Volunteers discuss access and inclusion at third annual Capable Con event

Peterborough’s Council for Persons with Disabilities (CPD) held their third annual Capable Con event on Saturday, June 1 in the Venture North parking lot. 

Bringing together 28 accessibility-focused service providers from all over the region, Capable Con also offered an opportunity for locals to raise awareness and talk about their own experiences of access and inclusion in Peterborough.

“Our entire roster of volunteers have lived experience with disability,” said Jason King from the CPD. “When we first conceived of Capable Con, we had them and other disabled community members form focus groups to help us develop the Capable Crew.”

A team of superhero characters based on the experiences of CPD volunteers, the Capable Crew is made up of larger-than-life versions of people with real disabilities in our community.  On June 1, volunteers stepped into the roles of the comic book-inspired characters, donning costumes and milling around the event to talk with guests, pose for pictures, and raise awareness.

Currents spoke with members of the Capable Crew and other volunteers to learn more about their experiences navigating life in Peterborough.

Leslie Yee has served on CPD’s board of directors, and is currently Chair of Peterborough’s chapter of the Canadian Council of the Blind. She was born with optic nerve damage in her left eye, and became legally blind 14 years ago at age 48. She was invited to perform master of ceremonies duties for this year’s Capable Con.

“The biggest barrier that I find with disabilities are people’s mindsets,” she said. “So I think what we need to do is release the stigma around having a disability or the stigma around what a person with a disability is like or who they should be.”

“I’m not any different than I was 14 years ago,” she added. “The only difference is that I use adaptive devices to help me see and read things, and I use mobility canes and have a guide dog to help me get around. But as a human being, I haven’t changed.”

Participants might have donned superhero capes for the event, but they emphasized it shouldn’t be up to people with disabilities to go above and beyond to find inclusion; it’s also up to the broader community to be accessible and accommodating.

“We aren’t superheroes because of our disabilities,” Yee said. “We’re superheroes because we are learning and teaching those around us how to adapt to accommodate disability.”

“We really do need the support of able bodied individuals and the rest of the community to help break down some of the barriers that we can’t navigate on our own,” said Capable Con facilitator Rachel Quilty. “They say it takes a village, and in this case it takes a community.”

Quilty first got involved with Capable Con as a volunteer advisor but now works as a paid staff for CPD. She represented Capable Crew member Bionica Bot on June 1, donning a yellow cape to step into the shoes of the amputee gymnast superhero.

“Living with a physical disability makes you really amp up your problem solving abilities every day,” she said. “Even simple things that people don’t think of can be a big challenge. Say you’re going to a public washroom for example. The paper towel dispensers literally say please use two hands to pull down. Well I only have one hand, so you know I just kind of laugh.”

Quilty described another barrier that people don’t often think about for people with limb differences — door handles. “If I’m carrying items, I’m just not able to open a door. So making changes like an automatic door or a paper towel dispenser that has a sensor to activate it are things that can make a big difference for me navigating Peterborough.”

Her message to local businesses and organizations interested in becoming more accessible is to talk to people with disabilities about their needs. “There’s always room for improvement,” she said. “We want to take away the shame factor of not being as learned about accessibility, and instead focus on the idea that people can learn and change and help us create a world where there are no barriers.” 

Alexandra Clay was another volunteer for Capable Con. She was responsible for taking promotional photos of the event, and in a quiet moment discussed her own experiences living in Peterborough as an ambulatory wheelchair user. (Ambulatory wheelchair users are people who can walk, but not for long distances or without pain and fatigue. Often their disability is dynamic, meaning its impact on mobility may change from day to day.)

“I don’t come downtown too much because I find it isn’t necessarily accessible,” Clay said. “The construction and the sidewalks are often barriers. Sure, the sidewalks are flat but they’re slanted, or I have to go over potholes. There’s lots to be done in the city.”

Clay’s biggest challenge at the moment is finding employment. She has two diplomas but struggles to get past the in-person interview stage in the job seeking process. “I’ve had a bunch of interviews online and they’ve gone fine,” she said. “Until I go into the building, and that’s where I get shut down, with no reason or explanation. Maybe it’s not because of my disability, but without the explanation how am I supposed to know? It’s incredibly frustrating.”

For Daniel Lombardi, a longtime CPD volunteer involved in community evaluation consultation, the Heads Up for Inclusion Network, and CPD’s Time in My Shoes programs, the impact of awareness building campaigns and events like Capable Con is palpable.

“I see the difference we make in the community and that’s what keeps me coming back to volunteer day after day, year after year,” he said. 

He added that one of the recent initiatives that made him feel most hopeful about accessibility in Peterborough was the addition of StopGap Foundation ramps at many of the downtown businesses. As a person with hearing, vision, and mobility challenges who uses a motorized wheelchair, the installation of these temporary ramps made getting into local buildings possible when that wasn’t the case before.

“It was a really big deal for me,” he said. “But because we live in an older community a lot of the buildings are still not accessible. If I can get in the front door that’s great, but can I use your bathroom? Can I reach your counters? So I do a lot of calling around and research before I visit a place I’ve never been before. Ultimately, after all that it might still happen that I get to a business and it is not accessible. That’s just the reality of it, but I do appreciate that businesses are really trying.”

To learn more about the Peterborough Council for Persons with Disabilities, visit www.pcpd.ca.