Ottawa-Carleton, ON

Basic Needs

What is Abuse and Domestic Violence? Abuse is behaviour used to intimidate, isolate, dominate or control another person. It may be a pattern of behaviour or it may be a single incident. Abusive behaviour might involve acts or words or even neglect.   Abuse can be physical, sexual, emotional, psychological or financial: Physical abuse is when someone hurts you physically in any way. It includes hitting, kicking, slapping, pinching, cutting, stabbing, and shooting. All of these examples are assault, which is a crime in Canada and the United States. Sexual touching or sexual activity is abuse if you do not consent or if ...
Introduction  Children and youth with special needs have medical, emotional, developmental, mental or behavioural problems that require ongoing help and support.   The federal government has various tax deductions, credits and benefits available to help families and caregivers of children and youth with special needs.   In addition, each province has a number of provincial programs as well. Disability Tax Credit (DTC) If you have a child with special needs, the Disability Tax Credit is a non-refundable tax credit that helps people with disabilities or their supporting persons reduce the amount of income ...
Tips for All Canadians Meet with a Financial Advisor. Finances are complicated at the best of times, let alone if you have a special needs child. Poor financial planning can be disastrous. Consider seeking a consultation with a financial advisor, who can help look at your specific financial situation, and come up with a financial plan that makes sense for your family. There are different types of professionals who claim to provide financial help. It is best to find a financial planner that you pay directly yourself, as opposed to one that may be biased (e.g. such as receiving commissions from selling you products that you may not need). How to find ...
Jane’s Story, Part 1 Jane is a 25-year-old college student. Her life is busy. She buses to school, so breakfast is usually just a cup of coffee. Lunch is often just a muffin. Because she’s hungry, she often buys snacks from a vending machine. She knows that she’s sleep deprived because she doesn’t feel rested when her alarm wakes her up in the morning. Jane has been feeling stressed, anxious and tired. She reluctantly sees her family doctor, who recommends that Jane start with some changes to her food intake. Introduction The bad news: Our modern, hectic lifestyle, being surrounded by unhealthy foods and other factors can make ...
What are Probiotics? Probiotics are the live bacteria found in fermented foods (such as yogurt and sauerkraut), which appear to be beneficial for health. Because probiotics are healthy for the brain, some experts also refer to them as “psychobiotics”. How Do Probiotics Help? The human gastrointestinal tract (GI tract) is a very complex ecosystem, with more than 1,000 bacterial species. Probiotics help in many ways: They form a part of the healthy community of microbes (i.e. healthy microbiome) in our body; They make it harder for unhealthy bacteria to survive in our body;Reduce the production of inflammatory chemicals, such as ...