Standing in the silver medal position on the podium at the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Helsinki, Finland, on October 29, 1999, it began to dawn on Amy Alsop that her dream of participating in the 2000 Paralympics had just become a reality.

She had no way of knowing, however, that exactly one year later -- on October 29, 2000 -- she would be standing on a similar podium in front of thousands of cheering spectators in Sydney, Australia, this time accepting gold for Canada.

Amy was born on June 30, 1978, in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. She was born with a condition, never accurately diagnosed, that resulted in her having limited vision. Although her parents knew she had trouble seeing, the severity of Amy's disability went undiagnosed until she began attending kindergarten. Teachers realized that Amy could not easily see writing on the blackboard and had difficulty participating in many of the school's daily activities. Her vision problem was found to be uncorrectable.

Notwithstanding her limited vision, Amy attended regular schools her entire student life -- not an option for Canadians with vision disabilities only a few decades before. She attended university and graduated with the rest of her class in four years, thanks to the supports she was able to access through the campus's disability services centre and its organization of students with disabilities -- both of which had not existed even ten years earlier.

Following graduation, Amy began her hunt for employment. After less than three months of job searching, Amy secured a permanent, full-time position with a local manufacturing company in Saskatoon. She had the rare pleasure of being hired to work in the field in which she had been trained.

In short, Amy has lived like the majority of Canadians her age. She has had the same lifestyle and career goals as her able-bodied peers, and there was never a question of limiting her expectations. The barriers she faced as a result of her disability were minimal to non-existent.

Amy's successes to date are the result of three factors. First, from a very early age Amy was gifted with a strong will and a clear personal sense of purpose. She knew as a young girl what she wanted. She knew she wanted to get a university education and never doubted being able to do so -- for Amy, her disability never factored into the decision. Access was assumed.

Second, she had a supportive mother, Carole. Whether in sport, academics or social activities, Carole never held back her enthusiasm or support for the goals Amy set for herself. In this respect she treated both of her daughters the same.

Third, Amy's ability to "assume access" is a testament to the battles fought and won by and for people with disabilities -- battles to ensure that people with disabilities would have an equal opportunity to live, and participate, in all aspects of their communities. Growing up in the 1980s and 1990s, Amy has enjoyed the benefits -- improved services and increased public acceptance of people with disabilities -- that so many had fought for over the previous thirty years.

Throughout her life, Amy has done the things other kids -- kids without disabilities -- her age have done. And she did it alongside them -- again, a testament to a strong personality and to a more open and inclusive community. Amy's success can be seen, in part, as evidence of the hard work of countless Canadians who fought the battles of inclusion, in many cases before she was even born.

While attending elementary school, Amy needed few accommodations to participate in class. The books, designed for young readers, were already written in print that was large enough for her to read on her own. She required only two accommodations: she sat in the front row to see the board, and she had an itinerant teacher three times a week.

The supplementary teacher helped her with any school work she might have fallen behind in. More importantly, she also provided mobility training to help Amy become independent. When Amy was younger, between the ages of eight and ten, the itinerant teacher would take her into the community around her school and her home, teaching her how to navigate in the outdoors, or practical activities of daily living such as how to get around in the corner store. When Amy was slightly older, between the ages of eleven and thirteen, they ventured further afield, taking public transportation downtown and learning more challenging skills -- skills she would need later in life. At this age Amy also started using a monocular in class, which allowed her to sit farther back but still see the blackboard.

To meet with the itinerant teacher Amy was forced to miss other classes -- classes deemed "less essential" to her academic development. She skipped band and music classes. "To this day, I can't play any musical instruments," says Amy.

Although integrated in class, Amy did find that her disability placed limitations on her ability to participate in the less formal side of school life. "I was never super big in the friends department," recalls Amy, "because I couldn't see what was going on at recess."

Instead, Amy focused on achieving her own personal goals, and thanks to the support she received from her mother and a few close friends, looks back on her school years with fondness.

"While some of the kids teased me, I was never bothered by it that much. I always knew I was going to succeed in life. As early as grade five I knew I was going to go to university and get a good job," says Amy.

One class Amy refused to skip for her alternate training was physical education. "I have always loved all types of sports," declares Amy. Amy enjoyed running, swimming and dodge ball -- but admits that "I was better at throwing the ball than dodging it."

Achieving goals, and getting hooked on goalball

At the age of fourteen, Amy had the unique opportunity to participate in the Canada Games. Held in Kamloops, British Columbia, in 1993, these games were the first elite-level sporting event in Canada to include events for athletes with disabilities as part of the regular program. Although it was not full integration (athletes with disabilities were competing within their own group), it was the first time in Canadian history that games for athletes with and without disabilities were held simultaneously at the Canada Games. Organizers integrated two events: 400-metre track for male wheelchair racers, and 50-metre freestyle swimming for women with vision disabilities.

Launel Scott, President of the Canadian Blind Sport Association and a resident of Saskatoon, invited Amy to represent Saskatchewan at the Canada Games. Amy agreed.

She finished second to last. The poor showing didn't deter Amy from pursuing her passion for sports. If anything, it only cemented her resolve to continue competing -- just not in swimming.

"I was truly proud at the Canada Games in 1993," says Amy. "I had watched the games when they were in Saskatoon in 1989, and knew the excitement they had generated. I never dreamed that I would be a participant four years later."

Despite her disability, Amy felt that she was treated like any other athlete. "The other athletes never made me feel like I didn't belong," she says.

There was only one mishap at the event that she attributes to her blindness -- she fell down a flight of stairs. "They weren't marked with bright yellow tape along the edges," remarks Amy matter-of-factly (a perfect example that many Canadians her age with disabilities have come to "assume access").

Shortly after the Canada Games, Launel Scott, who is also Saskatchewan's provincial coach for blind sport, invited Amy to play goalball. Goalball, which uses a sound-emitting ball, is a sport designed for people with vision disabilities.

Launel sensed great athletic ability within Amy Alsop. "When I first met Amy she was only twelve," Launel says, "but even then she was a go-getter, and I knew instantly she had the potential to be a great athlete."

Amy says that "after the first game, I was hooked" on the sport of goalball. Although she had agreed to swim at the 1993 Canada Games, Amy believes that her personality and interests are geared more toward team sports. Goalball, with three players per team on the court, allowed her an opportunity to explore these skills. Her passion was sparked.

Goalball is played on a volleyball court. Two teams face each other across the court. Since only a small proportion of people with vision disabilities are totally blind, all players are blindfolded to ensure fairness. One team throws a ball -- slightly larger than a basketball, with metal discs inside which cause the ball to make a noise as it travels across the court -- while the other team tries to keep the ball from crossing its goal line, which stretches the entire width of the volleyball court. Using their hearing to direct the play, players often throw themselves full length in front of the oncoming ball in their attempts to keep the ball away from their goal line.

Given the size of the goal line, one would expect high-scoring games. In fact, the opposite is true. At the 2000 Summer Paralympic Games, Canada won eight of nine games -- six of which ended in a score of one to nothing.

Fourteen-year-old Amy began to practise goalball once a week. The next year she participated in her first national goalball tournament in Montreal. Amy's team lost all eight of its games. Undeterred, Amy returned to Saskatoon to continue to practise.

Six years after her first game, Amy would receive her first Olympic gold medal. In Sydney, Australia, Canada became the first-ranked female goalball team in the world.

"Amy's travel with blind sports has helped her mature," says Launel. "It has broadened her views and opened her mind to different cultures."

In grade twelve, Amy chose to study Commerce at the Saskatoon campus of the University of Saskatchewan. She was determined to complete the degree in four years. "I wanted to graduate and begin my new career in the year 2000 -- the beginning of the new millennium!" says Amy.

She adds that without the invaluable support of the university's disability services program and association of students with disabilities "my experience at university would have been much more difficult."

Policies developed by the Disabled Students Centre and adopted by the university many years before allowed Amy extra time and the use of a computer to write exams. These policies were implemented not to give an advantage to students with disabilities, but rather to level the playing field by accommodating their disabilities.

Amy received support from her professors as well. Whereas in the 1980s and even 1990s some Canadian university professors were reluctant to accommodate the needs of students with disabilities – some steadfastly refusing, Amy never had any problems with her professors. She attributes this to the fact that the Disabled Students Centre had educated all professors about the realities of living with different types of disabilities. But she also thinks her positive experience was due in part to her own personality. "I talked to the professors, explained to them my circumstances and generally made them feel comfortable," Amy says.

Amy graduated with a bachelor's degree in Commerce in April, 2000, hence achieving a goal she had set for herself in grade five -- a university degree.

Balancing sport with work

Rather than wait until after the Paralympics to start her career, Amy immediately set out to find a job.

"I needed a job," says Amy, "not just to pay back student loans, but for balance."

For Amy, life was not solely about sports. Throughout her life she had had something else -- usually school. For the weeks after she finished university and was looking for work, her sport suffered. She had no motivation to train.

Like many people, Amy's self-esteem is connected, to a certain extent, to her perception of herself as a contributing member of society. While at university, she had known she was preparing for the job market. After graduating, many of her colleagues immediately began to work. Amy was left looking for a job, and her sense of self-worth began to suffer. This in turn impacted on her performance on the goalball court.

Thus, while many suggested she wait until after Sydney to find a job, Amy knew she had to find one sooner. "Work was always as important to me as sports," says Amy. "I need both in my life."

After two months of looking for work on her own Amy decided to enter the Youth Experience Program. Jointly sponsored by the Saskatchewan provincial government and the Government of Canada, the program assists recent graduates in an intensive job search. Once a participant secures a job, the program offers the employer a wage subsidy for the first thirteen weeks of the youth's employment.

Unlike other participants in the program, Amy faced the added challenge that she would be spending three weeks in October in Sydney, Australia. What employer would hire someone new only to see her leave so soon for such a significant period of time?

After a few weeks during which she spent hours per day making telephone calls, Amy landed an interview with Spadina Industries, a small manufacturer of mattresses. Unfortunately, events seemed to conspire against her -- she was to be at a tournament, out of the country, when they wanted to interview her.

Several weeks later, Amy finally met with the owners of Spadina Industries -- and much to her relief, they were avid sport fans. They were very supportive of her going to the Paralympics in Sydney.

She was hired as the company's Customer and Quality Assurance Coordinator. In addition to quality control, her responsibilities included inventory control, scheduling and marketing.

"While I was able to land a job in my own field -- my major was marketing and production operations management -- I quickly learned that I didn't really know anything!" laughs Amy. When studying toward her Commerce degree, Amy had been taught macro theory; in the real world, she was working at a very "micro" level.

For now, Amy is happy with her choice of career. She is learning and she is contributing. Working in a small company, she is also gaining valuable management experience -- experience which she hopes one day, perhaps in ten years or so, to parlay into her own business.

What does she see as her business of choice? Sport, of course. Once she retires from active sport herself, Amy would like to turn her passion for sport into a business. "But that is still a long time off, and circumstances change," she adds quickly. "For now, I can't imagine being anywhere else."

Today, in addition to work and sports, Amy loves the outdoors -- she is especially fond of camping and fishing. She likes to go camping with her older sister, Cara, and Cara's husband, Kevin, in northern Saskatchewan. "It's relaxing, peaceful, and I like to fish," explains Amy.

Amy has also become involved in the organization side of sport. She currently sits on the board of directors of the Canadian Blind Sports Association and assists Launel Scott with the provincial goalball team.

"I relate to her because she catches on to concepts quickly," explains Launel. "I know I can rely on her to help with the leadership of the provincial team."

She continues to live at home with her mother, Carole, because "the room and board is cheap, and I have loans to pay off!"

Amy remains very close to her mother. "While I can't really say I have a hero," says Amy, "I really admire and respect my mom -- she has been my greatest support my entire life."

Coming into her own

In reflecting on some of the challenges facing Canada today, Amy is influenced by her training and experience in commerce. She believes that our country's "ability to compete economically in a global village" is a concerning issue. "We have to make Canada attractive to business -- foreign and domestic -- or we will suffer," she says.

Amy believes that Canada is not changing as quickly as other countries, particularly the United States. Canada, she believes, is too focused on non-economic, domestic issues. "We need to be able to compete on a world level," she declares.

At 23, Amy is focused on her own personal development -- both professionally and in sport. She considers herself fortunate to have never experienced the barriers faced by so many other Canadians with disabilities.

In many ways, Amy's experience exemplifies the benefits of services which others before her fought so hard to secure. It reflects the fact that those who faced barriers before her -- barriers to education, employment, sport and community participation -- had some success in their efforts at removing them.

Amy takes for granted her right to live and work independently in her own community. She uses disability-related services with an expectation that she has a right to them. These services have allowed her the opportunity to develop into a "complete" person -- someone who contributes to her community, to society, to the economy -- and, like most people who work, to the taxman.

She has not faced the attitudinal and systemic barriers that so many other people with disabilities have faced.

Amy is a testament to the success of the disability rights movement in Canada. She is a direct beneficiary of the efforts of people like Allan Simpson, Shaun McCormick, Norm Haw and Gary McPherson, people who fought both individually and collectively for the right of all people to participate in community activities.

Her struggles finding a job were related not to her disability but to her youth. In seeking to address this challenge she turned not to an employment program for people with disabilities, but rather to a program targeted at helping youth.

In relating her story, Amy emphasizes her "sameness" as her non-disabled peers. Goalball, for Amy, wasn't an occasion to build self-esteem, as participation in disability sports in the past has been for some. She came into the sport with plenty of self-esteem.

Nor did she take up goalball because she lacked a social outlet. Amy had several close able-bodied friends and many opportunities to socialize.

For Amy, goalball was about doing something she enjoyed and, in the process, testing and expanding her own skills and abilities. It wasn't about proving her worth to society. She assumes a fundamental self-worthiness.

Goalball is for Amy what any other sport is to any other elite athlete. No more, no less.

As we watch Amy Alsop grow and develop over the coming years, we will no doubt witness a young woman coming into her own -- whatever she chooses to do.

Has Canada entered an era of equality for people with disabilities, or is Amy an exception? To answer this we simply need to look around our respective communities and ask ourselves, "Is my community accessible to people with disabilities? Are youth with disabilities present in local schools? Are people with disabilities active in the workplace? Are they participating as fully as they may wish?"