With an Ontario election scheduled to take place on June 09 and who knows; by the time that this editorial gets posted we may have had our illustrious Party leaders promising to make things better for Ontarians with disabilities.
To date, it has been deafeningly silent on this scene but one never knows when one of these fine folks could break the silence bubble. In the meantime though, we could only wish and hope but more than this that whatever is promised is made with the sincerest commitment and that this commitment will be realized.
After thinking about this for some time now and chatting with others, I think that one of the most important issues for our community would be for Party leaders to recognize that the ADP program which has been in existence for many years now no longer serves our needs in any sort of meaningful way. True it is that when it was set up so long ago it was meant to assist persons with disabilities to be able to afford technology.
For whereas the intention was a great one at the time; I am afraid that within recent years this program has really sunk to its lowest objectives. As we stand today, several categories have either been scrapped or changed to such an extent that it is no longer possible to obtain any sort of technology of the day.
In addition, the wait for persons to receive their technology has increased several fold. ADP vendors have to wait extra long to receive compensation. By the time that recipients do receive their technology it is already outdated.
We are told that we can only apply every five years and this alone is a severe restriction on us because it is always going to put us behind.
ADP vendors continue to struggle to support us and nine out of 10 times their technical support and training are practically non existent.
I can only hope that Party leaders, if they decide to pay attention to the needs of Ontarians with disabilities, will take the time to address this problem. For after all, we pay our taxes like everyone else. Don’t we?
Just my two cents for today.