nature

Filed under: Themes, The UpDown Report, Campaign Watch

Quoting BBC News:

Sea Sanctuary, a charity based in Falmouth, will offer placements on a 43ft (13m) yacht. Sessions led by mental health professionals are aimed at helping young people address their illness and gain sailing qualifications. The scheme has won funding from the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Primary Care Trust. Sea Sanctuary said the stimulation of sailing the charity’s yacht increased people’s wellbeing and made therapeutic change more likely.

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Quoting Sea Sanctuary’s official website:

We will provide comprehensive mental health care onboard a 43ft classic yacht. The support will be through therapy, education/training and respite care and will be available to individuals principally within Cornwall, but also the wider UK. Sea Sanctuary will seek to address the very real issue of mental health well-being for those who most need it.

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Filed under: Themes, Wheelchairman of the Board, Books & Book Reviews

GaryPresley.com

Twenty years or so ago, my boss built a wonderfully elaborate McMansion near a small fishing pond at the edge of town where we lived then. He loved to walk out after a stressful day, toss in a line, and then toss back the little bluegills or perch that he caught.

I only visited his house once. It was built with a stepped entrance, and I didn’t enjoy the hassle of carrying a ramp. The time I did visit I noticed every bathroom door was 24-inches wide. I wondered aloud, and probably not in a polite way, where he intended to shower, shave, and … if he or his wife broke a leg or were otherwise disabled, even temporarily.

And two decades later, I now have the same problem—and with a house built in 2006! It boggles the mind that contractors continue to build homes without at least one ground level entrance and with bathroom doors wide enough for wheelchairs. It would add no significant cost. Actually, I believe it could be done for the same investment.

Modification for wheelchair access is a different story, probably 10,000 different stories paged with dollar bills even if a person finds a sophisticated contractor. But we are underway, and the house will soon have a ramped front entrance; a patio-door-level deck and ramp-to-surface at the back; a 36-inch door in the second bathroom where a 24-inch now resides; and a true roll-in shower.

Read this post on garypresley.com >>

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Order Gary’s phenomenal book Seven Wheelchairs: A Life Beyond Polio:

Amazon.ca (Irked fundraiser!)

Borders

The University of Iowa Press

Amazon.com

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Filed under: Themes, Cerebral Ballsy, Wheelchairman of the Board

WindReach Farm

312 Townline Road, Ashburn, Ontario, Canada L0B 1A0

Tel: 905 655-5827

Nestled in the rolling countryside in southern Ontario, WindReach Farm is a 109-acre nature property designed to meet the needs of individuals with different abilities. Wheelchair accessible pathways, buildings and barns combine to make a wonderful experience. Offering five main programs (see below), WindReach welcomes both the special needs and able-bodied communities. Officially opened in 1989 by the founder Sandy Mitchell, who has cerebral palsy, WindReach Farm is the result of his primary life-long interest to work outside on the land. After he purchased his 109 acres, Sandy was able to integrate this desire with providing a similar opportunity to other persons with disabilities. His own past experience as a young man working on a farm in Scotland and then in a farming community for Down’s Syndrome, helped him realize that one day he wanted to help persons with disabilities lead a more productive life. Facilities are also available to rent for special events, overnight visits, meetings, conferences, etc.

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Filed under: Themes, Auties & Aspies, QuIrked Kids, Irked Videos

An astonishing spiritual journey…after the jump!

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Filed under: Themes, Wheelchairman of the Board

Story tinged with sadness…after the jump

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Filed under: Campaign Watch, Irked Videos

Never has the world seen a pony quite like Molly…

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Filed under: Regular Contributors, Philip Patston, Themes, Cerebral Ballsy, Wheelchairman of the Board

Who Am I, Really?

by Philip Patston

Thank you Irked, for inviting me to be part of the regular mash of diversity you dish up; Click to continue »

Filed under: Regular Contributors, Brian Segal, Themes, Wheelchairman of the Board

A TOMB WITH A VIEW (or Things seem to be looking up)

by Brian Segal

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Filed under: Themes, Bum Deal, The Wandering Agoraphobe, Books & Book Reviews

A hermit’s home

by Joan Baxter

(an excerpt from the book The Hermit of Gully Lake: The Life and Times of Willard Kitchener MacDonald)

“The world knew him as the Hermit of Gully Lake, a lean and bearded elderly man in rags who lived on his own for more than half a century in the deep woods wilderness of northern Nova Scotia. By the time he disappeared in December 2003, his legend had spread across Canada and beyond.”

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Filed under: Regular Contributors, Lewis Schofield, Themes, Auties & Aspies, QuIrked Kids

Banished To This Place

An Atypical Writing Exercise by Lewis Schofield, 2007

Whenever a teacher assigns a typical writing exercise such as “What I Did On My Summer Vacation” or “My Hero” I roll my eyes just like the other kids do. Click to continue »