Disability and Community Support

Connecting to Communities explores how people who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) communicate in their communities. AAC refers to communication methods used by people who have communication disabilities. AAC includes letter, picture, or symbol displays and electronic devices.

Before his son Samuel was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, photojournalist Dan Habib rarely thought about the inclusion of people with disabilities. Now he thinks about inclusion every day. Shot and produced over four years, Habib’s award-winning documentary film, Including Samuel, chronicles the Habib family’s efforts to include Samuel in every facet of their lives. The film honestly portrays his family’s hopes and struggles, as well as the experiences of four other individuals with disabilities and their families. Including Samuel is a highly personal, passionately photographed film that captures the cultural and systemic barriers to inclusion.

Alice Howland, happily married with three grown children, is a renowned linguistics professor who starts to forget words. When she receives a diagnosis of Early-Onset Alzheimer's Disease, Alice and her family find their bonds thoroughly tested. Her struggle to stay connected to who she once was is frightening, heartbreaking, and inspiring.

This feature documentary follows a number of women with disabilities as they affirm their right to seek, develop and sustain intimate relationships with the partners of their choice. In this moving one-hour film, four disabled women from across Canada share their personal experiences, with particular emphasis on sexuality, self-esteem, stereotyping, and parenting.

The Freedom Tour documents the efforts and the journey of several people with intellectual disabilities who traveled the Canadian Prairie provinces in August 2007 to raise awareness about people living in deplorable conditions in institutions in this country. The reason for their incarceration is simple – they have been labelled with an intellectual disability. The goal of the journey was also simple – to free our people from institutions and support them in community living.