Canadian Parents with Disabilities Had to Fight to Keep Child

Child Protective Services attempted a preemptive strike on a couple that has cerebral palsy. The father is an adoptee. They  won a fight for the right to parent their child and they had to prove that they had support from family and 24-hour on-call care.

“A Mississauga couple who suffer from cerebral palsy are fighting to keep their month old baby after the Peel Children’s Aid Society expressed doubt about their ability to care for the child. Maricyl Palisoc and Charles Wilton want to care for their son William in the special Mississauga apartment building — designed for the disabled — where they live.

But Peel Children’s Aid has expressed doubts about their capacity to safely care for their son, especially as he grows older. For now, William is receiving 24-hour attention from a caregiver, but that costs $2,000 a week, a fee that’s being paid by the couple’s friend, Ryan Machete. He works with the Coalition for Persons With Disabilities. Machete told CBC News he believes the couple can look after their own son, although they may need some help with certain tasks, such as bathing.

The couple have no cognitive impairment but have physical problems because of cerebral palsy, which slurs speech and affects motor skills. In an interview with CBC, Palisoc said: “I do have CP but that won’t stop me from doing what I need to do for my child.” Wilton, a three-time Paralympic track champion, added, “I don’t know the meaning of no.”

The Peel CAS will not comment on specific cases because of privacy issues. But spokeswoman Daria Allan-Ebron told CBC, “it’s a priority for us to ensure that children are well-protected and safe and that their needs are being met.”

The couple and CAS officials will meet on Friday. Linda Soulliere of the Coalition for Persons With Disabilities told CBC in an interview that, “I don’t think children should be removed from parents because they have physical disabilities. The time for that kind of thinking is long gone.”

Parents with disabilities fight to keep baby
[Mississauga 5/2/12 by John Stewart]

“The proud parents of a 3-week-old baby boy learned Friday that they won’t lose their child to the Peel Children’s Aid Society after all.

“Yay!” Maricyl Palisoc, 34, yelled as she carried 9-pound William into her assisted living apartment unit in Mississauga with her fiancé, Charlie Wilton, 28. Both parents have cerebral palsy.

They had feared they would lose the baby, but a family conference meeting was held Friday with Peel CAS and the parents showed that they can address the safety and well-being of their child.
They have a personal care worker with them 24 hours a day and grandparents willing to help.

It’s been an emotional three weeks after their son was born by C-section at Mount Sinai Hospital.
Cerebral palsy is a muscular disability marked by slurred speech and physical impairment. Their cognitive abilities are not impaired. The couple said they can do everything able-bodied parents can do. Wilton changes diapers and Palisoc breastfeeds.

Palisoc, who works part-time as a cleaner, does not need a walker.

Wilton relies on a walker to get around and says he won’t pick up the child, but he can hold him just fine. He said he wants to be a stay-at-home dad.

The baby has a clean bill of health.

The pair met 14 years ago and the two have been seeing each other for the past six years. They have been engaged for a year.

They have been trying for the past three years to have a child.

They conceived the child in the conventional way. [TMI]

“Even disabled people can have sex,” Wilton said with a laugh.

Wilton shrugged off concerns that because he and Palisoc have slurred speech that the child won’t be able to communicate with them as he grows up.

“It’s just like learning a second language, like Spanish. I just have to be patient,” Wilton said.
Wilton is not without worry, however.

He was adopted and spent many years going from group home to group home. He is worried that someday he will lose his child to foster care.

“I just want to be a good father,” he said.

Linda Soulliere, executive director of the Coalition for Persons with Disabilities, said her organization worked out a support plan with AbleLiving, a group that provides assistance to adults with disabilities, and submitted it to the CAS for approval.

The plan involves support workers providing enhanced or essential care for the parents and child. They are on-call 24 hours a day, and plan to schedule regular visits with the family.

Soulliere said she is confident Palisoc and Wilton are competent caregivers.

“Maricyl and Charlie are very strong and independent people, and I’m sure that they will be able to learn effective ways of managing the baby’s care,” she said. “They’re capable of taking care of their child in the supported environment that they currently live in.”

She added that while the parents may need assistance with some tasks, they will eventually adapt and learn.

There is a misperception that people with disabilities that affect their speech have “lower cognitive ability,” Soulliere said, but that’s not the case.

“There needs to be more education … especially essential services like CAS need to make sure that their workers are experienced and have exposure to persons with disabilities, so they can more adequately see the ability that also accompanies the disability.”

Disabled couple thrilled they’ll be able to keep their baby
[The Toronto Star 5/4/12 by Curtis Rush and Anita Li]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

What will it take for these authorities to focus in on the right things?