Sara Quick loves holiday traditions and with the help of her support team from DeafBlind Ontario she is able to enjoy each and every one.
The 34-year-old was born profoundly Deaf, which means she is unable to hear any speech. This means her holiday traditions have a bit of a twist to them.
Classic movies like Rudolph are played with closed captions on the screen and instead of singing, carols are signed in Quick's first language, which is American Sign Language.
"Each year, Sara looks forward to holiday traditions, like quality time with family, Christmas movies, and familiar carols… Sights and sounds that evoke years of warm memories and build anticipation for all that’s to come," DeafBlind Ontario said.
The organization supports people like Quick who are Deaf, Deafblind, hard of hearing or non-verbal. Specialized services are customized to each person's needs, goals, and method of communication. It is what the organization calls an "individualized and holistic approach."
For Quick, this means she is able to be more independent in her day-to-day life.
Around the holidays she is able to enjoy caroling with Santa and other festive activities, with the help of her specialized support team.
The team also enables Quick to get ready for the annual holiday gathering at her mom's house, with extended family and one of her favourite Christmas traditions: gift-giving.
“Sara is a big gift giver… We hear more about what she wants to buy or make for others than anything else in the lead-up to the holidays. Some people like to receive gifts, but Sara truly loves to give them,” said April Ferguson, who is part of Quick's specialized support team.
DeafBlind Ontario offers both supported living homes, which provide accessible, affordable housing with 24/7 access to support, and community services, partnering with other agencies or families to offer support, supported independent living, and day programming.
