Disability Positivity

Everyone should try to get some sort of physical activity in their routine every day, as it helps not just a person’s physical health but their mental state as well. If you’re someone who is part of the disabled community like me, it can sometimes be hard to get our daily exercise because of the types of disabilities we have. 

Personally, my disability impacts my ability to do most physical activity on my own. So, I mostly have to rely on personal support workers to help. My parents used to help, but as I’ve gotten bigger and heavier, they couldn’t do it themselves anymore.

The main way I choose to be physically active is by going swimming. This is one of my best ways to be physically active because it gets my whole body moving while at the same time, relaxing my tight muscles because of my Cerebral Palsy. I can’t just use any pool when I swim. The most important thing to keep in mind when choosing a pool, in my opinion, is my physical needs, along with a lot of other things. 

 Over a significant period of time, my Mom, a support worker and I have tried and tested many swimming pools across the city to see if any pool is comparable to Holland Bloorview. I was going to Holland Bloorview’s therapeutic swim. The main reason I went there was because it had an adult change table with a lift and ramp into the pool, which is exactly what we were looking for. The pool is also 92 degrees every time I swim, which is the perfect temperature to help my muscles relax. During this process, the 3 of us visited many pools in our area, including York Recreation Centre, Mary McCormick, Variety Village, Memorial Swimming Pool, Wallace Emerson, and many more. But if one pool has one piece of equipment I need and can use, they don’t have another, which is really frustrating and inconvenient.

Another big reason we wanted to go through this process was because my support worker has limited time slots where she can support me with swimming. So we were trying to find a swim time that would work with her schedule, while at the same time searching for a pool that had all the amenities that I required to be able to enjoy going swimming and being in the pool as much as possible.

Overall, this process was tough, eye-opening, and a good learning experience for all involved. After this process was over, my Mom, my support worker and I all came to the conclusion that Holland Bloorview is the best place for me to go swimming, and that my support worker will just have to make the swim time work with her schedule. 

On top of that, we were all joking that my support worker or someone else needs to build another facility just like Holland Bloorview for older disabled adults who are past the age of 18. But that may be wishful thinking however, you never know!  

There is some good news coming out of all this, though. Recently, my Mom went to  Wallace Emerson and talked to someone who is involved with the redevelopment of the Wallace Emerson Community Centre, and it was communicated that there will be a new swimming pool built there. With this good news, my Mom made the decision to share the experience of trying to find a pool that would work for me.  The person she was talking to was interested in this information and said they would pass it along to whoever they need to in order to make the changes happen! So, long story short, there is some hope that things will improve for the better in the near future.