Resources

General Sources

Community Navigation of Eastern Ontario publishes lists of community services and special events, one called 211Ottawa (see main page), and another called 211easternontario.ca The information is updated regularly and is available is available in both English and French.

Service Coordination Support is a key resource in the Ottawa area for services/supports for children, youth and adults with an intellectual disability. https://scsonline.ca/resources/

SCS’s “My Search tool” is a good source for topics such as housing, health care, respite, transportation, etc. https://search.scsonline.ca/

There are many other resources that provide information on family experiences and successes in advocacy. Some are listed below.

Children/Youth

The Ontario government has a website outlining resources for children with special needs.

CanChild is a research centre at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, focused on children and youth with developmental conditions. Their website also provides a list of support programs in Ontario.

Special Needs and Moving On – Projects of Canadian Union of Postal Workers and Union of Postal Communications Employees.
https://specialneedsproject.ca/

Although created and managed by national postal unions, the above is a bilingual website, featuring resources and peer support for families, focusing on children/school age needs. Interesting project.

Education / Learning Disabilities

Ontario Human Rights Commission. Policy on Accessible Education for Students with Disabilities.
https://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/policy-accessible-education-students-disabilities

Inclusion Action in Ontario
https://inclusionactionontario.ca/

Special Needs Roadmaps.
This website is the product of two Ottawa parents of school-aged children with autism. The road maps and the website reference the stages/concerns at various ages.
http://www.specialneedsroadmaps.ca/

Health and Dental Care

The Ottawa Dental Society has a website with a search tool for finding dentists who take patients on Ontario Disability Support Program. https://ottawadentalsociety.org/find-a-dentist/

The Ottawa Hospital Accessibility Office provides information related to hospital services for individuals with disabilities.

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto runs a special research program devoted to mental health issues of individuals with a developmental disability, called: Health Care Access Research and Developmental Disability (H-CARDD). This program runs many programs virtually, many of which engage individuals and families from across the country.

Respite & Worker Support
respiteservices.com is a provincial resource with information about agencies and individuals offering respite and other support services. Each community in Ontario inputs their own content. In Ottawa, and parts of the eastern region, individuals can create a profile of their respite needs, which is then matched with the profile of an individual service provider. The original Worker Bank was set up in Ottawa the 1980s by a mom to help other families find support workers.

Independent Living

The Ottawa Independent Living Resource Centre (OILRC) is part of a Canada wide network of independent living centres. Located on Montreal Road in Ottawa, the OILRC offers social activities and training programs for persons with a disability. They also co-ordinate applications for a program of the Ministry of Health, for individuals who are able to employ personal attendants, under the MoH Direct Funding – Self Managed Attendant Services program