May. 17, 2003. 01:00 AM

 York program to train leaders in disability issues

 HELEN HENDERSON

 When it became clear that the SARS outbreak could cost the economy billions of
dollars and tens of thousands of jobs, Canadians of every stripe rallied to the
 cause. From expatriate superstars to unsung individual heroes, we understood
what was at stake.

 Severe acute respiratory syndrome threatened the quality of our existence, not
to mention the lives of loved ones. So we focused, took stock, crunched and
 recrunched numbers, did our utmost to lay aside differences and accomplish
something constructive. What would happen if we applied a similar effort to
other
 chronic problems that cost us dearly?

 Almost 10 years ago, this country's foremost think-tank on disability issues
released a report that should have galvanized us into action. If people with
disabilities
 were participating in the work force at the same rate as those without
disabilities, the Roeher Institute estimated, half a million more Canadians
would be gainfully
 employed, saving some $4.6 billion a year through decreased social assistance
and increased tax payments.

 No one said it would be easy making up for past ignorance, dismantling physical
 and attitudinal barriers, giving 500,000 people a chance to contribute their
talents to
 society and welcoming them into their rightful place among us. But, given the
benefits outlined in the institute's 1994 report, you'd think we'd have come
farther
 forward.

 People with disabilities are still, to a large degree, shut out. In Ontario,
politicians pay no more than lip service toward inclusion and there is little
support for efforts to
 change.

 But Marcia Rioux , the former executive director of the Roeher, is not one to
give up. She has spent the last three years trying to establish a solid base for
 Canada to
 establish leadership in advancing the cause of people with disabilities. This
September, at York University, her work will begin to pay off.

 Rioux, who heads York's School of Health Policy & Management, is also director
of Canada's first post-graduate program in critical disability studies. The
one-year
 Master of Arts program will debut this fall with space for 15 full-time and 10
part-time students in a specially retrofitted building at York.

 Two years ago, Ryerson University took a significant step forward when it
established a part-time undergraduate program through its Institute for
Disability Studies
 Research and Education. York's graduate program promises to add a new dimension
 to the cause.

 "I hope this program will push the envelope," says Rioux, who has long
advocated throwing out systems that promote dependency and replacing them with a
 culture
 that respects differences and self-sufficiency.

 The York program will examine how society has constructed a system that
automatically pushes people with disabilities to the margins and holds them
there. It will
 look at ways to enable them, instead, "to live in ways that are personally
satisfying, socially useful, economically viable and which meet national and
international
 standards of social well-being, human rights and citizenship."

 Core courses include an overview of disability theories and policies,
examination of laws affecting disability rights, and approaches to research on
disability issues.
 Electives include social justice and the labour force, education and
empowerment, public policy and examinations of the culture, language, literature
 and geography of
 disability and accessibility.

 Students must also complete a major research paper.

 Rioux hopes the program will attract Canadian and international students with
experience in disability rights, government, business, community groups and
 non-governmental organizations.

 "Our students will probably not be typical of those in other campus courses,"
Rioux says.

 One applicant keen to participate is Loree Erickson, a dynamic veteran of
disability and gay-rights advocacy from Richmond, Va.

 Erickson, who is visiting Toronto this weekend and will celebrate her 27th
birthday here tomorrow, has a degree in politics and women's studies from
Virginia
 Commonwealth University. She says she knew she had found the perfect graduate
school when she discovered details of the York program on the Internet.

 "Most graduate disability programs focus on things like rehabilitation or
teaching special ed," she says. "That's not what I wanted."

 In fact, she is so keen about York that she would brave winter in Toronto and
has gritted her teeth to finance the move she hopes to make by working as a
 tele-fundraiser in Richmond. ("It reinforces the `charity model' approach to
disability, everything that I'm against.")

 Applicants for York's Master of Arts in critical disability studies should have
 an honours degree with a minimum B average or the equivalent in a humanities or
 social
 science or a related applied program, such as nursing.

 They also must provide a recent research paper, to demonstrate their ability in
 writing and research, and a statement showing their commitment to advanced
studies
 in disability.

 The deadline for applications is May 26.

 Rioux, , who hopes eventually to have the program available on line, says she
doesn't expect to have full enrolment for the first year. But she hopes interest
 will grow
 as word spreads.

 Me, too. Taking a new approach to disabilities could give Canada the tools to
make a significant difference in millions of lives while giving the country an
economic
 boost.

 For more information, check http://www.yorku.ca/grads/cal/disa.htm, call
416-736-2100, extension 22112, or e-mail mrioux@ yorku.ca.


 Write: Helen Henderson, Life Section, Toronto Star, One Yonge St., Toronto,
Ont. M5E 1E6. E-mail: [log in to unmask]

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