Hey everybody! Today I wanted to give all of you readers out there who have diverseabilitiessome more advice on some things you could do to make your life a little easier. Over the years, I have had to get more and more help with getting things like wheelchairs and my accessible van from different charities. When we have to ask for help with purchasing something like a van, my family and I kind of get embarrassed. We don't like asking for donations. I feel bad because I'd rather be the one giving than receiving. I've gotten a lot over the years. I wish I could give back more than I do. I guess that's what those groups are there for though. When an organization helps us out with something, we try to be as thankful as we possibly can.. Writing them a nice card helps. It also really helps when I get to share my knowledge about these groups with someone else, so I can feel like I've helped someone too. So, that's what I'm going to do today. Today, I will share my experience with some organizations, or share how I've gotten things I need to make my life easier, or how iI get to do some fun stuff as well. I hope I can give you some good information and I can help you get the things you need to make your life go a bit smoother. I hope it helps you find what your looking for.
1. Home Program- I have been with the Home Program for as long as I can remember. This program gives financial support and also can provide Respite for children with diverseabilities. We mostly use the Home Program to help pay for things like physio appointments, and wheelchairs and leg braces. Sometimes if I have to go for a doctors appointment at the Children's in Calgary, sometimes they will pay for the gas we use for that trip. The Home Program also can help provide some respite for children with diverseabilities. We don't use Respite, but there is that option as well. A child can be eligible for the Home Program medical benefits until they are seventeen years of age. Then, they have to make a transition into a different program that is meant for adults called the Ministry of Children and Family Development. You have to contact them, and fill out forms. It's a lot of work, but it's nice to know they have program like that to help you live the best life you can.
2. Wheelchair Accessible Van- A couple of years ago, we got our first wheelchair accessible van. It was very exciting for my family and me . I can now take my chair with me anywhere! I can be independent in the cities and at camp, which is really neat for me. I don't have to hold on to my moms hand. I can go where ever I want. That means a lot to me to have that independence. Anyway, we got the van from Medichair, a place in Cranbrook B.C that gives people with diversabilities equipment to make there lives easier. A man that worked at Medichair drove the van all the way to our house on day before I went to camp. Talk about royal treatment. I was very lucky! I loved having my wheelchair at camp. I can be independent, I don't have to rely on the counsellors to help me walk, and most importantly, I could keep up to my speed demon friend, Grace Brulotte. Having my chair there was awesome. It's great that we can take it places.
Soon after we got the van, we got to go to a little celebration at Superstore to meet the people from Children's Charity, that helped us get the van. It was a great day! There was even CAKE! They were so kind to us. We are so lucky that they helped us! There are some great groups like that out there. I'm sure that if you look hard enough, you will find some people to help you. There is again, some paper work to do. You have to get a quote for the van and you have to pick the van you want. You have to decide on where you want the ramp to come out. There is a side entry or a back entry. It's a process, but it is very worth it to have a wheelchair accessible van. With handy transportation like a van, you can go anywhere. The world is your oyster!
3. Easter Seals Camp- You've heard me talk about Camp Winfield lots, and what a great time I have when i'm there. Camp Winfield is like a home away from home for everyone that goes there. Everybody has a diverseabiluity there, so no one feels different from anybody else. We all make so many great friends there that come back year after year. Camp Winfield is just a place where everyone can forget about their challenges and just have fun. They can take risks, learn new things, and be themselves. There three Easter Seals camps in B.C that I know of. There is Camp Winfield, Camp Squarish, and Camp Sgawnigan. They are all around the coastal part of B.C. There are forms that you have to fill out, stating what camp you are going to and what your needs are going to be. They come out around April. You have to go online and print the forms off. I still get excited about that every year. You have to get a doctors check up and get them to sign a medical forms and write down any medications your on and things like that. We heard about this camp through friends of ours. Their kids went and had a fantastic time. They told me to go when I was six. I loved it so much. I have been going every year since. This year will be my last. I'll be pretty sad!
I got funded to go to camp by the local Lions Club in town. They've paid for me to go to camp until I turn eighteen. I'm not sure if there is that option for you where you live, but if there are that's great. Camp is a great opportunity for everyone. Camp Winfield is a place where dreams true and the possibilities are endless.
4. Summer Programs- You have heard me talk about my summer program that I do with my friend Patti before. I love it. Both Patti and I look forward to it every year. Patti and I are great friends that have known each other since I was a little girl. .It's nice we still get to spend time with eachother. I think programs like these are organized within a community. I called it Resite the last time I wrote about it, but I was told that it wasn't the correct name. The program that my friend Patti works for is called Supported Child Care. Part of that program involes spending once a week or a couple days a week with child who has a diversability. For me, how it works is, Siri, the lady who runs the program in town phones me before the summer starts and lets me know how many hours a week I get with Patti that summer. We have to write a little letter saying how many hours that I would like to spend with her. The program is run out of Cranbrook. They get the final say, and then after I my fun summer with Patti, I write them a letter about all the fun things we did and the things I learnt. I always have a fantastic summer with Patti. I think, especially if you live in a bigger town or a city, you probably have some sort of life skills programs for kids with diverseabilities. All you got to do is contact them, do some paperwork again, and then I think you're set. Programs like these are totally worth it. They teach kids new skills, get them out of the house with a friend. It's great!
5. RDSP- You've probably heard of a RSP, Registered Savings plan.. Well, an RDSP is the same thing, except it's called Registered Disabled Savings Plan. You put money into it and the government doubles it. The money can be used for anything, school, reno's to make your house more wheelchair accessible, wheelchair vans, stuff like that. Again, there is a lot of paperwork, and you have to save some money, but I think its worth it to have some money put aside for when you need it.
6. Cerebral Palsy Association- The Cerebral Palsy Association is a support group for families who have been affected by Cerebral Palsy. They provide services that will make children living with Cerebral Palsy lives easier .They hold events and fun stuff. I don't know much about this group. I went to a night event they had once when I was little. They have this day where they show off a bunch of stuff that kids with Cerebral Palsy. We went there once and I got a special bike. I loved it. It had four wheels so it would balance more easily, it had a seat belt, and a back supporter. I loved riding my bike. I only had it a few years, and then I grew out of it, but it was nice to be able to do something, like going for a bike ride, just like everyone else.
7. Transition Program- This is what my mom and I are trying to get into right now. When every kid with a diverseability turns eighteen, technicallythey're not part of the children's hospital or the home program. They have to go into ll the adult programs. This transition program helps them makes the transition process a bit easier. My mom and I have been trying to get in contact with someone in the ministry of youth and children, like I said. I don't know much about it, but I'm sure I will learn about it later and be able to tell you all about it.
8. Children's Hospital- Recently, I just had my last visit to the Children's hospital. Waaaa. I'm sad. I'm all grown up now. I'm not a child anymore. I just went there in October to go for my Transition appointment. I'm going to miss it there. The Children's Hospital is such a special place. All the doctors there are so helpful and they will do anything they can to make a child's life better or easier. The new childrens hospital is amazing. Its is so colourful and child friendly. Every time we drive by it, I get a smile on my face. Inside and out, Alberta's Children's hospital is a magical place. I hope to work there one day, and help out the kids in need there, like the I got helped. If I got to work at Alberta Children's Hospital when I get out of school, I would get to say that I've been a part of Children's Hospital my whole life, and that would be pretty cool!
So, there are some of the programs or the groups that helped me get to where I am today! I'd like to thank them the people that run them all for there help. I hope I've helped you and gave you some good information. If you have questions you can ask me and I'll either answer them or I'll do some research. I hope I helped somebody out there out. Have a great week and I will talk to you soon.
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