Meet me at the Intersection of... with Timeshia Edwards

In the third and final installment of our 3–part series “Meet me at the Intersection of…”, we have guest host Ramya Amuthan, and her guest Timeshia Edwards.

Timeshia is almost totally blind, and is Moose Cree First Nations. She currently works at the Canadian National Institute for the Blind as a coordinator in the Come To Work Program, serving Ontario west and north. She joins Ramya to discuss many aspects of her life as a blind and indigenous person in Canada, including education, culture and role models. Growing up the eldest of six children in the foster system in small town Northern Ontario, and being the only one with sight loss, she then moved to Brantford Ontario in the sixth grade to live with her adopted family, and spend the second half of her public schooling at the W. Ross Macdonald provincial school for blind, low vision and deafblind students. She talks to Ramya about going through the public school system as a blind person in a remote northern region, and the creative solutions and accommodations her supportive staff developed to account for the isolation and scarcity of resources. Understanding who you are, where you come from, and passing on the traditions of your culture has always been important to Timeshia. Even so, she talks frankly about how this knowledge is not always readily passed onto indigenous youth, due to the intergenerational traumas experienced by their ancestors.

With a background in recreational therapy and a passion for working with youth, Timeshia now works as a counselor at the W. Ross Macdonald school, along with the come to work program at CNIB. It is her life-long mission to serve as a mentor and role model for youth with low and no vision, providing them with the services, skillsets and opportunities they need; just as so many have done for her throughout her life.

Email Timeshia Edwards at timeshia.edwards@gmail.com

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