Grant monumental

By Dan Hilborn
Published July 17, 2004


A new provincial government program launched in Burnaby this week will make it easier for people with physical disabilities to either go back to work or school.

The Disability Supports Centre was opened at the Neil Squire Foundation offices on Boundary Road on Wednesday, thanks to a $50,000 grant from the B.C. Ministry of Human Resources.

"This is a monumental amount of money given what we've been provided with in the past," said Greg Pyc, national operations manager for the foundation. "This is a significant step. Organizations have not had the ability before to provide this kind of funding to clients."

The funding, announced by B.C. Human Resources Minister Stan Hagen, comes out of a $20 million endowment fund known as the Disability Supports for Employment Fund that was established by the province last year and is administered by the Vancouver Foundation.

The money will be used to develop and purchase specialized equipment for people with disabilities. The target audience is those people who do not receive funding from other government sources, such as the Workers' Compensation Board or ICBC.

Despite the relatively small size of the first year's grant, Pyc believes the program will bring major improvements to many people's lives, simply because of the fact that many new high tech assistance devices cost are relatively inexpensive.

"The equipment does not cost a lot of money," Pyc said. "For instance, a unique keyboard may only cost $150, and we could easily help 20, 30 or 40 people for very little cost."

"It's designed to match the technical requirements of people with disabilities to their needs on the job or for schooling, he said. "It's an assessment process that leads to a purchase for the client."

For example, Pyc said there are many varieties of keyboards and mice that can make it easier for a person with a disability to use a computer. "We have keyboards for people who type with one hand, and other jigsaw configurations that can accommodate disabilities."

Other more expensive devices might include sit-stand stations, designed for people who cannot either sit or stand for any extended period of time. Other more common adaptable devices include ergonomic chairs, which can cost up to $1,000 apiece, or a work station designed to accommodate a person in a wheelchair.

The Neil Squire Foundation was chosen to initiate this program because of its long history of helping match disabled people with modern technology.

The nonprofit society was created in 1984 by Bill Cameron, an engineer who designed and built the world's first 'sip-and-puff' computer tool for his nephew, Neil Squire, a 21-year-old Victoria resident who became a 'high lesion quadriplegic' as the result of a car accident.

'Sip-and-puff' technology allows the user to operate a computer simply by using their mouth, and not their hands. It is the same technology used by quadriplegic actor Christopher Reeve to operate his automated wheelchair and other devices.

According to the government press release announcing the funding, there are an estimated 350,000 British Columbians of working age who have disabilities, of whom only 128,000 are employed.