News/Canada/Windsor

It sounds like something from a futuristic film: Technology that allows users to control their environment with mere thoughts. But for kids with disabilities in Ontario, it's an emerging reality that's helping them connect with the world around them in unprecedented ways.For 10-year-old Irelynn, who's non-verbal and has limited mobility, it means she can make a toy play music just by thinking about clapping."Probably the best thing I've ever seen," says her dad, Jeff.Jeff, with his daughter Irelynn. Irelynn is working to use a brain computer interface, technology that allows her to control objects by thought. (Amy Dodge/CBC)CBC News has agreed not to use Irelynn or her dad's last name due to privacy and safety concerns.The technology, known as brain computer interface (BCI), relies on a b...

Whenever Kimberly Couvillon wants to feel close to her daughter, she visits Windsor's George Avenue Park. By the parking lot, there's a memorial: flowers and images of 14-year-old Amber Marie McCollom. It was at that park, nearly one year ago, that McCollom had an asthma attack that claimed her life. "No parent should ever have to live through this kind of loss," Couvillon said. She described her daughter, one of five children, as a "little fireball" with so much energy. She loved dancing and singing and ran track-and-field. A 'scary' diagnosis"Her asthma limited her to the 100-metre-dash, but she was one of the fastest in her class," she said."She wanted to help people. She wanted to be a social worker."Kimberly Couvillon stands next to the memorial set up at George Avenue Park in memory ...

When a cyberattack took multiple hospitals in southwestern Ontario offline for weeks, Kale McMurren's cancer treatment had to move to another health-care centre two hours away. The October 2023 attack meant that McMurren's digital health records through Windsor Regional Hospital were unreachable. In order to get his medical history to the hospital in London where he was being transferred, McMurren says hard copy files were faxed over. If McMurren had his own copy, he could have brought the files himself to London. "I agree that having [my] medical records would help me in [that] situation," he said. At the time, the five hospitals targeted in the cyberattack told hundreds of thousands of patients that with systems down, doctors might not have past records or medical history, a person's cur...

Advocacy organizations won't appeal an Ontario court's decision to dismiss their Charter challenge of the province's long-term care (LTC) law, which allows hospitals to move people into homes they didn't choose or be charged $400 a day to remain in hospital.The case, launched by the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly (ACE) and the Ontario Health Coalition (OHC), was heard in the Superior Court of Justice in September. The two parties argued Bill 7, the More Beds, Better Care Act, — which was passed in 2022 — violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms so the law should be overturned. The provincial government, however, maintains the law is necessary to free up much-needed hospital beds.In mid-January, the court sided with the province and decided to dismiss the case. In an interview with CBC ...