SMD Makes Independence Easy

Making the transition from high school to university is challenging for any young person. It’s especially hard when starting university means moving away from your small home town and getting to know a new city. Just imagine adding cerebral palsy to the mix.

Danielle Otto is 17 years old and completing her final year of high school. She knows that next year, she’ll be facing several challenges – moving away from her home in Thalberg, north of Beausejour, starting university, all while negotiating the extra hurdle of cerebral palsy. She signed up for the Society for Manitobans with Disabilities’ (SMD) Independence for Youth program last summer to develop the skills she needs to meet those challenges.

SMD’s Independence for Youth program offers young people aged 16 to 21 the opportunity to live independently in Winnipeg for one week. For Danielle,
the week was packed with new experiences. “I’m kind of a rural farm girl and haven’t spent a lot of time just hanging out in downtown Winnipeg so that’s what I did,” Danielle says. “I went to the art gallery and did some touring around U of W because that’s where I want to go to school.”

Danielle is planning her move to Winnipeg and university with greater confidence since completing the Independence for Youth program. “Now I’ve had the experience of having to fend for myself, having to go grocery shopping and all those kinds of experiences that I probably wouldn’t have otherwise. It won’t be a total shock to me when I have to do things for myself.”

Moving away from home and living independently can be daunting, but Danielle also found her experience in the Independence for Youth program exciting. The highlight of her week wasn’t one particular event. “The best thing was the chance to do absolutely anything I wanted, eat what I wanted and go where I wanted to go. That’s the point, being independent.”

SMD’s Independence for Youth program gave Danielle a glimpse of the “real” world of adulthood – and that’s just what she expected from SMD programming. Danielle first got involved with SMD at the age of seven, when her mother, Judy, learned about SMD’s Summer Access program. The Summer Access program gives children with disabilities the opportunity to go to the summer camp of their choice in Manitoba, accompanied by a summer support person.

“Without summer access I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to go to camp when I was a little kid and be more integrated in the real world with 'normal' people and kids my age,” Danielle explains. “It’s given me the opportunity to be less segregated than I would have been otherwise.”

Based on her experience with Summer Access and Independence for Youth, Danielle knows she can count on SMD to support her as she grows into adulthood and moves on to new experiences and challenges – and that’s invaluable. “For youth with disabilities, you’re getting older and want to be independent but you’re not really sure what direction to take or who’s going to help you with that transition into adulthood. SMD offers much needed support."

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