Brock University has representation on two provincial committees created to improve accessibility standards throughout Ontario.

Rick Welland, Associate Professor in the Department of Applied Linguistics, was chosen to serve on the Health Care Standard Development Committee, while Christopher Lytle, Brock’s AODA Co-ordinator, was selected for the Employment Standard Review Committee.

The pair began attending meetings at the end of March, with Welland on an 18-month appointment and Lytle a six-month appointment.

The health-care committee was established to develop new accessibility standards, while the employment committee is conducting a review of existing legislation.

“This particular standard for health care has been a long time coming,” said Welland, who is pleased to be a part of the development process.

People with disabilities can encounter a variety of barriers — attitudinal, educational, physical and systemic — when trying to access health-care services.

“Accessibility barriers to health care involve much more than providing ramps for wheelchairs and accessible elevators and washrooms,” said Welland, who before joining Brock’s faculty worked for many years as a speech-language pathologist in a variety of Ontario health-care settings.

“There are some significant attitudinal and systemic (largely policy-based) barriers that need to be removed before Ontario can claim to have an accessible health-care system.”

Some of those barriers include:

• health-care providers learning how to approach and communicate with people who are totally blind
• how to communicate respectfully with people in wheelchairs and with people who have severe communications disabilities
• making sure to use preferred methods of communication, such as sign language or an electronic communication device
• eliminating health-care policies that offer services of differing quality to groups of people with disabilities.

Accessibility standards for health care are needed to “protect the rights of all Ontarians with disabilities by removing as many accessibility barriers as possible, by ensuring that new barriers are not created, by giving patients a more effective mechanism for reporting rights violations and by establishing an effective means of enforcement,” Welland said.

Lytle joined the provincial review committee to have a say in the critical legislation, and to highlight steps Brock is taking to ensure its accessibility.

“We’re viewing accessibility as a culture of diversity instead of a reaction to requests for accommodation,” he said of the University, adding it’s a cultural shift organizations across the province should be adopting.

“My intent in applying for the committee was to try and hit home the idea that there can be a culture achieved through the development of provincial law.”

Lytle said Brock, as well as the Niagara Region, should take pride in the fact that they have voices at the table during such substantial provincial discussions.

“We want to ensure we’re able to put our hands up. This applies to us. To have our input within the creation of this law is huge.”

The review committee’s members will have an opportunity to consult with their constituents, going back to their respective municipalities and organizations to collect feedback.

“While doing AODA implementation here at Brock, I’ll be able to bring people in from different aspects of the University to ask their opinion on things,” Lytle said.

“That level of connectivity with government I think is unprecedented. It’s very inspiring to see.”