Wayne Cantwell

Wayne Cantwell was born in Avondale, Newfoundland in 1959. He lived there until he was 20. Wayne was born with two serious conditions: cerebral palsy and epilepsy.

Cerebral palsy is a brain condition that affects movement. Wayne has trouble moving one of his hands and one of his legs. But he has learned to deal with this. He walks everywhere and can make one hand do for two.

Wayne's epilepsy was also severe. People with epilepsy can have many different kinds of seizures. Sometimes the seizures are mild. They don't last long. But Wayne's seizures were serious. His legs would shake and he would fall to the ground. This kind of seizure used to be called grand mal. Now it is called tonic clonic. Sometimes Wayne had 25 seizures a day. They took a lot out of him. It was difficult for him to get his work done.

People with epilepsy take medication to control their condition. But if the epilepsy is severe the medication may not work. Doctors sometimes suggest that the person have a brain operation. In 1980 Wayne decided to do this. The operation, like all brain operations, was serious. Doctors worked on the part of Wayne's brain where they thought the seizures began. The operation was a success. Afterwards, Wayne's epilepsy got much better. Now he has only one or two seizures a month. They are usually not very severe.

Despite his problems, Wayne went to school in Avondale. From grades one to five he was in a regular class. For junior high he attended special education classes. Later, the Cerebral Palsy Association arranged for Wayne to complete his high school education at night. Wayne also took a JRT or Job Readiness Training Program. When this finished he got a job as a taxi dispatcher. Wayne had to give up the job because of his seizures.

In 1982-83 Wayne lived at Emmanuel House in St. John's. He learned life skills such as cooking. Wayne also took and passed a course in security work. He applied for many security guard jobs but did not get one. The employers said they wanted people with experience. Wayne decided that it would be a good idea to learn about computers. When Manpower did an assessment he was told that he would need two hands to work with computers. Wayne wanted to try anyway. He thought he could do the work. But he was not admitted into the course.

In 1994 Wayne got a job at a recycling plant. These plants turn old plastic and glass into new material so it can be used again. Wayne's job was to throw plastic bags into one of the big machines. Even with the use of only one arm he did a good job. He could keep up with everyone else. But Wayne was making only $200 a week. The plant was in Mount Pearl and Wayne lived in St. John's. He could not find a cheap place to live in Mount Pearl. He ended up spending most of his money on taxis. Wayne was forced to quit.