The Ontario Federation for Cerebral Palsy (OFCP) provides support and assistance to individuals living with cerebral palsy. Through comprehensive programs and initiatives, they strive to enhance the lives of those affected by CP. They are committed to advocacy, education, and community engagement that empowers individuals with cerebral palsy to reach their full potential.
Mission
OFCP strives to address the needs of people with cerebral palsy in the province of Ontario.
Values
OFCP is committed to supporting independence, inclusion, choice and full integration of all persons with cerebral palsy. It does this by:
- providing and initiating a wide range of services, resources and programs for people with CP and their families as well as professional organizations.
- supporting the most advanced and highest quality of CP research, including the cure, cause, prevention, improved treatment and/or understanding of cerebral palsy.
What is Cerebral Palsy?
Cerebral palsy is an umbrella term for a number of disorders that impair the brain’s control of muscles related to movement and posture. CP can affect a person’s balance, posture, ability to move, and speech. Most cases of CP are related to brain injuries that occur either before, during, or within a few weeks of birth. As a result, children with cerebral palsy may also experience other challenges, such as seizures or problems with sensation, perception, communication, learning, and behaviour.
Each case of cerebral palsy is different and each person’s life with cerebral palsy is unique. Some people with cerebral palsy experience very mild symptoms, such as a slight weakness on one side of the body, while others experience more serious limitations and require assistance with daily living. CP is the most common physical disability diagnosed in children in Canada, and about 34,000 people are living with it in Canada today.
Adam’s Story
Project Relate is a project by Google to help people with disability-related speech impairments or speech differences use Android phones and tablets by letting them dictate to the device using a particular voice profile that takes the unique speech patterns of your disability into account and allows you to dictate a lot smoother and quicker with fewer mistakes. It has enriched my life.
To use tools like Project Relate though, you have to have the appropriate devices, and they have to be of good enough quality for the tools to work effectively. OFCP provided me with a leaf grant to ensure I had the devices I needed and purchase my new Samsung tablet. It let’s me communicate quicker and easier because it runs my voice to text system much faster than my previous tablet.
This is so important to me because it allows me to communicate freely and engage more in my community and with friends, family, and colleagues.
It also helps me with my work as both a professional artist and technology tester. Because I’m freelance, I’m not eligible for workplace equipment, so this support was tremendously important, so I was able to work. Assistance to allow me to have the best technology available impacts so many areas of my life.
