Polio Canada / Ontario March of Dimes

Thursday 22 and Friday 23 May 2008


There’s not a lot to report on leaving Framingham for Toronto. All went smoothly. The Canadians are a bit more relaxed than the Americans about Customs. Mind you, I do have to go through Chicago and LA before I leave the USA for the last leg to Melbourne next Saturday, so that’s something to look forward to. The only thing I found notable was how close Boston airport is to the city. As I was waiting to catch the plane, I could look over at the buildings and wish I’d had the opportunity to see Boston, which is purported to be a lovely city. So many places, so little time . . .

On landing in Toronto, I had the bright idea of a catching train to our hotel via subway, as there was a station just over the road. However, we had to catch a bus to the train station, and by the time I had lugged both our baggage that far, I was well and truly ‘over it’, so found a taxi and paid $40 instead of the minimal amount I had in mind. But we got there and I didn’t need a chiropractor.

Salubrious, the ‘Clarion Hotel’ was not – nor was it accessible, with 10 steps leading up to the front door, then another 5 steps up to where you could catch the elevator! Having booked on line, I assumed that an elevator equated to accessible. When am I going to learn – NEVER assume. In any case, Jill managed to drag herself up that obstacle course while I cursed the luggage with every single step. The elevator was an interesting, old fashioned contraption (as was the building) with a door that opened outwards into a narrow corridor and an inner metal cage barrier that was only marginally wider than Jill’s wheelchair, which very effective at closing – especially when you were only partially through. But it WAS cheap(ish) and pretty well situated for our needs. We also discovered that the subway station opposite was not accessible, being on the old system (there’s a newer system that is totally accessible), so we wouldn’t have been able to exit if we had gone all the way through from the airport. With all that excitement, we walked around the corner to the nearest pub and participated in a bit of pain relief.

The next day, after contemplating the vaguaries of accessible public transport in Toronto, we caught a taxi to the “Ontario March of Dimes” offices to meet with representatives from Polio Canada. Sheila Casemore has been my email contact who’s full title is: Group Development and Support Coordinator, National Programs, Ontario March of Dimes and Rehabilitation Foundation for Disabled Persons, Canada Stroke Recovery Canada and Polio Canada (www.marchofdimes.ca / www.poliocanada.com). Sheila introduced us to Polio Survivors, Jan Nichols, Chair, Toronto/York/Peel Post Polio Chapter and Elizabeth Lounsbury, Chair of Polio Canada, and we got down to the serious business of having lunch (which Sheila had thoughtfully arranged for us) and chatting.

Polio Canada was established approx 5 years ago in response to the growing need for PPS information and established contact points throughout Canada. Their charter is to support and inform the community and health care professionals through five main services. Polio Canada also provides a comprehensive information package on post-polio syndrome, free subscription to its bi-annual newsletter, local chapter newsletters and bulletins on news and events.

We spoke for some time on the subject of the soon to be established “Polio Australia’s” ongoing communication with Polio Canada, Post-Polio Health International (see St Louis, USA), and other large networks in Britain and Europe with a view to forming “Polio World”. This may sound a bit ambitious, but in the era of email and internet technology, there’s no reason why we can’t all become more cohesive. The purpose of such a union would be to try and co-ordinate our awareness campaigns and support each other through a united voice.

A significant issue was discussed regarding Ontario’s only post-polio clinic being closed a few years ago, despite intensive lobbying by Polio Canada and polio survivors throughout the province, simply due to the hospital that was being funded to run the service deciding to pull out. The message is repeated wherever we go, generic clinical service providers just don’t know how to work with polio survivors without some kind of knowledge/training in the area.

Ontario March of Dimes has taken on a major role in the area of Stroke recovery and is slowly venturing into running joint support group activities with their polio and stroke clients. They all understand the differences in their respective disabilities/abilities, but both appear to be benefiting from these activities. We continued to discuss the potential for alliances in clinical service provision for a variety of groups ageing with a neurological condition.

Further to this lunchtime meeting, Sheila had suggested that we meet up again at 7.00pm at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) for an exhibition put together by Disability Studies students at Ryerson University called “Out From Under”. One of the features of this exhibition depicted the story of a man by the name of Rev Essex, a Baptist Minister whose daughter, Sheila, contracted polio during the 1950’s and was institutionalized due to her dependency on a respirator. Against medical advice, Rev Essex brought his daughter home, learning how to repair her equipment via telephone contact with the manufactures in the USA. A few years later, the ‘cuirass’ (a portable respirator) was introduced, further liberating his daughter. Rev Essex went on to volunteer his services by travelling around the countryside to fix respirators. Karen Yoshida, one of the contributors to this exhibition, is quoted as saying, “Through this work I have come to recognize how today’s Independent Living Movement and its origins during the1970 ‘s were actually built upon unrecognized histories such as this.”

All in all, we had an enjoyable and productive visit with the Polio Canada and Ontario March of Dimes people in Toronto and, once again, not enough time to further explore the city before heading off tomorrow by train to Ottawa. There, I’m looking forward to meeting up again with Dr Marcia Falconer, who we had speaking in Melbourne in 2006 about inflammation and PPS, as well as visiting with Dr Douglas McKim, Medical Director, Respiratory Rehabilitation Services, The Ottawa Hospital Rehabilitation Centre. More soon.