Carousel Evening inspires while absence of services for exceptional children in the north in spotlight
By Kelly Anne Smith
NORTH BAY— Storyteller Isaac Murdoch shared his struggle with reading as a Northern Ontarian child in his keynote talk at the “Uniting Our Possibilities” Carousel Evening at St. Joseph-Scollard Hall Catholic Secondary School.
“He is First Nation and he has an exceptionality of a learning disability and he also represents a community in the north,” says Marie Derosier of the Learning Disability Association (LDA) of Ontario and the Chair of the Special Education Advisory Committee (SEAC) of the Nipissing-Parry Sound School Board.
Derosier wants people to be aware of the lack of services for northern children with learning disability, autism, and other exceptionalities.
“Northern people do not have access like they do in southern Ontario to services. LDA in North Bay is closed; the one in Timmins is closed; the one in Sudbury just closed a month ago. So, there’s nothing. You’d have to go Toronto. If you look at communities up in Northern Ontario, the isolated ones, they have no services, like nothing. How does a parent understand? How does a parent help their child when there is nobody to help them?”
Despite the hard news that learning disability services in the region have been cut, the speakers inspired the human spirit. Stories of triumph were shared by Special Olympians Carly Tucker and Alisha Windsor. Tucker is a power lifter excelling in winter and summer sports. She says Special Olympics has given her the opportunity to play the sports she loves.
“Being involved in Special Olympics is like a second family. When we practice for our sports, we always have the best times with our friends and teammates. We always like to make our coaches laugh as well.”
Alisha Windsor is a strong competitor in multiple sports focusing on soccer in the summer and alpine skiing in the winter.
“Living with special needs is quite a challenge at times. Before I joined Special Olympics in 2015, I was never accepted for the athlete that I am… All that changed in 2009 when I joined the highschool soccer team. Once all the girls saw how good of player I was, they stepped back and their jaws were dropping and they were in shock with how good of an athlete I was.”
Then, Isaac Murdoch, of the Pike Fish Clan of Serpent River First Nation, storyteller, artist, musician, love advocate, and Nimkii Aazhibikong cultural communtity developer, walked on stage with deer hide warming his feet.
Murdoch spoke of his loving parents and of not being able to hear well as a child with ear infections. That was one of many challenges for Isaac. His is a story of triumph, too. Being on the land, sharing stories and his art has made the world a better place. In conversation earlier in the evening, Isaac talked of love is everything, seen in his own artwork on stage.
“This here is about uniting our spirits and our people. It’s about uniting humanity. And it’s having a focus on special needs. And so, when I was younger, I had special needs,” he shared. “I was in what was called the special class. I had severe learning disabilities, a hearing disability, and reading disabilities. And emotional disabilities as well that brought me to the hospital. I’m here to talk about the trials and tribulations of all of them.”
Murdoch is inspirational as he seeks out life’s positive options.
“I think young people generally; all they’re hearing is just bad news all the time. I always see something as, ok, how can we turn something into an opportunity? Because sometimes, bad situations have a tendency to unite people, which can bring out really amazing outcomes. So, those bad things need to happen. Those unfortunate things need to happen in order to build something really beautiful. And there’s always a sacrifice. But right now, I think that as Indigenous people, we’ve made the sacrifice. But we also have something very beautiful to offer – the Canadian social conscience.”
Indigenous people have something beautiful to offer the world, informs Murdoch.
“I think that through our intergenerational trauma, and all of things with Residential School and all of the stuff that we went through, we’re seeing a beautiful gift cast upon the earth right now. We see so many Indigenous people making beautiful and turning this horrible catastrophic event called genocide into something very beautiful and they’re sharing it with the world.”
Murdoch insists we must build a better future for the youth.
“If the young people are saying, ‘We want a better world’, then as parents, grandpa,s and as educators and leaders, we have a responsibility to make it better for them. For me, the arts are something that I can contribute to that. So, I provide my art often times free to people. Use my images for free. Use my art for free. I’ve catalogued thousands of stories. Go check them out and listen to them. Simply because I want people to know that there’s hope. And that when people join together, it becomes a force of nature. Not everyone has to think the same or be the same. The strength is in our diversity. So, when you have a whole bunch of ideas and thoughts that are diverse, as long as we are moving in the same direction, then that becomes unstoppable. And that includes art, theatre, music, writing, people articulating poetry.”
The Carousel Evening included an information booth with Sandra Drury offering a free cookbook dedicated to Candice Boissonnealt. Drury has been involved in the Down Syndrome Society for 25 years. She volunteers smiles and information at the Carousel Evening. Drury says her techy 26-year-old grandson’s needs are not great.
“He does go to PADDLE, a daily program for the developmentally challenged. He goes there every day. It’s a full day program we pay for.”
Other information booths at the Carousel Evening included OUTLoud North Bay, the North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit, and LD Toronto.