The Abilities Survey

By Raymond D. Cohen

When the Canadian Abilities Foundation (CAF) Board of Directors reconvenes this summer, high on its list of objectives will be a critical examination of our mission -- and just how close we come to fulfilling it. And we are asking for your help!

We need your feedback in order to continue to serve your interests... through ABILITIES magazine, the magazine’s Forum section, our Directory of Disability Organizations, our website, our resources related to employment and living independently -- and through our newest service, the soon-to-be-unveiled EnableLink.

EnableLink is the working title of an online resource to be located on the CAF website. (For those who prefer their information in more traditional formats, EnableLink will also be a regular feature within ABILITIES magazine.) EnableLink will be CAF’s way of remaining responsive to the growing needs of Canada’s expanding population of people with disabilities -- and will have a very concentrated focus on those who acquire their disabilities suddenly, particularly in the workplace.

EnableLink, in order to achieve maximum impact, will look to partner with the range of groups, both on and off-line, assembled to serve people with disabilities. It is very clear to us at CAF that there are existing rifts between consumer associations, service groups and government departments. Equally, we are very aware that some initiatives must transcend partisanship in order to serve the common good -- and EnableLink certainly falls into this category.

Glen Wright, chair of the newly dubbed Ontario Workplace Insurance and Safety Board (formerly the Workers’ Compensation Board of Ontario), taking note of the difficulties of injured workers, and others who find themselves adjusting to the profound impact of sudden disability, has encouraged the building of this "virtual bridge" -- a bridge offering a connection to the network of consumer, service and support services in which the more established community of people with disabilities operates.

"My enthusiasm for this project springs from its potential to alleviate the isolation which I know a number of injured workers experience. This is particularly true of those whose injuries have caused significant disability," Glen Wright said. "I anticipate that EnableLink, in addition to helping injured workers get in touch with disability resources across the country, will provide a terrific way for them to reach each other. I am proud that the WSIB of Ontario is one of the founding sponsors of this initiative -- and I certainly want injured workers in Ontario to know that I will be looking at the Canadian Abilities Foundation’s survey results with keen interest."

He is referring to the two-page survey you will find in this issue of ABILITIES (page 15), with an invitation to let us know about your needs and thoughts.

Patrick Watson, Chair of CAF, recently interviewed Glen Wright on the new direction of what was then the WCB of Ontario. Patrick Watson has noted that public response to the interview was, at a generous best, seriously mixed, and he commends the WSIB for its role in initiating this new effort. "I’m looking forward to the day when other partners come to the table to support this program -- I can think of no better way in which the network developed by CAF over the last dozen years could be put to use. EnableLink will be an important extension to existing online resources, and a refinement of the work which the Canadian Abilities Foundation has been about for as long as I have had the pleasure of serving as Chair. I look forward, through the survey, to gaining a greater understanding of the readership of our magazine."

So, there you have it. Your participation in this survey supports two important considerations. It will help guide the editorial direction of a magazine that has served your interests for more than a decade; and it will spell out the direction of an important new resource designed to meet the needs of individuals with a wide range of disabilities. In other words, you will exercise control over two resources which stand to make a positive impact on the lives of many Canadians.

Here is the deal. You fill out the survey and get it to us. Our job will be to analyze the data and feed back to you the innovative results.

In addition, if you fill out the survey and fax, mail or e-mail your response to us by June 30, 1998, we will happily enter your name in a draw to win a handsome ABILITIES T-shirt... and, if you are a regular subscriber, we will extend your current subscription by one free issue! If you are not yet a subscriber, but choose to become one this summer, your first issue will be sent to you at no cost. If you choose not to identify yourself, no probs -- we still thank you for helping out by completing the survey anonymously!

(P.S. The survey is also available online at http://indie.ca/abilities/survey.)