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One Opportunity | Gateway Association

One Opportunity

One opportunity that was offered to me at Gateway, was to attend the Transitioning trade fair at LY Cairns, that had various booths available to individuals and families that had a youth transitioning to adulthood, that lives with barriers or disabilities. I took advantage of having all these agencies in one place, and I went around and asked questions so that I could better understand what is available. Present at the trade fair, was Service Canada, Employ-abilities, Chrysalis, Norquest, Independent counselling enterprises, Disability services (PDD and FSCD), Voice of Albertans with disabilities, Mira facilitation center, Inclusion Alberta, Gateway and many more.

 

One thing I learned that in order to access all these resources (in exception to a couple) you need to qualify for PDD funding. Which leaves out a population of people who still live with barriers yet, do not have access to the resources that can assist them in leading fulfilling lives. Currently Persons with Developmental Disability program (PDD) eligibility requires that the person with the developmental disability has an IQ of 70 or lower. (among other requirements,  if you want to know them all follow this link https://www.alberta.ca/pdd-eligibility.aspx ) It’s not fair that there is a portion of the population who because of their IQ is deemed “too high” they cannot access much needed funding. IQ of 74? Nope too high. Even if you are living with multiple barriers that effect your quality of life, that little number can make or break your path to success. As a Social Work student learning about how social policy effects the people in which we work with, this is a perfect example of how old, out-dated social policies are still used today and how these policies are not effective anymore. (This also checks an evaluation criteria box: “demonstrating an understanding of the social policy issues related to that client group.”)

 

Employabilites was one of few that anyone with barriers to employment can access. Which is great! So, I plan on checking into them a little further, as they are a great resource that anyone can access. Here is a link if you want to check them out too. https://employabilities.ab.ca/

 

Until next time! Brittney

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