Former Child Client has Become Champion of Accessibility
Andrea points to a newspaper article from June 1976, featuring a picture of her as a young girl attending the new daycare at Five Counties.
It’s a historic snapshot for Five Counties Children’s Centre and a picture-perfect moment for Andrea Dodsworth.
“That’s me there,” says Andrea, pointing at the newspaper clipping dated June 5, 1976. “I was in the photo that was in the paper the day the daycare opened at Five Counties.”
Andrea smiles when she recalls being among the first kids to attend the Children’s Way Day Care, which opened at Five Counties in 1976 – a year after the ‘new’ children’s treatment centre was established in Peterborough. In the newspaper article, Children’s Way is described as a “very new concept” as it included both able-bodied children and those with disabilities – something that was unique in Ontario at the time. The daycare operated for two decades at Five Counties, before closing in the mid-1990s.
Andrea’s fond memories of the daycare extend beyond the article. “My daycare teachers were Mrs. Capstick, Anne Bebee and Debbie Darling. Bill and Harvey were the Caretakers at the centre back then, and they always were there to greet me,” Andrea recalls. “Mrs. Wagar made the best meals and snacks for the kids in daycare.”
Smiles and snacks aside, Andrea is extremely grateful to Five Counties for the care she received. “I’ve hit so many milestones in life because of my time at Five Counties,” Andrea notes. “It’s hard to pick one.”
Newspaper photo from June 1976 shows Andrea (sitting far right) as one of the first children who attended the daycare at Five Counties.
Born with cerebral palsy, Andrea was not expected to survive. Now in her early 50s, Andrea has defied all expectations.
Five Counties helped lay the groundwork. As a child living in Maynooth, Andrea’s parents drove her three times a week to the Centre in Peterborough so she could get needed physiotherapy, speech therapy and occupational therapy.
“Everyone seemed so caring and compassionate and very patient,” Andrea recalls. “(Five Counties staff) taught me how to roll over and taught me how to sit up on my own and how to work on my balance as well.”
To improve her speech skills, clinicians would get Andrea to talk on the phone and record her voice, then play it back for her on the tape recorder. “I used to do that a lot myself up until a few years ago when I got rid of my answering machine,” she says.
While the care Andrea received at Five Counties has helped immensely, it was a life-changing encounter with noted Canadian athlete and activist Rick Hansen during his Man in Motion tour in 1986 that set her on a new track. Andrea still tears up recalling that initial meeting with Hansen, noting: “It has a lot of meaning for me.”
Hansen inspired Andrea to enter her first wheelchair race in 1988 where she excelled. She continued to set personal bests, including in Peterborough at the Ontario Games for the Physically Disabled in 1996. That year, she also earned the title of Peterborough’s Senior Athlete of the Year.
Off the track, Andrea is also a champion for accessibility. A one-time co-presenter in the Valuing Our Differences program, Andrea spoke to more than 22,000 local students about differences and disabilities. As a volunteer with many different organizations, Andrea tirelessly advocates for persons with disabilities. And she does it for a living too, working in Peterborough-Kawartha MPP Dave Smith’s constituency office assisting individuals with issues related to Ontario Works and the Ontario Disability Support Program, as well as other accessibility and disability-related issues that people may have.
“Can’t is not in my dictionary,” Andrea says. ““Honestly, without Five Counties and all the services and help and support they’ve given to me and my family, I wouldn’t have become who I am today and wouldn’t have been able to come this far in life.”
Category: General News