DSAO is proud to partner with Empowering Ability. This Ontario-based organization helps families support their loved ones with a developmental disability to create their own Awesome ‘Ordinary’ Life.

Empowering Ability is led by Eric Goll, a family member and family coach who has now coached over 150 families. Empowering Ability creates free resources (guides, videos, podcasts & webinars) to pass on learned knowledge and wisdom from other families that have been there before. For families that want additional support, Empowering Ability offers the Plan My Future Coaching Program Course and the Empowering Ability (EA) Club Membership.

Note: Empowering Ability will send your guide to your email provided, and DSAO will have your email to provide further helpful resources.

You’ve likely heard the saying, “If you don’t plan, you’re planning to fail.” My family didn’t plan, and we failed. We fell into a crisis. A crisis was a difficult place to start learning and planning.

My family would have been much better off if we had a “map” in our hands that showed us where to go before we fell into a crisis. Having this “map” likely would have prevented the crisis we experienced in the first place.

I want you to learn from my family’s mistakes!

In this short video, I share more on why you need a “map” for your family and a few steps to get you started.

Podcast Episode #35: Thinking Differently About Disability, with David Hasbury

Description: This episode features expert guest, David Hasbury. David shares the history of disability, and disability services to help us understand how we got to where were are today. David also shares how we can think differently about disability to create a world where people with disabilities are included as citizens.

Podcast Episode #52: Creating a Pathway to Employment, with Joe Dale

This podcast/ blog with Joe Dale, Executive Director of the Ontario Disability Employment Network (ODEN), explores the untapped labour pool of people with disabilities, uncovers the benefits of employing people with disabilities, and discusses approaches people with disabilities can take to gain employment.

Podcast Episode #61: The Power Of Positive Vision, with Lorna Sullivan

In this episode of the Empowering Ability Podcast, I had the pleasure of connecting with Lorna Sullivan, a global disability leader who is making significant positive changes inside the New Zealand social system. Lorna is the founder of the International Initiative for Disability Leadership (IIDL) and Director of Mana Whaikaha. In this podcast, we cover a wide range of topics, including; doing away with deficit-based assessments, enhancing a person’s mana (explanation inside the podcast), the power of holding a positive vision, the rights of people with disabilities, tools for social inclusion, and much more!

“Never resort to the special, unless you have exhausted the ordinary. If we start in the special, we will always end in the special.” – Lorna Sullivan