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Haneman says he has to be careful when performing to know how far he is from the edge of the stage, but his visual impairment isn’t an obstacle to knowing his way around a fretboard. When he speaks, it will be more about his music than his disability.

“The reason I think this event is great, if I’m being frank, is that there’s sometimes a ‘Woe is me’ attitude in the disability, low-vision community,” Haneman said. “I don’t like ‘These people need your help’ kind of thing.

“This event is really, really great in that it’s trying to promote a healthy attitude. People with disabilities or visual impairment can do just as much as everybody else. We just might have to do things differently.”

Photo by Jean Levac / Ottawa Citizen

Other speakers include Jeffrey Stark, a blind software developer with Shared Services Canada, Dean Mellway, a Paralympian at Carleton University and mentor to Rick Hansen, and Phillip Turcotte, a lawyer with the Canadian Human Rights Commission, who graduated with highest honours from Carleton University and lives with Cerebral Palsy and learning disabilities.

“They won’t be pitching an idea. They’re just there to tell their story,” Brault said. “To be honest, the word disabled is not a very positive word. We wanted to show that when people are fully accessible, just how much potential they have.

“Our philosophy is that if you let us come in and you let us participate, we promise you we’ll meet that potential.”

The Accessible Potential open house comes as Bill C-81, the Accessible Canada Act, is poised to become law. The bill, introduced nearly a year ago, has cleared the House and the Senate and is expected to receive final approval this week. Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Public Services and Procurement, said Thursday that the Liberal government will support the bill, including its Senate amendments, when it comes to a vote.