Filmpossible 2013

This year's Filmpossible contest seems to have been another huge success, helping to end the stigma of disability for the third year in a row. Contestants were challenged to "capture moments of possibility" and to creatively "dispel myths, showcase achievements, demonstrate inclusion or accessibility, or tell a story." The same overall theme remains: "Bringing visibility to disability".

There were so many wonderful entries (102 to be exact!) in both the photo and video categories, which were so beautiful and inspirational. Many of the videos moved me to tears. And I was especially moved by this years winning video, "For Abbey", which just happens to showcase the limitless abilities of Abbey, a fellow CHAMP!

"Abbey can never escape the stares and the question, "What's with the leg?". She wears a prosthesis ("buddy") because she was born with a shortened right leg requiring amputation above the knee at age two. Abbey will sweetly explain to you how "buddy" works but don't presume that this "visible disability" is somehow limiting to her. She will leave you behind in the whirl of her wake as she surges past on her way to new adventures.
Confident. Determined. Playful. Loving. Joyous. This is our Abbey."

Visit the Filmpossible website (filmpossible.ca) to view Abbey's video and be sure to check out the other amazing entries in the video and photo categories!

I just love this video and watching Abbey conquer so many momentous milestones! What an amazing little girl with an incredibly bright future ahead of her.

Congratulations to Abbey, her family, and all of the other Filmpossible winners and participants! We look forward to next year's contest!

Lightening McQueen arm

Gavin recently got his new Lightening McQueen arm and he is pretty excited about it... KA-CHOW!

He loves the cool picture on it and he especially loves his hockey stick attachment. The attachment is fitted to his hockey stick, allowing him to hold his stick without having to put it under his armpit.

He still has this habit of bending WAY down, which this will hopefully help him with as he gets used to it and improves his balance. He has been practising with it a lot but its a challenge to get a picture of him using it that isn't a complete blur!

He couldn't wait to test it outside. He had a blast taking shots on Daddy the Goalie and its all he wants to do ever since.

Gavin got to test it out on the ice for the first time last Saturday and he did a great job with it. I asked him if he likes playing hockey better with or without his new arm and he said he likes it better WITH his Lightening McQueen arm.

He also got a new "catcher hand", as Gavin calls it. It is made of silicone and is nice because its a bit more flexible and Gavin has been really enjoying playing catch with a good sized ball and using two hands to catch. This is not a great picture but you can see how it looks.

He has been wearing it at school the past few days for short periods of time. We are encouraging him to wear it and continuing to praise him for his efforts! The response from his school friends has been so positive. He is really using it well when he feels like using it and often asking to put it on so he can hold his stick better.

A few days ago Gavin was wearing his arm with the catcher hand and was playing catch with a friend at daycare and the hand just fell off! The teacher was smiling as she told me how they were rolling around on the floor laughing about it and Gavin thought it was so funny! She mentioned how Gavin has such a great attitude about it and I really think the other kids pick up on that and think its kinda cool. His little sister Eden definitely thinks its really cool and tries to put it on and has asked me for her own. But then again, she wants to be just like her big brother and do exactly everything he does.

Over the years Gavin has been fitted with four different prosthetic arms and accumulating quite an interesting little collection. He also has a few different hand attachments. Its so amazing (yet terrifying) to see how much he has grown... The tiny little Nemo arm will forever be my favourite!

He has sure changed a lot from this six month old, chubby little baby, who was just learning to sit up and would soon be learning to crawl. It didn't take long before he was proving to everyone that he would figure everything out as he went and teaching us all a thing or two along the way.

Summer Hockey

Some hockey fans take a break from the game during the summer while others prefer to keep their head in the game year-round!

As you can see, Gavin falls into the second category. He is truly devoted to his sport, no matter the season...

He got a hockey Slip N Slide for his birthday and he can occupy himself on his "ice" for hours on end!

But he also can't wait for it to be winter so he can go back to playing hockey in the arena. He is getting a new hockey stick attachment for his prosthetic arm that he will get to try out. We also want to get him an attachment for his bike. Time to call up Bloorview and make an appointment! :)

Accessibility Toronto

We have another exciting announcement for all our friends in the GTA who happen to have Rogers Cable!

Last year Rogers aired the "filmpossible" documentary which featured many of last year's videos, as well as interviews with some of the participants and judges. It was really cool to see Gavin's video on TV and the episode has aired many times since then, each time bringing a little bit more VISIBILITY TO DISABILITY! It is incredibly inspiring to watch.

Now we are excited to see the airing of Holland Bloorview's episode of Accessibility Toronto on RogersTV tonight at 8pm! We are hoping to catch a glimpse of our little filmpossible stars in action! Holland Bloorview is an incredible facility, which I contribute mostly to the truly amazing staff team. It just has such a positive energy to it, which you can not fully understand unless you have been there and experienced the ongoing support and genuine interest in helping your child reach his or her full potential. So I am looking forward to seeing how it can be summed up in a half hour episode.

"Accessibility Toronto is a series of half hour television programs that focuses on people with disabilities. The goal of this series is to highlight their achievements and accomplishments and provide insightful and inspiring storylines for all viewers.

Community producer, Shannon Fitzpatrick pitched the initial idea and has worked diligently to bring viewers a wide range of compelling profiles and stories celebrating persons with disabilities from across Toronto."

The show appears only on RogersTV, so viewers need to have Rogers cable to receive the show. It will air on Channel 10 in Toronto and 63 in Scarborough - unfortunately subscribers outside the Toronto area will not be able to view the episode, as it only plays in the Toronto market.

They will be sending us a DVD copy of the episode so if you would really like to see it please let me know.

If you miss tonight's episode you can also cath it on Tuesday, December 13 at 1, 9 and 11:30 a.m.

Filmpossible Fete

Last Wednesday was the Filmpossible party at Holland Bloorview and it was a very memorable evening!

The first thing we saw as we entered the party was a table of Holland Bloorview's 2012 Desktop Calendars! It was pretty cool to see Annya's winning photo, "Lucky Fin Love" on the cover! We are sure proud of those adorable little arms wearing their lucky fin bracelets with pride!


It felt oh-so-fancy when we realized there was even a little red carpet and a photographer took Mr Gavin's picture as he entered! He didn't want to smile until he found out there was popcorn! It is such a rough life being a mini celebrity! Ha! He totally rocked his sweater vest that GG knit for him! Thanks GG!

During the awards ceremony they played the clip of Gavin and Gabi's "I Can Be Me!" video and I almost teared up. I just love that little video! Its so awesome :) Jen did a great job and it was so fun being a part of the contest this year!

Here is the "I Can Be Me!" team: Gabi, Jen & Gavin


It was really too bad that Annya wasn't able to make it though, as the first place photography winner! I really wish she could have been there and I know she did too!

They called Gavin & Gabi on stage to accept her award (which meant that Janelle & I had to go up as well because the kids were being all shy). They were both presented with an incredibly soft and cute stuffed animal. They were both being so shy though and didn't even want to take them.

One of the highlights of the evening was when Gavin held out his hand for the microphone when I was asked to say a few words on behalf of Annya. I was not really prepared to say anything so I was glad to hand the mic to Gavin and give him a chance to say something, thus taking the spotlight off of me! At first he just wanted to stand there and hold it but I told him he had to say something. Then he started singing his ABCs in a quiet little voice into the microphone!!!! Ha! I should have known! Of course everyone was just eating it up. I was just glad I didn't have to talk anymore! It was pretty priceless though!



It was such a beautiful feeling to watch the awards and see some of the other winners and participants in person! There were so many wonderful entries and so much VISIBILITY was brought to disability! :)

Soon it was time to wrap up the evening. But it wouldn't be a party without CAKE!!!


Thanks so much to the awesome team at Holland Bloorview for allowing us to have this wonderful experience! It was so nice to finally meet Louise and Kathy and everyone else!

And thanks to all our supportive friends & family who took the time to vote all summer for "I Can Be Me!" and "Lucky Fin Love"!! We love you!

When you smile, the whole world smiles with you

The filmpossible contest is in full swing and there have been lots of new entries submitted in the past few days! If you are going to submit a photo or video, make sure you do it before August 12!

Last year Gavin's video was the only submission of a child with a limb difference. This year there are several and I couldn't be happier about it. When we all come together like this, our message is so much louder and more powerful. We can reach out and educate so many people who may have never met a child with a limb difference before. We are also helping to empower our kids and advocate for them in a really fun way!

I just have to share these awesome photos with you! Remember you can vote on as many entries per day as you want :)

I absolutely LOVE this photo of Jaclyn! She clearly has a great sense of humour :)
When you're smiling...

I also LOVE this beautiful picture of Claire and her new dragonfly friend!
Claire and dragonfly on the beach

Please take a minute to check out these pictures and some of the other inspiring entries. It always makes me smile :)

Filmpossible 2012

I just got this email today about the upcoming Filmpossible contest! Just wanted to pass along all the info for people who are interested in submitting a video!

Hello!



Filmpossible 2011 is right around the corner and we hope that you are just as excited as we are! With just a few short weeks until the contest launches on June 20th, now is great time to start taking pictures or getting started on your video entry this year. Get your photos and videos in early to increase your chances of winning a Cisco Visibility Award (awarded to the three entries that receive the most public votes in round one).



You can also find more contest information by clicking HERE to visit the filmpossible page on the Holland Bloorview website. Looking for inspiration? Check out the filmpossible playlist on the Holland Bloorview YouTube channel HERE to watch some of last year’s entries. Regrettably, not all of the filmpossible 2010 videos could be transferred to YouTube due to differences in file formats. If you don’t see your entry here but would like to have it added, please let me know by email and we can try to fix that!



We are excited to see the creative new ways that you will bring visibility to disability in 2011 and we encourage you to spread the word about filmpossible via Twitter, Facebook, blogs, email and conversations with family and friends.



Don’t forget to visit filmpossible.ca on June 20th to upload your photo or video and vote for your favourites!

Filmpossible Documentary

I keep meaning to write about this but life has been keeping me so busy!

It is pretty exciting...Rogers TV is airing a one hour documentary about "Filmpossible", the contest we participated in during the summer. The theme was "Bringing visability to disability" and it was a great success! Gavin's 2 minute video, "His Abilities" will be featured in the documentary and we are so proud of him!

If you have Rogers TV be sure to tune in! It debuted last night at 10pm but don't worry, there are still two more chances to catch it!

THIS Wednesday at 10pm and Saturday at 10pm.

*CH 10 in Toronto
*CH. 63 in Scarborough
*CH 510 in high-definition (HD)

You can go here to watch the promo.

Last year Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital held their first ever on-line competition for short videos with the theme of “bringing visibility to disability”. This one-hour original Rogers TV documentary profiles the world renowned Toronto facility, introduces us to some of the filmmakers and judges, and includes many of the extraordinary videos that just might make people rethink their preconceptions about disability.

Thank you from Holland Bloorview‏

I received this nice email today that I thought I would share :)

Dear Megan,

On behalf of Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital and its Foundation, I offer our congratulations to you for your achievement in our filmpossible contest.

Holland Bloorview set out to create a contest that would bring visibility to disability. Our hope was to change the way the world views childhood disability in order to help create a better world for children with disabilities.

We challenged people to bring us their own creative twist on this theme. Holland Bloorview, our sponsors, judges and supporters alike were overwhelmed by range of entries and the courage, creativity and passion that was so evident in the entries we received.

Your video, His Abilities, was among the top 20 and was reviewed by our celebrity judges. I am pleased to share their comments:

From Karen Shopsowicz: "Gavin is a wonderful inspiration."

From Allen Braude: "Message well conveyed. Great to see Gavin always finding a way."

From Tania B. Reilly: "Great opening! Enjoyed the focus - day in the life of Gavin."

From Justin Hines: "Abilities indeed! Gavin looks like he blurs the line between able bodied/disabled."

Your contribution to filmpossible has touched people far beyond the scope of the contest. You and your fellow entrants have inspired our staff, our volunteers, helped attract new volunteers, inspired the media to cover these issues, opened dialogues among parents and children and in schools and workplaces across Canada, and brought hope and inspiration to children with disabilities and their families.

We salute you, we congratulate you, and we thank you.

Jean Geary

HERE is the link to Gavin's video if you would like to see it again!

So real!

I keep meaning to update but I have just been fighting this horrible cold all week. I'm hoping the worst is almost over because I have been SO miserable. I NEVER get sick like this but of course it has to happen when I'm pregnant and can't take anything for it. (Only 6 weeks to go by the way!!!) And none of my natural remedies seem to be helping! Anyways, this post is not for me to complain but instead to share something pretty cool!

Gavin got a new helper hand a few weeks ago! We ordered it so he could have the option of having a hand that looks more natural than his body-powered device (which reminds me of a lobster claw but is VERY useful and functional).

This is a passive hand (he can not make it open or close), although you can manually move the fingers into different positions. So it definitely still has some functionality because he can use it to hold many different objects and do different activities.

It is made of silicone and when I first saw it, I could not believe how real it looked!! John did a perfect job of picking out the right shade. I was a little nervous because I wasn't able to attend the appointment that day so he had to pick it out without me. And I am the first to admit that I am a bit of a perfectionist and a control freak. But Daddy gets full credit for this one. Good job hun!


Now we have two attachments for the same prosthesis. He can use his body-powered arm with the strap or we can snap off the cable, unscrew the hand and screw on this silicone hand. Its actually very simple!

Gavin is still pretty resistant to wanting to wear either one but we are trying to be more consistent about it. Getting him used to wearing it can only benefit him in the long run.

At first he was trying to move his arm back and forth to open the hand, the same way his body-powered hand works. So we had to explain the difference.

Now he is a bit more tolerant of it and will wear it for longer periods of time if he is distracted enough, but he doesn't really "use" it. It tends to just hang at his side most of the time.

We still have a lot of practising to do!

BLOOM!

What better way to start off the New Year than on the cover of BLOOM magazine?!

Open publication - Free publishing - More parenting

About BLOOM:

"Parenting a child with a disability presents unique challenges and rewards not often addressed in mainstream parenting literature.

Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital (Holland Bloorview) created BLOOM to bring together the wisdom of families and professionals in childhood disability treatment, research, real-world programs and education at Holland Bloorview and beyond.

The name BLOOM conveys our belief that every child blooms in his or her own unique way.

BLOOM is published twice each year and covers “top of mind” issues for parents of kids with disabilities. These are often unspoken or taboo topics that require specific “how-to” information. BLOOM focuses on issues that are common to parents of children with a variety of physical and developmental disabilities and highlights practical resources (web sites, books, videos, community programs) that support parents and their children.

BLOOM is mailed to parents of Ontario children who have visited Holland Bloorview in the past year as well as professional, disability, academic, government and community partners. Other parents and professionals who wish to subscribe can contact BLOOM.

BLOOM relies on an editorial committee of parents and professionals to brainstorm story ideas, network with families and disability organizations and generate feedback. Please drop us a line with your story ideas, comments or feedback.

Click here to read stories from the BLOOM archives."

Gavin's Body Powered Helper Arm!

Today was an exciting day! One we have been awaiting for several weeks...
Look what Gavin got today!

Its his new body powered prosthetic arm! He designed it himself by picking out the fabric (Can you tell?)

The strap goes over his right shoulder and when he makes a reaching motion or shrugs his shoulders, the hand closes! When he pulls back, the hand opens.

We debated a lot about what kind of prosthetic to get for him but we decided on this one because it is more functional than a passive and not nearly as heavy as a myoeletric. Since he's not used to wearing any sort of prosthesis, we needed something lighter to get him used to wearing something again.

He did really well with it and was already learning that when he stretches out his arm, the hand closes and he can grasp small objects. It will definitely take a lot of practice to fine tune it.

Lisa, his occupational therapist, helped him use his new hand to grip the scooter.


And he had no problem pushing the shopping cart down the hall at lightening speed! (Before he declared, "No like it mommy!" and pulled it off...)


I'm SO incredibly proud of our little guy. I'll be sure to keep you posted with how he is doing with it. For now, Lisa asked us to try to get him to wear it for about half an hour a day and work up to longer periods. She also gave us a list of activities to help him learn to use it.

He will also be bringing it to daycare tomorrow so I will need to give them a little tutorial but they are excited about getting involved.

Better luck next time

Some people have been asking me about the results of the FilmPossible contest so I thought I should let people know.

Unfortunately Gavin did not make it to the finals of the contest. But I really want to thank everyone for their support! There were so many of you who took the time out of their busy lives to vote for Gavin every single day. It means a lot to us and it was a great experience. I hope we spread a lot of awareness about what children with limb differences are capable of.

No matter what, I think this will always be my favourite video :)

A is for Arm, Ambulance, Alligators, Ants and Apples!

This was our first week of "Letter of the Week" and of course we started with the letter "A"! It was a busy week but lots of fun!


We started the process of getting Gavin fitted for a new prosthetic ARM!

We went to Bloorview for step 1:
Making a cast of Gavin's arm for the socket of his prosthesis.

He was so patient, sitting there and holding out his arm until Bryan was finished. We go back in 2 weeks to make sure its a good fit and talk about what kind of prosthetic would be the best choice.

We also learned about ALLIGATORS this week. We got some books from the library and learned a new poem which Gavin loves!

Mr. Alligator, Mr. Alligator, (make mouth open and close with your arms)
Don't you bite! Don't you bite! (wag finger to say no)
I will run away from you, I will run away from you (running motion with hands)
Out of sight, Out of sight! (Hands hide face)

We also learned a little about ANTS by doing a few colouring sheets and going outside to look for ants. I got a book from the library as well but we didn't even end up looking at it.

We were also lucky enough to get a personal visit from an AMBULANCE thanks to Paramedic Jim!! That was pretty AWESOME! Gavin got to go in the back of the ambulance and look around. Jim couldn't stay long (understandably!) but he left lots of colouring sheets, magnets, stickers, tattoos, pamphlets and cardboard build-your-own amubulances!

Today we had bushels of fun going APPLE picking!! We went to Pingle's Farm and there were so many activities for the kids. Gavin had a blast and was so tired out that he fell asleep in John's arms while waiting in line for a snack!

He was very proud to come home and eat one of his "special" apples that he picked all by himself! Now we have more apples than I know what to do with and I'm going to have to look up some recipes!

We had a great week. Gavin learned the ASL sign for the letter "A" and proudly shows it to me at the most random times!

We have those foam letter mat puzzles for the floor and I took out the letter "A"s and put them in the bath tub with him. It ended up being a great idea because they stick to the tub and the walls when wet. It was a great way to help him recognize what the letter looks like and after that, he had to have them in the bath with him every night.

I'm not sure how much we will be able to do in the coming weeks because I just got offered a full time job on Friday, which I'm very excited about. And I start tomorrow! But the exciting part is that I don't have to work any more weekends or overnights!! So hopefully we will still be able to squeeze some fun things in during the evenings and definitely on the weekends!

THANK YOU!

I want to extend a HUGE thank you to everyone who was involved in supporting Gavin's FilmPossible entry! The contest is now closed for votes and we have to stay tuned until October 8th, when they announce the six finalists.

Thank you again to everyone who took the time to vote! It really meant a lot to our family and we appreciate it from the bottom of our hearts!

Thank You!

I want to extend a HUGE thank you to everyone who has been voting daily for Gavin's video! In less than a week his video is currently up to 158 votes!

This morning his video even made a little cameo appearance on Toronto's Breakfast Television show! They did a little feature on Bloorview's "FilmPossible" contest and there was a clip from "His Abilities" playing in the background!

Unfortunately we missed it but my mom called us this morning to tell us and I have never heard her so excited!! I emailed CP24 and asked them to please send me a clip from the show. I hear they are pretty good about that so hopefully we will get it!

In the mean time there are still 25 days left to vote so lets keep it up!

http://filmpossible.ca/entries#73779

We need your votes!

OK we did it! We finally got Gavin's video approved for the FilmPossible contest after changing the song due to copyright laws. (Thanks to Jeff for all your help and to Oriana for letting us use her music!)

Please show your support and vote for "His Abilities"! You can vote once per day until September 15.

http://filmpossible.ca/entries/73779#73779

The theme of the contest is "Bringing Visibility to Disability". Our goal was to focus on some of Gavin's ABILITIES. It was really hard to try to squeeze everything into a two minute video but thanks to Jeff's editing skills, I think it turned out GREAT! I can't watch it without smiling :)

Thanks everyone for your support!

His Abilities

I could watch this video over and over. It makes me so incredibly proud to have such an amazing son. And these are only such a small FEW of his abilities. He has so many more! But you can only squeeze so much into a 2 minutes clip!

Hopefully we get it submitted ASAP because we will need everyone's help to vote for it! We are submitting it near the end of the contest so a lot of videos have already had lots of time to get hundreds of votes. We have a lot of catching up to do!

FilmPossible

Check out Bloorview's online video contest focused on "Bringing visibility to disability"!

Holland Bloorview believes in a world of possibility for kids with disability. We are calling on Canadians across a spectrum of ages and abilities to create short videos – under two minutes long -- with the theme “bringing visibility to disability”. Six great prizes will be given away, including a first prize of $5000 cash.

The public will vote for their favourite videos. Videos will also be reviewed by a panel of celebrity judges. Six finalists will be selected -- three by the jury and three by the public. Winners will be determined by a final round of online public voting.

We're looking for your creative twist on bringing visibility to disability! Your videos could:

•Shatter myths
•Demonstrate inclusion
•Tell a story
•Show changes we can make

Visit filmpossible.ca for more info!

I love a challenge! Now to find someone with a video camera...
Anyone? Anyone? Jeff?? LOL

Little Puppet

In the waiting area at Bloorview there is a framed picture of a child's arm that looks a lot like Gavin's. The arm has eyes and a big smile painted on the end of it so it looks like a cute little puppet. The little nubbins look like the teeth. It always makes me smile :)

Whenever Gavin gets hold of a pen or marker, he always goes straight for his little arm. The other day he was being too quiet and I found him in Daddy's studio with yellow highlighter all over his arm. He was proud to show me what he had been up to!