Our Beginnings...

Like many grass-roots organizations, the Association for the Neurologically Disabled of Canada (A.N.D.) has its origins in two places, in tragedy, and in a parent's love for their child. In 1977, a young man, then 19, was seriously injured in a car accident. He was hit head-on by an impaired driver, and remained in a coma for more than seven months. He survived with serious and permanent brain damage. He was given rehabilitative therapy in Toronto and sent home. But his parents - the eventual co-founders of A.N.D., along with Dr. J. Unruh – wanted to do more for him than was currently available in Canada.

They found “The CNR”, a clinic in Pennsylvania that offered what they believed to be his best chance for maximum recovery. At that clinic, he was assessed, and a neurological rehabilitation program involving sensory-motor stimulation, and cognitive retraining - was designed to address his individual needs. This program was taught to his parents and to a cadre of dedicated volunteers, who took it back home and implemented it. Every three months, the family would return to the Pennsylvania clinic for reassessment and fine-tuning of the program.

He improved steadily, to the point where he is now living in a supported environment for adults with brain injuries. It was, however, an expensive process. Their vision was to establish a Canadian facility that would offer the services of the Pennsylvania clinic while reducing the time and cost of travel. A.N.D., a Canadian non-profit charitable organization, was established in 1983 and continues to be dedicated to providing functional rehabilitation programs to individuals with neurological disabilities. Our goal is to help the neurologically disabled reach their full potential by treating the cause of their disability rather than the symptoms. Through the implementation of a series of activities and exercises, diet and nutrition and lifestyle counseling, we aim to help strengthen the Nervous System and improve overall health. Our unique home-based, non-institutionalized program is designed to stimulate brain development despite the severity of the neurological disability. It is a program that is individualized to meet the needs of each patient and is administered by the family in the home.