Helen Anne Henderson

{{Short description|Canadian disability rights activist and journalist}}

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

Biography

Henderson was born on May 11, 1946, in Scotland. In 1954, Henderson and her family immigrated to Quebec.{{Cite web |last=Krishnan |first=Manisha |date=2015-04-13 |title=Star's Helen Henderson, a 'champion for the disabled,' dies at 68 |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/04/13/stars-helen-henderson-a-champion-for-the-disabled-dies-at-68.html |access-date=2020-03-07 |website=Toronto Star |language=en}} She 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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44r1UKFK4Fo|title=TEDxRyersonU - Helen Henderson - You See Tragedy, I See Opportunity|last=TEDx Talks|date=January 10, 2011|website=Youtube|access-date=March 6, 2020}}

Health

In the 1970s, Henderson was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. As a result of her MS, Henderson later used a cane and a wheelchair.{{Cite book|last=Burns|first=Shawn|title=The Routledge Companion to Disability and Media|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=2019|isbn=978-1138884588|editor-last=Ellis|editor-first=Katie|chapter=Disability Advocacy in BBC's Ouch and ABC'S Ramp Up|editor-last2=Goggin|editor-first2=Gerard|editor-last3=Haller|editor-first3=Beth|editor-last4=Curtis|editor-first4=Rosemary}} Henderson sought palliative care at Bridgepoint Health and died on April 11, 2015, from complications due to lung cancer.{{Cite news|last1=Clarkson|first1=Jane|url=https://www.thestar.com/opinion/letters_to_the_editors/2015/04/19/helen-left-a-proud-legacy.html|title=Helen left a proud legacy|date=April 19, 2019|work=Toronto Star|access-date=March 6, 2020|last2=Lepofsky|first2=David}}

Career

Henderson began writing for the Toronto Star in the 1970s and retired in 2008. Although 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. Henderson's column was "the longest running disability beat in Canada" according to Katie Ellis.{{Cite book|last=Ellis|first=Katie|title=Disability Media Work: Opportunities and Obstacles|publisher=Springer|year=2016|pages=39|via=Google Books}}

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".{{Cite web|url=https://www.cilt.ca/about-us/helen-henderson-award/|title=Helen Henderson Literary Award – CILT|language=en-US|access-date=2020-03-07}}