A few updates from our last exec meeting.

Hi all,

I just wanted to provide a couple of updates from our last meeting.  Some of these may impact you financially, so please read carefully.

We have decided to suspend the reimbursement of any Speech Pathology receipts dated after June 30th, so as to give the exec time to draft a functional, fair and transparent reimbursement policy that will actually be used by a broad cross-section of the membership, and that will also not bankrupt the organization.

We will be having a meeting in September to discuss this, and it will be the first item on our agenda.  At this point, the direction we are leaning towards is a bursary with a set amount, similar to how thing are done in Kitchener Waterloo.

Once this is in place, we will communicate the program thoroughly with everyone.  In the meantime, if you have any questions, please feel free to email me at contactus@dsah.ca

The second news – is that the Boat Cruise is coming up on Friday  August 12th at 6:30pm aboard the Hamilton Harbour Queen.  Celtic Music prodigy Liam McGloshan will be putting in an appearance, and the dinner and dancing will be second to none.  Tickets are only $80 each, and are available by emailing contactus@dsah.ca.

Finally, we are gearing up for our annual DADS barbeque, which this year will be on Saturday August 27th.  It promises to be at least as much fun as last year, but due to some flooding damage in Dundas Driving Park, the location may be changing.  We will keep you posted.  In the meantime, if there are any dads available to help out the day of – specifically in arranging games (soccer, frisbee, etc), for flipping burgers, or for helping set up and take down, it would be very much appreciated.  For more info, or to volunteer, please talk to Mike at dads@dsah.ca

Thank, and as always, we look forward to your feedback – please feel free to leave it in the comments section below.

Jason

Ray of Hope

I don’t know if you have been following the extremely difficult story out of BC of the 15-year-old girl with DS who was found with the body of her drug addicted mother who had been dead for 9 days.

It’s a story of the breakdown of an overstretched system, and up until now, was just an unending string of sadness and horrors, especially for a parent of a kid with Down Syndrome.

Today, however, the Globe and Mail printed this story:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/gary_mason/caring-respite-worker-went-far-above-and-beyond-for-teen-with-down-syndrome/article2084265/

It tells the story of a respite worker who ended up caring for the teen for a few days as her ordeal came to an end.

It’s also the first ray of hope I’ve had in this whole miserable affair, but it is in fact a very bright ray.

As parents of kids with Down Syndrome, we are often tired, and exhausted, and stretched to the limit, but we are so incredibly fortunate to have supports out in the community who care for, and educate, and fix the teeth, and prescribe the glasses, and do a million other little things for our kids.  All the while without any kind of hurtful remark, or subtle disapproval.

Yes there are those who fall short of the mark, but I trust (I hope!) that all of us have a professional or caregiver in our life who is wonderful and supportive of our kids in every way.

These professionals, and friends and neighbors really do love our kids, and they see their potential, sometimes even more brightly than we do.  It is often said that it takes a village to raise a child, and these people are very much our little village within a city.

Canada Day for me  is kind of like a mini-Thanksgiving, where I take a moment to celebrate all of the great things about living in such a wonderful country.

After reading the story of an until-now anonymous respite worker in BC who gave so much of herself, for so little return, for a kid that the rest of society had completely forgotten about, I’m reminded that despite how bad things got – there are still people and professionals who make Canada a wonderful and enriching place to be for our kids each and every day.

Let’s all find one and thank them today.