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By Victoria Sorge, Windsor Law J.D. Candidate 2019  

Introduction

Robyn Coates, mother to 22-year-old Joshua Coates, has helped spearhead a long overdue amendment to Ontario’s Family Law Act. This amendment allows all adult children with disabilities to be eligible for child support, regardless of their parents’ marital status.
Joshua Coates was born with a genetic abnormality known as Di George Syndrome. This serious condition causes various medical and psychiatric challenges, which have debilitating implications for Joshua’s day-to-day life and social interaction. Ms. Coates has worked tirelessly to provide her son with resources and access to community programs for adults with disabilities in order to help maintain his quality of life. These programs are fundamental for adult children with disabilities who are no longer eligible for school. They help to keep these adults healthy, happy, and active members of the community; However, they are also extremely costly. Although Ms. Coates was never married to Joshua’s father, Wayne Watson, his contribution of child support payments has enabled Joshua’s involvement in community programs such as yoga, pottery classes, and volunteer opportunities.

Continue reading “One Mother’s Impact on the Ontario Family Law Act and the Enduring Challenges of Access to Disability Services”

By Ilija Dimeski, Windsor Law J.D. Candidate 2019     

What are Multiple Chemical Sensitivities?

Individuals who have Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (MCS) are harmed when exposed to common environmental chemicals at levels generally tolerated by the majority. MCS syndrome is also known as “environmental sensitivities”, “cerebral allergies”, “chemical-induced immune dysfunction”, “sick building syndrome”, “Gulf War syndrome”, and “20th century disease”. When no longer exposed to these chemicals, individuals with MCS generally see their conditions improve. There is a debate in the medical community as to whether or not MCS should be considered a disability, and this has translated to uncertainty as to whether MCS should attract protection under the human rights system in Ontario. If not, are these individuals to be left to endure the pain and suffering, without recourse against their employers, landlords, and/or service providers?

Continue reading “Accommodating Multiple Chemical Sensitivities In and Outside of the Workplace”

As Director of the Law, Disability & Social Change Project, I am delighted to introduce BLAST, our new blog series. Via BLAST, Windsor Law students, and the occasional guest bloggers, will provide informative and thoughtful pieces that reveal how people with disabilities are interacting with the law. Some of these pieces will illustrate the limits of the law in providing equality for people with disabilities. Other legal cases and stories discussed on BLAST will show how individuals with disabilities are disrupting legal norms in order to realize equality rights, with far-reaching precedents.

Our first blog post is on the difficulties faced by people who experience Multiple Chemical Sensitivities(MCS), a syndrome that is currently contested within the medical community. In his blog, “Accommodating Multiple Chemical Sensitivities in and outside of the Workplace”, JD student Ilija Dimeski discusses some of the possibilities and challenges of obtaining human rights law protection for MCS in Ontario.

– Laverne Jacobs, Director, Law, Disability & Social Change Project and Associate Professor, Windsor Law.