Impact of disability on relationships examined at Canada Reads event
Student Kendal-Lynn Douglas says friendship can sometimes mean asking for help for all 'those simple tasks'
Disability and friendship will be discussed during a Canada Reads panel presentation Monday night in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
Local school bus driver Dylynn Kempton, and Confederation College student Kendal-Lynn Douglas will join Craig Davidson, the author of Precious Cargo: My Year of Driving the Kids on School Bus 3077, one of the five books to be debated later in March.
Davidson's memoir examines the time he spent as a driver for five students with special needs.
The book chronicles the ups and downs of his life and the lives of his young passengers, in part by exploring how special needs and disabilities affect the relationships they're trying to build.
Douglas, a 25-year-old studying library and information technology, empathizes in particular with the character Jake, a 17-year-old boy who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair. She has the same condition and uses a walker "to get around pretty much everywhere."
"A lot of times people assume I can walk without it, but I can't. I think it's because a lot of times with elderly people they're just using it to steady themselves. I'm using it as my legs. That is the only way I am able to move without holding on to somebody, or something," she explained.
Douglas says limited mobility can also limit relationships.
"Because if I want to go somewhere or do something I have to rely on either a caregiver or a friend to be there to open a door or make sure that it's a place I can get around in. If I can't get around with my walker, I can't go."
Rely on friends for 'simplest little things'
Friendship for Douglas means knowing she will likely have to ask that person for help for all "those simple little tasks, that an average person takes for granted."
"It does get very tiring to have to say 'hey can you do the simplest little thing for me,' like even sometimes doing up my zipper can be difficult, so it does get challenging and it does have an impact on those relationships."
The special CBC Thunder Bay Canada Reads event begins at 7 p.m. Monday March 5 at the Waverley Library Auditorium in Thunder Bay.
The CBC's Cathy Alex is hosting the free event.
