Project: Women, Learning, and Disabilities
Prepared by Jane Larimer

Women with Physical Disabilities
At CCLOW's conference, Penny Leclair was very articulate in describing her dilemma. As a woman with disabilities, she is expected to be either as outstanding as Helen Keller or to live her life quietly, without education or expectation. She faces many barriers in her desire to be an educated woman. Many of these are as a result of systemic discrimination in education and training policies and practices. There is a tremendous need for policy analysis and advocacy in this area and CCLOW's mandate would allow it to address these issues. For example, it would be useful to pull together previously developed recommendations for changes within these systems, and to advocate for their implementation.

Women with Learning Disabilities
Women with learning disabilities, similarly, face tremendous barriers to receiving an education. Working with Learning Disabilities Associations across Canada, CCLOW may have the opportunity to promote findings and advocate for improved practice in the field. Again, this work clearly falls under the organization's mandate.

Related work includes:

• Establishing a clearinghouse of information related to women's education and training issues, which would include information on women with disabilities.
• Articulating best practice models in a women-positive context, and
• Providing a forum for discussion and analysis of issues

Conclusion
There was significant interest among the conference participants in ensuring that this specific work was undertaken. It appears that much of the primary research (e.g., issue identification, data gathering, issue formulation, recommendation development) has already been done. What is now required is that the voices of women with disabilities be heard, rather than ignored. CCLOW was seen as a potential advocate for this work.