Don Peuramaki

Don Peuramaki
Nationality Canada
Occupation Media producer
Known for Writer, naturalist, advocate for those with disabilities

Don Peuramaki is an award winning Canadian producer, writer, advocate for the rights of individuals with disabilities and naturalist.[1] He has been described as a leader in efforts to recognize the role individuals with disabilities can play in the Canadian workplace.[2][3][4]

Media and advocacy career

According to the Toronto Star Peuramaki was an associate producer for CILT-FM in 1988.[5] They described him as senior producer of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's The Disability Network in 1991, when they reported his opinion on GO Transit's announcement that its trains would be full accessible by 1993.[6] In 2004, following an announcement by the Canadian Radio and Television Commission that mandated greater opportunities for inclusion for individuals with disabilities, the Toronto Star credited Peuramaki with a greater share of the credit than it did to the CRTC.[2][4][7] They reported he "is credited with leading the battle for change."[3]

According to the Globe and Mail Peuramaki was one of the speakers invited to address a conference on diversity in the workplace convened by the Richard Ivey School of Business at Western Ontario.[1] Peuramaki told attendees that the modern working environment has more tools to effectively employ the skills of individuals with disabilities.

Peuramaki was a co-author of an article published in the Ivey Business Journal advising employers how to work to comply with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, which requires workplaces to be fully accessible by 2025.[8] The journal describes him as the President of Fireweed Media, which they describe as a media production company owned and operated by individuals with disabilities.[9] They describe Peuramaki and his co-authors as possessing "extensive experience in researching and implementing workplace disability programs and initiatives". The Globe and Mail on the other hand describes him as Fireweed Media's Executive Director.[1]

In 2002 the Highlands Video Projects Committee listed Peuramaki's expertise when they drafted a proposal to promote tourism in Haliburton County through the production of natural history and tourism videos.[10]

Peuramaki's earliest work in the fields of publishing and media production on the public record was his work as an illustrator on a children's book, Bigfoot Betty, in 1980.[11]

Private life

Peuramaki has been listed as a member or cited observer by amateur birdwatching organizations.[12][13][14][15]

In 2002 former Prime Minister of Canada Joe Clark described enjoying Peuramaki attendance at the book launch of his new book "Building Accessible Websites".[16]

Awards

In 1994, while Peuramaki was senior producer The Disability Network won the Excellence for Television Newsmagazine Programs award, given by the California Governor’s Committee for Employment of Disabled Persons, and one of the series episodes won the best documentary award.[17]

On December 4, 2004, Toronto Mayor David Miller honored six individuals, including Peuramiki, with a 2006 Unsung Hero award, on the occasion of International Day of People with Disability and Human Rights Month.[18]

In 2005 the Canadian Association of Independent Living Centres honored Peuramaki with its 2005 Consumer award.[19] The award is given to individuals who live in an Independent Living Centre who have overcome career barriers.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Wallace Immen (2007-03-21). "For employers, it pays to support disabilities". Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2012-03-14. 'There are still a lot of myths. A lot of people think being disabled means people in wheelchairs,' Don Peuramaki, executive producer for Fireweed Media in Toronto, told the Ivey conference. But disabilities range from sight, speech and hearing deficits to learning disabilities, epilepsy and mental health issues.
  2. 1 2 Andrew Cardozo (2004-02-03). "Disabled finally making inroads on television". Toronto Star. p. A.19. Retrieved 2012-03-14. Some of the credit obviously goes to the CRTC. But most of the kudos belongs to Peuramaki who demonstrated that one person could take on the federal regulator and the broadcasting industry and get them on side.
  3. 1 2 Helen Henderson (2004-04-10). "Broadcast watchdog's criteria open airwaves". Toronto Star. p. K.04. Retrieved 2012-03-14. Today, disability is seen as a frightening thing, says Peuramaki, who is credited with leading the battle for change. In large part because of the way in which the media misrepresents them, people who move or communicate differently from society's ill-conceived norm are perceived to be little more than charity cases, he notes.
  4. 1 2 Ian Sutton (March 2004). "Beyond Tokenism". Broadcaster (magazine). Retrieved 2012-03-14. Although the Broadcasting Act states that broadcasting should be made accessible to those with disabilities, Morrisette points out that it omits specific reference to people with disabilities in terms of employment and programming. Morrisette gives particular credit to Don Peuramaki for his persistence in persuading the CRTC that the five million Canadians with disabilities require regulatory action to bring their role in society into proper focus through the television medium.
  5. ↑ Mary Ann Brett (1988-01-11). "Hotline can help in difficult battle to quit smoking". Toronto Star. p. B.7. Retrieved 2012-03-14. Peter Reynolds is the executive producer, John Southern the producer and Don Peuramaki is associate producer.
  6. ↑ Krishna Rau (1991-05-31). "Car for disabled promised on all GO trains in two years". Toronto Star. p. A.5. Retrieved 2012-03-14. 'If you're looking at the area of employment, it really opens up a lot of opportunities,' said Don Peuramaki, senior producer of CBC's The Disability Network.
  7. ↑ Don Barrie (2004). "Getting Disability Back on the Media Table" (PDF). In the stream. Retrieved 2012-03-15.
  8. ↑ Alison M. Konrad; Kaye Leslie; Don Peuramaki (October 2007). "Full accessibility by 2025: will your business by ready?". Ivey Business Journal. Retrieved 2012-03-14. It won’t be long before companies in the province of Ontario, like companies in some other jurisdictions around the world, will be obliged by law to accommodate people with disabilities. These authors, who have extensive experience in researching and implementing workplace disability programs and initiatives, provide a concise and comprehensive “how to” for organizations on everything from defining “disability” to meeting their ultimate obligations.
  9. ↑ "Don Peuramaki". Ivey Business Journal. Don Peuramaki is President of Fireweed Media Productions Inc., an independent production company owned and operated by people with disabilities.
  10. ↑ "HIGHLANDS VIDEO PROJECTS: Heritage and Promotion" (PDF). Highlands Video Projects Committee. 2002. Retrieved 2012-03-14. Don Peuramaki has rich experience over eight years as senior and executive producer of “Disability Network”, a nationally televised, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation coproduction series of more than 200 weekly programmes. He regularly attends the International Banff Film and Television Festivals which draws over 1,600 people annually. At this festival he discusses potential projects with co-producers, broadcasters, other funders and distributors from across Canada and around the world. He also attends meetings of the Canadian Independent Film Caucus, the HotDocs Festival in Toronto, and other industry seminars and meetings that focus on financing and marketing topics.
  11. ↑ Rebecca Ryan; Mary Ramsay (1980). Bigfoot Betty. Don Peuramaki (illus.). Tired Teddybear Productions. ISBN 978-0-920682-08-1. Retrieved 2012-03-15.
  12. ↑ "Toronto High Park Raptor Watch – Nov. 8 to 14". Ontbirds. 2010-11-08. Retrieved 2012-03-14. A very slow week with only 28 birds observed. However, in the previous week we observed a Krider's Red-tailed Hawk. Here is how it was described by Don Peuramaki...
  13. ↑ Naish McHugh (October 2006). "The following are our individual totals for both the 24th and 25th October.". Ontbirds. Retrieved 2012-03-14. Thanks to the small group of dedicated observers who worked hard these last two days. A special thanks to Don Peuramaki for identifying the Swainson's Hawk.
  14. ↑ "Black-throated Blue Warblers in late fall and winter in the Greater Toronto Area" (PDF). Toronto Birds. January 2009. Retrieved 2012-03-14. According to the database, there are just two previous winter records of this species in the GTA. Back in 1989, a female was found at or adjacent to Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto, between 14 January (Harry Kerr) and 19 February 1989 (Don Peuramaki).
  15. ↑ Victor W. Fazio, III, Rick Wiltraut. "Eastern Highlands & Upper Ohio River Valley". North American Birds. 61 (1): 63–68.
  16. ↑ Joe Clark (2002-12-08). "Building Accessible Websites: a NEW BOOK on WEB ACCESSIBILITY by Joe Clark". Retrieved 2012-03-14. Over the course of the evening (and this is where I get to play gossip columnist, with boldfacing and everything – and, HTML purists, take note, in gossip columns bold is semantic markup!), we enjoyed the company of Bill McQueen and Don Peuramaki of Fireweed Media Productions, with whom I chatted about heart–double-lung transplants and captioning;
  17. ↑ "D-Net is Honoured with Media Access Awards". Abilities (magazine). 1994. Retrieved 2012-03-14.
  18. ↑ "City of Toronto recognizes unsung heroes, residents speak out at International Day of People with Disability celebration". City of Toronto. 2006-12-04. Retrieved 2012-03-14.
  19. ↑ "Celebrating 20 Years of Success" (PDF). Canadian Association of Independent Living Centres. 2006. Retrieved 2012-03-14. The winner of the 2005 Consumer award was Don Peuramaki of Toronto. Don's background in the area of telecommunications and media spans many years. He has been a strong advocate for appropriate disability representation in the media.
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