Helen Anne Henderson

Helen Anne Henderson (May 11, 1946 – April 11, 2015) was a Canadian disability rights activist and journalist.

Helen Anne Henderson
Born(1946-05-11)May 11, 1946
Scotland
DiedApril 11, 2015(2015-04-11) (aged 68)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
OccupationJournalist
NationalityCanadian
Alma mater

Biography

Henderson was born on May 11, 1946 in Scotland. In 1954, Henderson and her family immigrated to Quebec.[1]

Henderson attended Bishop's University in Quebec for an English degree and later pursued a degree in disability studies at Ryerson University. In 2011, Henderson gave a TEDx talk at Ryerson about seeing the opportunity in people with disabilities.[2]

In the 1970s, Henderson was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. As a result of her MS, Henderson later used a cane and a wheelchair.[3]

Henderson sought palliative care at Bridgepoint Health and died on April 11, 2015 from complications due to lung cancer.[4][1]

Career

Henderson began writing for the Toronto Star in the 1970s and retired in 2008.[1] Though she began her career at the Star as a business reporter, the first female business reporter there, Henderson eventually began writing a column about disability.[3] Henderson's column was "the longest running disability beat in Canada" according to Katie Ellis.[5]

In 2016, in recognition of Henderson's contributions to disability rights awareness, the Centre for Independent Living in Toronto (CILT) established the Helen Henderson Literary Award "to acknowledge an exceptional piece of writing that raises social awareness of a disability issue or barrier".[6]

See also

References
  1. Krishnan, Manisha (2015-04-13). "Star's Helen Henderson, a 'champion for the disabled,' dies at 68". thestar.com. Retrieved 2020-03-07.
  2. TEDx Talks (January 10, 2011). "TEDxRyersonU - Helen Henderson - You See Tragedy, I See Opportunity". Youtube. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
  3. Burns, Shawn (2019). "Disability Advocacy in BBC's Ouch and ABC'S Ramp Up". In Ellis, Katie; Goggin, Gerard; Haller, Beth; Curtis, Rosemary (eds.). The Routledge Companion to Disability and Media. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 1138884588.
  4. Clarkson, Jane; Lepofsky, David (April 19, 2019). "Helen left a proud legacy". Toronto Star. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
  5. Ellis, Katie (2016). Disability Media Work: Opportunities and Obstacles. Springer. p. 39 – via Google Books.
  6. "Helen Henderson Literary Award – CILT". Retrieved 2020-03-07.
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