In this episode, you'll hear from Bruce McIntosh about a remarkable disability advocacy campaign he helped organize in the 2000s. It centred around hugely problematic, arguably unconstitutional, age cutoffs for crucial government-funded therapies for Ontario children with autism. The 26 events they put on directly led to the government backing down. While this was only one small chapter in a much larger advocacy battle, this moment showed that successes can be had when a motivated group of advocates utilizes smart strategies and clever messaging. It's great to hear disability advocacy stories that lead to real progress, but this episode is about extracting the specific elements that made the campaign successful — like creativity, a practical organizational structure, and precise messaging, among many others.
In this episode, you'll hear from Bruce McIntosh about a remarkable disability advocacy campaign he helped organize in the 2000s. It centred around hugely problematic, arguably unconstitutional, age cutoffs for crucial government-funded therapies for Ontario children with autism. The 26 events they put on directly led to the government backing down. While this was only one small chapter in a much larger advocacy battle, this moment showed that successes can be had when a motivated group of advocates utilizes smart strategies and clever messaging. It's great to hear disability advocacy stories that lead to real progress, but this episode is about extracting the specific elements that made the campaign successful — like creativity, a practical organizational structure, and precise messaging, among many others.