IDPwD: Highlighting Ben Clement and Every Day Stories

In honour of International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we would like to spotlight Ben Clement, a Toronto-born actor and artist educator.

A black and white headshot of Ben Clement

Ben has been honoured to be part of a 10-month fellowship called Sprout Ideas Fellowship for young social innovators. Through the fellowship, Ben has been working on the creation of a play based on the themes from the collective book “Every Day Stories”, which he co-authored. Similar to the book, the vision for the play is to break down the stigma around disability and we believe the whole world needs to see it!

The collaborative story-gathering journey resulted in a collection of incredibly important messages that raise awareness about the unique and equally valuable lived experiences of many different people with disabilities. The book, and stories contained within, come from a place of truth, honesty, and vulnerability. Although the authors and their stories are wonderfully unique, they each have something in common. Throughout the book runs a common thread of passion, joy, confidence, determination, and love.

Ben shares a like-minded passion to raise awareness, shift perspectives, and elevate our collective understanding that it is attitudes, built environments, systems, and policies that are disabling. Today, let’s reinforce our commitment to creating a world that’s more connected, understanding, and loving.

A photo of the Every Day Stories book on a wooden table. The title of the book is written in a colourful font. There is a pencil and ceramic mug nearby.


Follow the Every Day Stories project on Instagram: @UniqueStoriesThePlay.

You can find Ben on December 10, 2023 at The Disability Holiday Market (@disabilitycollective), in partnership with the Wagner-Green Centre for Access & Inclusion at the Miles Nadal JCC where he’ll have copies of the book for sale at the JCC table!

Alternatively, you can request a copy of the book by sending a direct message to @UniqueStoriesThePlay or email uniquestories100@gmail.com. Black and white copies are $10 and colour copies are $15.

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