BCCL’s Kim Jessup-Stoddart (left) and Marissa Browne (right) accepting the Heroes award from Noemi Amero (middle) of the Community Care Access Centre for their work with Caledon families. Kim and Marissa said it was an honour to accept the award and humbling to hear the stories of other award recipients.
BCCL’s 56th AGM Captures the Moment
Zack Fitzsimmons and Travis Kerr captured the hearts and imagination of those in attendance at Brampton Caledon Community Living’s 56th Annual General Meeting held on September 26th 2013 at the Pearson Convention Centre in Brampton.
Zack performed a song he had written and composed and Travis performed the spoken word. The two young men were given standing ovations for their inspiring performances.
Town of Caledon Mayor Morrison brought greetings and Dolton Fraiser was recognized for his work with the Reese Matthew Kirk Above and Beyond Award.
In keeping with the evening’s theme, Nicholas Aikins, Community Living Support Worker, eloquently spoke to the importance of being engaged in the here and now with people we support.
In his remarks, Executive Director, Jim Triantafilou spoke to misplaced priorities, the Ombudsman’s investigation into developmental services and the need for families to speak directly to their elected provincial representatives about the lack of resources for our sector.
The evening concluded with service awards being presented to a stellar group of participants and staff.
A shout- out to all who were recognized. Your contributions make BCCL a great organization.
To view photos of the event click here.
An “action agenda” report from the Housing Study Group on the supportive housing crisis facing Ontarians with a developmental disability and their families.
DSM-5 has introduced the term “intellectual disability” replacing “mental retardation” to refer to individuals with significant impairments in intelligence and adaptive functioning that onset before age 18 (Paris 2013). Mental retardation now joins a number of earlier nosologic terms like oligophrenia, amentia and mental deficiency, terminology carefully documented by Leo Kanner (1964). Over time any term selected by nosologists for this population eventually assumes a stigmatic connotation that stimulates requests for an alternative. What is the nature of stigma associated with this category of mental disorder? Are there particular issues that need to be addressed apart from renaming it from time to time?