#Tommy Jutcovich

[autisticsunitedca]

Tommy Jutcovich's family has started a petition to demand TGHC to give him access to his primary communication device! Currently, hospital staff are restricting his use to only one hour a day. This is an egregious human rights violation that deprives a non-speaking disabled elder of his voice. Please sign & share widely! http://chng.it/5WNDXCrbrb

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Tommy Jutcovich is bedridden in Toronto Grace hospital — unable to walk, talk, eat or use his hands — and his only lifeline to the outside world was taken away from him.

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Submitted by @many-bees

[autisticsunitedca]

A Toronto hospital has denied 69-year-old Tommy Jutcovich his main means of communication - an iPad - by calling it a "surveillance tool". This is a gross human rights violation. One hour a day is NOT enough to communicate with hospital staff and with his family. That is all the time they are giving him on his augmentative and alternative communication device. In an impassioned plea, Tommy's daughter begged for help. His family is unable to visit Tommy during the pandemic. The iPad is Tommy's connection to the outside world, his mental health support, and his voice. By taking away his AAC device, the hospital staff are silencing him for 23 hours each day. This impacts his care, with no way to raise new concerns or communicate his symptoms and pain. When a disabled elder has difficulties speaking or moving, with no family around, he is extremely vulnerable to abuse and medical neglect. People in hospitals, institutions, and long-term care homes should have the right to document their care for their own safety. Contact the Toronto Grace Health Centre to tell them that #CommunicationIsARight and #AACSavesLives! <-- Action Toolkit!  Want to do more? Share our 5 calls to action about communication access in hospitals with your MPs & provincial/territorial reps. We have linked tools to help you contact your representatives. This was in light of the recent death of Ariis Knight in BC, who was denied access to support staff and family who helped facilitate her communication.