This article was created for Victoria Foundation, and produced independently by Capital Daily. It was approved by Victoria Foundation before it was published.

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A young boy who is blind in his left eye struggles to sit  in his Victoria elementary school classroom.

Shuffling to a different seat every day—a well-meaning exercise by his teacher—poses a unique challenge for this student. When asked to sit on the far right end of the room, he tilts his head all the way to the left to speak to his deskmate. He also holds his head  at an angle all day to see the whiteboard. 

To an able-bodied person, this might seem like a minor inconvenience, if any at all. To the boy, sitting in his own classroom becomes frustrating and tiresome day after day.

But thanks to the Lived Experiences Around Disabilities (LEAD) program, school has become a lot more accommodating. The workshop, offered by the Victoria Disability Resource Centre, boosted the boy’s courage to speak up to his teacher and classmates about his struggles, who in turn were quick to create a proper learning environment for him.

The Victoria Disability Resource Centre is a local non-profit that aims to instill confidence in people with disabilities in Victoria, and raise awareness among their peers. It is an invaluable resource that works with people with disabilities and community organizations to find and remove barriers that prevent their full participation in life. 

Serving as a liaison for non-profit organizations, businesses, and government agencies that provide and promote accessibility, the centre offers a variety of important services such as parking permits and referrals to disability-related supports and programs, and educational workshops that aim to promote inclusivity and empower people with disabilities to live independently in their community. 

“We work with people with disabilities, not for people with disabilities,” said executive director Wendy Cox. 

“People will often come in frustrated or angry because they’ve been to three or four different places and they’re not getting the answers they need. So when they come to us, we take the time to listen to them, validate their feelings and help them out,” Cox said, adding that everyone who works at the centre has a disability and is passionate about helping others in need through meaningful, one-on-one interactions. 

The centre strongly believes that people with disabilities have the right to live with dignity, to live independently, and to have the power to make decisions about their own lives. The centre offers them the resources they need to advocate for themselves and to participate as equal citizens in a society full of barriers—many of which are invisible.

LEAD is a core program, delivering innovative presentations in Victoria elementary schools . Presented by people with disabilities, speakers work with students to empower them to anonymously or personally share the social and environmental barriers they have experienced at their school. 

“We're not trying to show the kids how difficult it is and what you can't do with a disability. [Rather], we're trying to show them how to be successful doing things a little bit differently,” said Cox. She referred to a fun activity in which students are instructed to put a key in a lock through a pillowcase to demonstrate what it might be like being blind. 

“We try to keep it fun and light, and of course that changes depending on the age or the grade level of students that we're working with,” she said.

Cox says another program called Disability, Inclusion and Awareness Training (DIAT) is also working to change people’s mindsets on those with disabilities.

DIAT is a customized training program for people in the customer service industry. It educates, trains and provides resources to develop and maintain a fully inclusive organization. 

“We talk about unconscious biases, microaggression, disability, intersectionality, and how people can recognize it in themselves and work on changing it. We teach people how to not  be afraid to say, ‘Did you see that movie?’ to somebody who's blind,” said Cox.

She says asking questions and remaining curious is the best thing everyone can do to be mindful and respectful of those around them.

“If somebody with a disability has done something different or odd or frustrating, remain curious and don't make assumptions. I mean, we should live our life that way,” she said.

The Victoria Disability Resource Centre and programs like LEAD are made possible thanks to financial support of the Victoria Foundation’s Community Grants program, with funding from the Government of British Columbia through the Community Prosperity Fund. 

Visit the Resource Centre’s website to donate or to learn more about the centre’s programs.