yukon association for community living 50 years in the making

Changing lives for 50+ Years

Small choices o en have big implica ons

down the road.

Such was the case on March 23, 1964 when a

group of concerned ci zens founded the Yukon

Associa on for Retarded Children (YARC) in

response to a presenta on about a school for

“retarded” children in Edmonton.

At the me the Yukon had no such school but,

a er six months of intensive fundraising and

organizing, the new organiza on opened the first

Yukon “special needs” school, ini ally with four

students.

Over the next five decades this group changed its

name three mes.

Its first change was in 1973 when it became the

Yukon Associa on for the Mentally Retarded

(YAMR) to reflect a growing interest in suppor ng

adults as well as children.

The next change came when YAMR joined forces

with the Yukon Associa on for Children with

Learning Disabili es and Yukon Special Olympics

to create the umbrella organiza on, the Yukon

Associa on for Special Needs People.

In 1988, when Special Needs separated into three

dis nct groups again, the last name change

occurred.

The new name, Yukon Associa on for Community

Living (YACL), reflected the view gaining strength

across the country that people with intellectual

disabili es should be included in all aspects of

community life.

(Con nued on page 2)

2 YACL: Changing lives for 50+ years Summer 2015

Regardless of name, over the five decades since that founding

mee ng this organiza on has helped seed the development

and growth of a number of groups that con nue to serve

Yukoners today

For example, a mee ng hosted by the Yukon Associa on for

Retarded Children sparked the development of the Yukon

Associa on for Children with Learning Disabili es (YACLD) in

1973.

Then, in the mid 1970s, work by these two groups, along with

the Yukon Social Services Society, led to the crea on of the

Yukon Rehabilita on Centre

Society and the opening of the

Yukon’s first centre where

adults with intellectual

disabili es could find work and

training. This centre is now

commonly known as Challenge.

The Child Development Centre

opened in 1979 as a result of

the diligent work of a core team

of parents who were supported by the Yukon Associa on for

the Mentally Retarded and the Yukon Associa on for Children

with Learning Disabili es.

Shortly a er its last name change, YACL worked with

government and other community partners to create

Teegatha’OhZheh, a group established in 1989 ini ally to help

Yukoners who were returning to their communi es from

Woodlands, a large ins tu on for people with disabili es in

BC.

The Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Society of Yukon (FASSY) was

born in 1996 when YACL’s hard working Alcohol Related Birth

Defects Commi ee set out on its own.

A few years later, the Yukon chapter of People First, a group

run for and by people with intellectual disabili es, was

established with the encouragement and support of YACL.

And the latest organiza on to grow out of YACL’s work is the

Ynklude Art Society, a society of ar sts and performers, with

and without disabili es, who develop and perform unique

works of art.

Ynklude’s new Execu ve Director, Julie Robinson, was the

YACL Inclusion Coordinator for many years. “The disability

movement is a civil rights movement just like any other, just

like the women’s movement. There are so many issues to

work on that we need a diversity of groups. Collec vely, we

have made a lot of progress in so many ways, but there is s ll

a lot of discrimina on. We s ll have a lot of work to do.”

The breadth of organiza ons that support people with

disabili es reflects the breadth of issues the disability

movement needs to address.

“Groups in the disability community work on issues related to

every aspect of a person’s life,” notes Cole e Acheson,

Execu ve Director for YACL. “Although YACL started in the 60s

with a focus on educa on, our efforts have spanned a range of

issues which affect people from birth to death.”

Over the years, YACL and other community partners have

advocated for and collaborated with the Yukon government to

ensure legisla on such as the Educa on Act, the Human Rights

Act, the Decision Making, Support and Protec on for Adults

Act, and the Child and Family

Services Act includes the

perspec ve of families and

individuals affected by disability.

The impact of this advocacy has

been transforma ve. The

disability community has also

influenced the City of

Whitehorse’s recrea on

policies, lobbied for changes to

federal legisla on on vo ng and on immigra on, and had a

significant role in improving Yukon services and support to

families with children with disabili es.

Groups have also provided input on a things like disability

pensions, health services, family violence policies and

employment equity.

“Work on issues like these are so important and require

constant work behind the scenes,” says Robinson, who also

has a child with an intellectual disability. “But it is the support

for families that has been cri cal to me and other parents.

Groups like YACL and Au sm Yukon provide a safe space to be

together with other parents. Those moments when I can look

into the eyes of others, when I know our lives are the same,

are so important.”

Some organiza ons, like Teegatha’OhZheh or the Child

Development Centre were established to deliver specific

programs and services for people with disabili es, while

others like YACL or Au sm Yukon focus on providing support

to families and individuals, raising public awareness and

advoca ng for change.

“YACL celebrates the diverse contribu ons of the many people

with intellectual disabili es, their families, volunteers, and

organiza ons and others in the disability community where

for over 50 years we have tried to build a community where

everyone is welcome.” Acheson adds. “We have proven that

together, as a community, we can change lives.”

(Con nued from page 1)

“We have proven that

together, as a community, we

can change lives.”


No one wants to grow up in an

ins tu on; no one should ever

have to.

Yet many decades ago, that was the

fate of many Yukoners.

Yukon children with pronounced

disabili es o en became wards of the

government and then were sent to an

ins tu on in B.C. called Woodlands.

In the 1950s, records show that about

1400 people lived at Woodlands, the

equivalent of a small town.

Barbe Goode, a Vancouverite with an

intellectual disability, and an

advocate for herself and others,

spoke publicly in Whitehorse in 1989

about her years in an ins tu on.

“Basically, ins tu ons are terrible.

They lock the door behind people…

They have up to 10 people in a room.

There’s no privacy. I don’t wish

anyone to live in one.”

The Yukon eventually stopped

sending people with intellectual

disabili es to Woodlands in 1976.

Around the same me, Ernie St.

Pierre, a staff member at the newly

formed Voca onal Rehabilita on

Centre (now known as Challenge) had

realized that the people they were

providing training to desperately

needed appropriate living situa ons.

He and his wife, Marilyn, started a for‐profit group home for

six male adults in the basement of their home in Riverdale.

They later opened Headway House, which had 9 or 10 beds, in

downtown Whitehorse.

In the late 1980s—as part of the larger cross‐Canada

movement to close many large ins tu ons—the Yukon

government ini ated plans to bring home the Yukoners s ll

living in Woodlands.

The first person returned in 1989. He was 33 years old and had

spent about 20 years in the ins tu on.

Ini ally he found housing at Headway House, got work at

Challenge, and learned to do his own laundry and help with

the cooking and shopping.

“I think it was quite exci ng and quite strange for him. He

would see people on the street and say ‘I remember that


Moving Towards Community Living


guy’,” said Vicki Wilson who worked as a support person for

this first person to return. “This person had speech, and no

issues with hearing or vision. He was mobile. Others faced

more challenges.”

Shortly a erwards, a new organiza on known as Teegatha’Oh

Zheh, a Han Gwitch’in name meaning “coming home over the

same trail on which you le ”, was formed to help ensure the

remaining people returning from Woodlands had appropriate

housing and supports.

Eventually all five were placed in homes or apartments,

although it was a struggle to find appropriate and affordable

places as some require 24 hour care.

And, decades later, housing for Yukoners with intellectual

disabili es can s ll be a struggle.

People o en need guidance and support to help them learn

life and decision‐making skills. Some need varying levels of

physical and medical care. A

few have medical needs that

require constant monitoring.

Some children with

intellectual disabili es

con nue to live with their

families long a er they

become adults, for as long as

the families are able.

A small number have

managed to move into

apartments or approved

homes that provide supports

and the individual a en on

they need to foster their

independence.

Many are placed in group

homes or facili es with 24

hour staff supervision.

However, the need is greater

than the available op ons, in

both quan ty and quality.

“Government is concerned

with making sure that people

are warm, safe and dry,”

notes Cole e Acheson,

Execu ve Director for the

Yukon Associa on for

Community Living (YACL).

“But community living is

about being part of the

community, knowing your

neighbours and having

friendships outside your

house. It’s about being visible

in your home town and

par cipa ng in things that




interest you. Staffed group homes

or facili es have a hard me

providing any of this.”

For those that need extensive

physical care, the op ons are

par cularly limited.

Some children and adults with

intellectual disabili es end up

being permanently housed in

Copper Ridge Place, Yukon’s

extended care facility.

Julie Robinson, who was YACL’s

Inclusion Coordinator for many

years, notes the whole experience

of placing children and adults with

intellectual disabili es in a large

care facility highlights that there is

s ll a profound lack of knowledge

about what community supports

are and can be.

“There are s ll well‐inten oned

people who say this is a

‘community‐based’ op on because

you don’t have to send people

outside,” said Robinson a er

Copper Ridge opened its doors in

2002. “They’re defining a

community‐based op on as simple

geography and ignoring the quality

of what a community life really

means. This is re‐ins tu onalizing

people.”

The new care facility for proposed

for Whistlebend—expected to be

three mes the size of Copper

Ridge—may again become the only

op on for people of any age who

are seen to have complex needs.

“When government has a vacant bed in a large facility, it

might make financial sense to plant a person with an

intellectual disability there instead of crea ng a variety of

op ons,” says Cole e Acheson, YACL’s Execu ve Director.

“We see that as an in‐between step; it’s not Woodlands, but

it’s also not community living. Ideally we believe a range of

housing op ons should be available —like roommate

companion programs or suppor ve in‐home care—that allow

for a person’s dignity and autonomy. We need to work

together to create more op ons that will help all of our

community members live as independently and with as much

quality of life as possible.”



Give Us a Break

Imagine not being able to leave the house to go

shopping or on a date with your partner.

Imagine always having to leave family members at home—

one to take care of the other—while the rest of the family

goes on an ou ng.

This was the reality of people interviewed in 1990 as part of a

research project done by the Yukon Associa on for

Community Living (YACL). It is s ll the reality of many parents

today.

The study, “Helping

Yukoners support

family members with

disabili es: A study

of respite care

needs and op ons”

interviewed 39

people around the

Yukon who had a

family member

with a disability

living at home.

People talked

about the me

spent providing

physical care,

ge ng medical

support, monitoring the individual, and

advoca ng for effec ve services and supports.

They spoke about how their work was nega vely affected,

finances drained, social lives restricted, family rela onships

impacted and personal health compromised.

In earlier years many of family members with disabili es

would have been sent to ins tu ons outside of the territory,

but the growing recogni on of the nega ve impacts of

ins tu ons—and of the rights of all people to live in their

homes and communi es—meant children with disabili es

were increasingly staying in the Yukon in a family se ng.

At the me, the only way families with children with severe

disabili es could get a break was to put their child in respite

beds in the hospital. It usually wasn’t a preferred op on. One

parent quoted in the Yukon News in 1992 said, “We want him

at home. We don’t want him in the hospital. I have to push

myself to say it’s me to put him in.”

In the mid‐1990s, plans for a new hospital in Whitehorse did

not include space for respite beds so a group of parents

formed the Evergreen Respite Society and intensively lobbied

for a 24 hour residen al respite care home for children with

severe disabili es. They argued it would be less expensive for

government to run and more home‐like for their children.

But the government said a separate facility wasn’t feasible

and chose instead to add respite beds to the Thompson

Centre, an extended care facility primarily for the elderly.

Disappointed parents raised concerns about safety and about

care by staff who were trained to work with the elderly.

A few years later, many of the same concerns were raised

again with the building of Copper Ridge Place. Although this

new facility was to include a separate children’s unit for both

chronic and respite care, it was seen as being inadequate and

inappropriate.

“All the things normal kids experience are not even possible

at Copper Ridge,” said YACL board member, Joanne

Stanhope, in 2002. “People can’t walk into the centre and see

anything they’d see in a ‘normal’ home.”

Government offered some financial support for families

wan ng respite care in their homes, but families wan ng to

access respite services had to go through Child Protec on

Services to get it.

They needed a social worker and had to go through an

onerous applica on process that included income tes ng so

families might be turned down if the government perceived

they made too much money.

Many also felt like their child might be at risk of being

apprehended by protec on services simply because they

were asking for help.

“The risk of their child being apprehended always lingered

like a black cloud,” said Julie Robinson, YACL’s Inclusion

Coordinator at the me. “Rather than feeling like they are

failing, parents should feel that asking for support is a healthy

and proper response to their situa on.”

As a result of pressure from families involved in the Au sm

Working Group, respite services began to operate separately

from the Child Protec on Branch in 2002.



A small group of families of children with au sm also started

to receive dedicated funding for comprehensive care.

Importantly, these families could decide to how the funding

should be spent to best meet

the interests of their child and

family.

In 2006, a er ongoing

lobbying by the recently

formed Au sm Yukon and

YACL, the program was

expanded so that all families

of children with disabili es

were able to access funding to

hire service providers to meet

their specialized needs.

The Yukon’s new Child and

Family Services Act in 2008

entrenched this approach.

Although access to resources

for respite is currently easier

than it used to be, the

available op ons remain

limited according to Robinson.

She has a son with au sm.

“There is s ll no community‐

based respite op on for out‐of

‐home care and the pool of

people to come into the home

is small. And the process of

accessing government’s

financial resources for family‐

directed support is s ll

complicated and ever‐

changing.”

Plans for a new extended care

facility in the Whistlebend

area have reignited calls for

respite and permanent care

op ons for people with

disabili es that are

community‐based and family‐

directed.

Cole e Acheson, YACL’s

Execu ve Director, wants to

see more community‐based

respite op ons, even for those with complex needs. “All

children benefit from being exposed to laughter, fun and

rela onships in a typical home environment rather than a

wing in a senior’s home. They, and their families, need

op ons for respite where they can be treated as children with

choices, not pa ents with procedures.”



A History Lesson: Inclusion in the Schools

“No schools for retarded” read a March 21, 1964

headline in the Whitehorse Star.

The ar cle reported on a talk by Abe Miller about a school for

‘retarded’ children in his home city of Edmonton.

The Yukon had no such school at the me; however the event

sparked a small group of Yukoners to begin fundraising and

making plans.

Community support was strong and six months later the

newly formed Yukon Associa on for Retarded Children

(YARC) welcomed its first four students.

Although the Department of Educa on provided space for

the class, the

responsibility for the

students’ educa on—

and the teacher’s

wages—fell to the

non‐profit

associa on.

When the weary

volunteers asked the

government in 1967

to take over the class,

the Department of

Educa on declined.

It didn’t want to bring the class into the public school system.

In the 1970s, however, there was growing recogni on

worldwide of the rights—including the right to educa on—of

people with disabili es.

Slowly governments were acknowledging their duty to

provide educa on for all children.

The Yukon government took on responsibility for educa on

of students with intellectual disabili es in 1981, the last

jurisdic on in Canada to do so.

At the me, the government adopted a policy of

“mainstreaming” which looked for ways to serve children

with special needs within the regular classroom.

The idea of mainstreaming—or inclusion as it became

known—was o en hotly contested. Parents with non‐special

needs children worried about the impact on their children’s

educa on.

One family reported that a group of parents went so far as to

organize a boyco to prevent a child with intellectual

disabili es from a ending his local elementary school.

However, intensive lobbying from parents and from

organiza ons like the Yukon Associa on for Community

Living (the successor to YARC) helped ensure that the Yukon’s

Educa on Act, proclaimed in 1990, entrenched the policy of

integra on.

The new Act mandated that all students would be provided

with the “least restric ve and most enabling environment.”

Jan Wood, coordinator for YACL at the me, recalls the

impact. “The new Act gave us a leg to stand on in terms of

the right to an

educa on, and to an

educa on in the least

restric ve

environment. A child

didn’t have to go to the

special educa on

class.”

Children with special

needs now had the

right to Individualized

Educa on Plans (IEP)

designed to address

their individual needs

and challenges.

But implemen ng these IEPs required resources for things

such as learning assistance, speech therapy or specialized

instruc onal materials.

YACL and parents found themselves constantly advoca ng for

appropriate resources for children with IEPs.

They faced a setback when controversial amendments to the

Educa on Act in 2002 stated that IEPs will be delivered “to

the extent that is considered prac cable by the Deputy

Minister or by a school Board.”

A YACL press release at the me noted the amendment “put

the rights of a kindergarten child with a speech and language

problem to get help second to the deputy minister’s need to

keep his poli cal masters happy at budget me.”


One bright light, however, was Whitehorse

Elementary School. In 2002, it received a

na onal “Leadership in Inclusive Educa on”

award from the Canadian Associa on for

Community Living for its work in including all

children in the classroom, regardless of ability.


One bright light, however, was Whitehorse Elementary

School. In 2002, it received a na onal “Leadership in Inclusive

Educa on” award from the Canadian Associa on for

Community Living for its work in including all children in the

classroom, regardless of ability.

On the whole, however, the struggle for effec ve inclusion in

educa on con nues.

“Today, you o en see students in an inclusive classroom in

the younger grades, but then their needs are not met and

they are placed in a segregated

classroom called Resource Rooms,”

notes Lynn Pigage. Her daughter with

intellectual disabili es went through

the Yukon’s public school system.

“Some mes they call them Life Skill

Classrooms, but the end result is that

the student is separated from the rest

of the student body. They end up

having assembly together or some

classes that are not very academic, like

sewing, for example.”

Pigage adds that when there are not

adequate resources or supports in

regular classrooms, segrega on might

end up being the best op on for the

child. For her daughter, Mallory, “The

teachers didn’t have the skills to teach

at mul ‐levels so by grade 4, in math

for example, an en re lesson would be

going over her head. She’d end up in

the hallway with her Educa onal Aide

for some of the day. It also meant she

was ge ng bored. We moved her to a

segregated classroom in grade 5.”

Pat Berrel, past principal of Whitehorse

Elementary School, notes that the

principal can set the atmosphere for

inclusion, but it is the teacher who is

key.

“The teacher needs to have three

things: the buy‐in to the concept of

inclusion, a willingness to implement it

and the know‐how to make it happen,”

Berrel explains. “If teachers don’t have

these three things, inclusion doesn’t

happen, no ma er how good the policy

might be.”

“In 1964, having a separate system for kids who were

different reflected the understanding at the me,” says

Cole e Acheson, Execu ve Director for YACL. “Today, we can

agree that everyone has a right to a good educa on. We just

need to remember that educa on is not just about just

ge ng through the curriculum, or even about helping each

child reach their poten al. The environment we create for

children within school systems reflects the a tudes of our

larger society and, by modeling an environment of inclusion

and apprecia on for the value of diversity, we can change the

culture of our en re society.”



Most of us who want to play sports, learn an

instrument or create art can find a coach,

instructor or mentor to help us along. There will

be classes to sign up for or teams to join.

But for people with an intellectual disability, it can be a

different story. The op ons are more limited.

Prior to the mid

1970s, people

with intellectual

disabili es were

largely invisible

in their

communi es.

They were living

in ins tu ons

outside the

Yukon or kept

mostly at home.

With a few

excep ons,

suppor ng their

par cipa on in

arts and

recrea on

wasn’t even on

the agenda.

Slowly, as new non‐profit organiza ons that worked with

people with intellectual disabili es were established in the

1960s and 1970s, occasional recrea onal ac vi es began to

be offered.

Staff at the Voca onal Rehabilita on Centre (now known as

Challenge) took on organizing a few sports ac vi es and, in

1978, a group of nine Yukon children travelled to Juneau to

par cipate in the Special Olympics for the first me.

The same year, there was a workshop in Whitehorse called

“Recrea on and Community Involvement for the

Handicapped.” The following year there was a course held to

train teachers about teaching swimming to people with

disabili es.

Slowly, both a tudes and opportuni es were expanding.

The local chapter of Special Olympics was officially set up in

1981, the same year that a Yukon con ngent joined Team

Canada at the Winter Special Olympics in Vermont. Yukon

athletes brought home three gold medals and a bronze in

cross‐country skiing from this interna onal event.

The shi towards providing people with disabili es more

sports and recrea on opportuni es reflected an overall shi

in a tudes at the me.

Increasingly,

community members

started to

acknowledge that, in

addi on to housing

and appropriate

care, people with

disabili es also

needed to have fun,

to feel good about

themselves and to be

part of a larger social

group, just like any

other member of the

community.

In the early days,

Special Olympics’

found that the

Yukon’s small

popula on meant there weren’t usually enough people to

hold separate ac vi es. So the organiza on o en worked to

involve their athletes in mainstream ac vi es.

“People at the grassroots were fantas c. They were really

willing to have their eyes open to the poten al and to

involving a diversity of people in their community,” said Keith

Clarke, who was a program coordinator for the Yukon

Associa on of Special Needs People in the 1980s.

Clarke also remembers that the parents of children with

intellectual disabili es were as excited about the opportunity

as their kids. “It should be a simple thing, but seeing their

kids involved and included was what families really wanted.”

While the number of athletes in Special Olympics has grown

to over 90—and they now have their own teams in a number

of sports—the opportunity to train and compete with other

Yukon athletes con nues to be important for Special (Con nued on page 11)

Celebrating Inclusion in Arts & Recreation


Olympics athletes.

“Our soccer team has

been playing once a

week with the Under 13

team for years,”

explained Serge

Michaud, Execu ve

Director for Special

Olympics. “And last

summer we won gold

at the na onal games. I

can’t thank our soccer

community enough for

helping us do it.”

Similarly, the local

Special Olympics curling

team regularly

competes in a

Whitehorse mixed

league and they too

recently won gold at

the na onals.

Michaud notes that

Special Olympics

focuses on providing

opportuni es for their

athletes to compete at

whatever level they are

at. Each athlete defines

success differently and

every athlete is

ul mately a winner.

In the 1980s, the Yukon

Associa on of

Community Living

(YACL) was also working

on increasing access to

recrea onal

opportuni es. The

group started the

“Leisure Buddies”

program in 1989 which

matched an individual with an intellectual disability with a

volunteer. The buddies would spend a few hours a month

together doing different ac vi es, organized or casual, that

they were both interested in.

YACL also worked in the 1990s to increase access to a range

of cultural and recrea onal ac vi es. The group applied for

funding to pay for passes to various cultural and recrea onal




ac vi es. Staff worked with the City to ensure support people

could get in free to places like the pool and that the Leisure

Guide indicated which recrea onal programs or ac vi es

were accessible.

Another significant shi for Yukoners with disabili es started

in 2005.

That year, YACL’s Inclusion Program worked with the Yukon

Wheelchair Associa on to set up the Society Towards

Accessible Recrea on and Sport (STARS).

Together, YACL and STARS organized sports like

basketball and dance for people of diverse

abili es. They also entered inclusive teams in the

Klondike Interna onal Road Relay and the Kluane

Chilkat Interna onal Bike Relay, for two years

each.

YACL also observed that people with intellectual

disabili es were not ac ve in the arts, except

occasionally as audience members.

“The best we could do at the me was get free

ckets to performances at the Arts Centre,” noted

Julie Robinson, YACL’s Inclusion Coordinator at the

me. “In 2002 we did do a Music and Masks

program where people with intellectual disabili es

explored making art and playing music. It was fun

but we wanted to show more people what we

were capable of. We wanted to become the show

people came to see.”

Robinson established the Ynklude troupe which

operated under YACL’s umbrella un l it became a

separate organiza on in 2013.

Ynklude has involved about 30 ar sts and

performers who have worked together to develop

new and unique works of art.

The group has developed and put on numerous

music, dance and theatre performances. They

have created a broad range of visual arts including

books and two award winning films.

“There is no area we can’t explore and do

professional work in” notes Robinson. “It has

taught people to be brave enough to try anything.

And people with intellectual disabili es have

taught the rest of us in the group how to be a li le

freer.”

One of Robinson’s favourite memories was when

the group travelled on Air North to Whistler to perform at a

na onal disability conference. During the flight a er pu ng

on a spontaneous show for the passengers, they received a

standing ova on.

“In another me the women with canes, with FASD, or with

Down Syndrome would have boarded early and quietly found

their seat and people would have either stared at them too

long or felt sorry for them,” recalled Robinson. “This was the

exact opposite experience. They were admired and

celebrated.”



If you walk into Shopper’s Drug

Mart these days, you might be

able to say hello to Rachel

Dawson, one of their newest

employees. Dawson started

working with Shopper’s in early

May.

She can’t tell you directly, as her verbal

skills are limited, but she clearly loves

having a job and working with others.

She might stand out a bit as she

currently has a job coach working

beside her, helping her learn how to

organize products on the shelves.

Over at Staples, perhaps you’ve seen

Cole Robinson‐Boivin who has been

employed for over seven years. He

keeps inventory on the shelves; last

year the district manager singled him

out, telling him that he had the best‐

maintained shelves of ink and paper in

the region. Robinson‐Boivin has a script

he uses when he needs to respond to

customer requests and a job coach to

help him as needed.

Stop by McDonald’s and you might find

Gaetan “Gaets” Michaud working that

day. He has been working for the

owner/operators, Julie and Mike

Thorpe, since 2007.

“Gaets is one of the most dedicated

workers we’ve ever had,” the Thorpes

say. “It was important for us, as his

employers, to understand what his

strengths and opportuni es were;

however, this is no different than any

other employee. It just turned out that

his strengths and opportuni es were a

li le different than other employees.”

They learned that having a specific

rou ne every day has helped Michaud

succeed.

Like their co‐workers, Michaud,

Robinson‐Boivin and Dawson are happy

to have a job with the same pay and


It’s Not Just Work

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benefits as the person next to them. The job also builds their

skills, opens the door for friendships and makes them feel

valued.

What makes them a bit different from most other employees

in their workplaces is that they have an intellectual disability

caused by a condi on like Au sm or cerebral palsy. So they

some mes require supports or accommoda ons tailored to

their specific needs.

Although a number of people with intellectual disabili es are

successfully working in

the Yukon’s private

sector—including

businesses like Career

Industries which

specifically hires and

supports people with

disabili es—it hasn’t

always been this way.

Up un l the 1980s, the

common view was that

most people with

intellectual disabili es

either couldn’t learn a

job skill or were best

off being kept busy in sheltered workshops. There was li le

effort to build people’s skills for other types of work and they

were not paid a fair wage for work they did do.

Across the country, however, there was shi in the 1980s

from away from sheltered workshops as the employment

model and a move towards an approach of supported

employment.

Jon Breen, Execu ve Director in the 1990s of the local non‐

profit organiza on now called Challenge—Disability Resource

Group explained, “The goal became more about ge ng

people out into the community, into compe ve work

situa ons. This reflected other trends at the me towards de‐

ins tu onaliza on for people with intellectual disabili es.”

Breen also noted that the charity model of employment was

s ll strong when he started working at Challenge. “The

business community o en felt they would be doing Challenge

a favour if they bought our products or employed our clients.

We started working to turn this around by showing them how

we could offer value and support the business community.”

Partnering with the Chamber of Commerce and other

businesses, Challenge started offering training programs that

met iden fied job needs. The programs covered areas like

kitchen skills, landscape and greenhouse work, and carpentry

assistance. Similar programs con nue to be offered by

Challenge today.

In 1991, Challenge officially set up its woodworking shop as a

separate for‐profit business, Career Industries Ltd. The

business con nued to produce useful products like core

boxes for the mining industry and provided training in basic

carpentry skills.

Today, Career Industries con nues to hire adults with

disabili es to make a variety of products for businesses,

government and

individuals. It also pays

their employees a fair

wage and helps them

develop new skills.

But finding jobs for

individuals outside of

affirma ve work

places like Career

Industries has been an

ongoing effort. It has

required changing

employers’ and

society’s views of jobs

as charity for people

with intellectual disabili es.

Less than 15 years ago, one local retailer thought they were

doing the right thing by paying an employee with intellectual

disabili es in bu ons and gi cards. They were also taking

things off the shelf just so the employee would be kept busy

restocking.

“Work is more than just a paycheque.” said Cole e Acheson,

Execu ve Director for the Yukon Associa on of Community

Living (YACL). “For any of us, a job offers opportuni es to

learn and develop skills, build confidence and a social

network with coworkers. People with disabili es want a real

job. They want to know they are accomplishing something.

They want to have the same rights—and responsibili es—as

other employees.”

“Many employers here have been fantas c and see bo om

line value,” adds Lisa Rawlings Bird, past Execu ve Director of

the Yukon Council on DisABILITY (YCOD). “Now, most

employers who hire people with intellectual disabili es have

expecta ons of their employees. They expect value from

them—just like any other employee. But they are also willing



“For any of us, a job offers opportuni es to

learn and develop skills, build confidence and a

social network with coworkers. People with

disabili es want a real job. They want to know

they are accomplishing something. They want

to have the same rights—and

responsibili es—as other employees.”


to find crea ve ways to

include them in the

workforce.”

George Green, a long‐ me

disability advocate, notes that

employers o en want to help,

they just need to know how..

“Willing employers o en lack

the knowledge about how to

work around a person’s

disability so they can do the

job. But when they can get

that knowledge, and

understand their employee’s

skills and challenges, they

soon find that they get a lot

of value from a mo vated

employee.”

According to Green,

governments are “ge ng it”

and are now offering more

supports to allow people with

disabili es to find and retain

employment.

Green adds that assessments,

started in the mid‐1990s,

really helped both employers

and employees as they

highlighted a person’s

capabili es and indicated

which tools or approaches

could be used to help address

any challenges.

And there are a diversity of

approaches employers can

use to accommodate a

disability such as job coaches,

specific rou nes, clear

instruc ons, visual or voice

prompts, or specific tools that

meet a person’s physical needs.

Technology has made things easier as well.

Rawlings Bird described how a new smart phone app makes it

far easier for employees with limited verbal skills to

communicate using the Picture Exchange Communica on

System.




Breen explained how one worker on a

job site outside the Yukon sends his job

coach digital photos of his completed

tasks over the day so the job coach no

longer needs to shadow the employee

at his workplace.

To further employers’ understanding of

the value of hiring people with physical

and intellectual disabili es and different

approaches to making it work, disability

advocates organized a Six Steps to

Success conference in Whitehorse in

2011. The event sparked important

conversa ons and follow‐up research

about the recruitment and reten on of

people with disabili es in the Yukon.

More recent programs, like the na onal

Ready, Willing and Able delivered in

Whitehorse by YACL, con nue to help

employers understand the value and

the methods of accessing the untapped

labour pool of people with intellectual

disabili es.

In the last three months, the program

has helped nine previously unemployed

people find work.

“Many employers find it challenging to

find enough reliable, long‐term and

mo vated employees,” said Acheson.

“People with intellectual disabili es is a

labour source that is s ll underu lized

by most industries and businesses. In

my experience, and with the growing

body of Yukon employers hiring people

like Rachel, Cole and Gaets, we see win‐

win employment that benefits both the

business and the individual equally.”


Yukon Associa on for

Community Living

867.667.4606

[email protected]

Suite 7, 4230 4th Ave. Whitehorse,

Yukon Y1A 1K1

OUR VISION:

Every person is welcomed, and can live and

par cipate in the community throughout their

life me.

WHAT WE DO:

We provide advocacy, public awareness and

educa on, and a variety of programs and services

that broadly support the inclusion of people with

disabili es.

EVERYONE HAS A RIGHT:

to be part of a family

to have a home

to community involvement

to an educa on

to employment

to friendships

to leisure

to spirituality

yukon association for community living 50 years in the making

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