Celebrating 60 years of Community Living
Until 1948 there were very few options in our community for a person who was born with an intellectual disability. Well, actually there were really only two: you could send the child to an institution or keep the child at home. The former was the most encouraged and socially acceptable: doctors, society, and pretty much everyone else told parents to forget their child, get on with their lives and have more healthy, 'normal' children.
Keeping a child at home, and a few did, meant suffering the social stigma of having what was considered a 'backward' child. There were no social supports - no schooling, no day care, no opportunity to participate in community activities or programs. And that meant no opportunity to learn, play or make friends.
In an institution a child could have monthly family visits, learn basic living skills, arts & crafts and given food and shelter. He or she would be able to go outside, but usually stayed on the institution's compound. Normally, if a child was sent there, generally at the age of two, he or she would live there until they died, never knowing the world or the family that existed outside the walls of the institution.
But this isn't a story about laying blame. Sending a child to an institution, or sheltering them at home away from family and society wasn't considered right or wrong, it was just what was done back then. Why? Because it was accepted and expected that people with disabilities wouldn't, and couldn't live normal lives in a regular world.
But in 1948 a grandmother of a seven year old boy who had an intellectual disability asked, 'Why not?' and the birth of a new, radical and innovative movement was born. It was a movement - a campaign - for dignity spearheaded by parents, caregivers and citizens who believed that keeping children out of institutions and supporting them at home was the only option. They planted the seed of a vision where people with an intellectual disability could be respected, accepted and included in the 'regular' world.
Because of these parents, Ontario has made wonderful progress toward this vision of inclusion over the past 60 years. It is a credit both to the shared values of the citizens of this province and to the dedication and commitment of the thousands of volunteers and workers with Community Living associations across Ontario. Today, there are nearly 100 affiliated Community Living associations in communities throughout Ontario; over 400 across Canada.
