Campaign aims to reduce stigma, discrimination of kids, youth with disabilities
TORONTO — Like any typical teen, Jadine Baldwin loves spending time on her cellphone and laptop, the latter the vehicle for honing her skills as a wordsmith to fulfil her dream of some day becoming a novelist.
But what sets the 17-year-old apart from most of her adolescent peers is her physical disability, the result of being born with cerebral palsy.
And while she has no intention of letting that stop her from reaching her goal, she continually bumps up against the barrier of discrimination — the stares, the whispers and the social exclusion by those seemingly unable to see past her inability to walk or her somewhat laboured speech.
“I think people discriminate against me in the way that they see my wheelchair and not who I am as a person,” said Jadine.