Public offers ideas to improve disability services
REGINA — Jacqueline Rennebohm loved her German shepherd, Dexter.
But after only two years together, she had to give him up last year.
For Rennebohm, it was not only sad, but life-changing.
The 24-year-old has cone rod dystrophy, a type of macular degeneration. She has five per cent vision — she can peripherally see colour and movement.
Dexter was her first service dog and he was forced to retire six years early. Despite the harness and sign he wore that announced him as a guide dog, too-friendly people and off-leash pets would interact with him, distracting him and ultimately ruining him for work.
“You don’t need to draw blood in order to damage a service dog,” Rennebohm said.
Rennebohm joined hundreds of others in expressing her ideas and concerns during a public forum in Regina on May 15.
Their ideas will serve as the framework for a provincial disability strategy, to improve the lives of more than 123,000 disabled people in Saskatchewan.
The public discussions are led by a committee of 15 citizens appointed by the Ministry of Social Services, and focus on seven different areas: transportation, community inclusion, supported accommodation, accessible housing, support for caregivers, employment, and education.
Communication is the key here: “Being able to communicate is a pretty fundamental aspect of being a citizen,” said Daryl Stubel, who works as executive director of the Office of Disability Issues in the provincial Ministry of Social Services.
He and Amy Alsop are co-chairs of the consultation committee.
There’s a lot to consider in improving the lives of disabled people, added Stubel, who has used a wheelchair since breaking his neck 32 years ago.
“My world is very different from Amy’s world because she can jump on a bus anytime she wants and she can reach things on the top shelf,” Stubel said.
“Daryl can drive to a place and find an address,” countered Alsop, who is legally blind.