Zwicker presents at the Disability Without Poverty conference via Zoom, along with presenters from across Canada, and joined by American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters.

By and large, our programs are not meeting the needs of persons with disabilities. We know that. […] Mean personal income from the Canadian Survey on Disability is about $16,000 a year, so this is a reality from the population data. Families and caregivers provide over 80% of support for activities of daily living, and people are reporting 70% of daily needs (for persons with disabilities) going unmet still.

This is something we have to keep in context as an important guide for thinking about better ways of designing programs and services, and to better meet needs and to meet our UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) commitments.”

~ Dr. Jennifer Zwicker, Deputy Scientific Officer, Kids Brain Health Network

Childhood Disability (without) Poverty: A National Discussion

Guest blog post by Amanda Lockitch, Planned Lifetime Advocacy Network

On Mother’s Day Weekend, May 12-13, 2023, we hosted a first-of-its-kind Canada-wide virtual two-day conference that brought families and professionals together on equal footing to discuss the issues that lie at the intersection of childhood disability, family poverty, and health outcomes.

What did we set out to do and why?

A year ago, we began discussing what it could look like if we created a family-led conference that focused on the issues of most concern for families with lived experience. There are no lack of conferences on childhood disability that encourage the attendance and participation of families, but none that frame the event from the direct experiences of families. We invited a spectrum of panelists to share their perspectives and expertise. To our delight, everyone we asked was keen and full of encouragement for our vision. It really seemed like this idea was worthwhile, so we dug in.

We are happy to share a glimpse into what resulted:

Day One of the Conference

Welcoming attendees and providing (so much more than) a land acknowledgement, was Kyrstin Dumont from Carleton University, a youth knowledge keeper and proud band member the Algonquins of Kitigan Zibi. She spoke from the heart and shared insight into the Indigenous way of seeing gifts as opposed to disability. From there we took a deeper dive into Indigenous experiences, including those from the far North, that left each of us much wiser. The rest of day one consisted of panels on care support and income support. These two areas of the childhood disability experience are under-supported and leave families overwhelmed. The panels were a dynamic composition of policy analysts, researchers and organizations.

Day Two of the Conference

We were privileged to start the second day in discussion with diverse families from coast to coast, who shared personal stories along with the experiences of the families that they are connected to within their work and communities. The next panel was a foray into the broad topic of disability and health-related supports, combining research and clinical expertise. We ended the conference with an opportunity to explore other jurisdictions and policy innovations. We looked at an innovative income support offered in Quebec and at the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) in Australia that has been gaining global attention for its robust support system that is available across the lifespan of an individual.

We thank everyone who agreed to participate and those who joined us to watch and provide input. You brought passion, insight and expertise, and for that we are so grateful. Special thanks to Kid’s Brain Health Network and SickKids Foundation for their generous financial support!

What next?

We will keep the discussion alive across the country through research partnerships, working groups, and the use of social and traditional media. Our hope is that this conference will become an annual event that brings together the best minds and creates a space for everyone to hear from families, learn from each other and continue to do good work with new knowledge and connections made. Together we can ensure the best possible outcomes for children and families.

Reach Out and Watch the Replay

If you would like to get involved, we would love to connect and we invite you to reach out us:

You can watch a replay of the full conference, or segments (soon) on our YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/@disabilitywithoutpoverty

Please visit the conference webpage to access the associated schedule and biographies:

www.disabilitywithoutpoverty.ca/event/childhood-disability-poverty-a-national-discussion

Among myriad other roles, the conference co-conveners are Brenda Lenahan, mom of a son with health complexities and disabilities, and Amanda Lockitch who is mother to an autistic son with global learning delays.

Childhood Disability (without) Poverty: A National Discussion