Victor Siu represented his country in Turin, Italy, last year as part of Canada’s Special Olympics alpine skiing team.
October 5, 2026
Delivering Essential Programs for Individuals with Disabilities and their Families
His family’s pride in his great achievement is tinged with wonder and gratitude at his success, not only as a Special Olympian but also because of his current comfort level in his daily life. Victor was diagnosed with multiple learning disabilities as a young child. Today, he is a happy, confident adult, with a number of life skills, including holding a regular job and building social connections, as well as having particular prowess on the ski slopes.
“What transformed a special-needs child into a happy, outgoing, socially responsible young adult?” asked his father Stephen Siu in a recent speech at a fundraiser for the Alberta AdaptAbilities Association. “I would categorically say the AdaptAbilities programs have all contributed to Victor’s success.”
AdaptAbilities, founded in 2004 by Michelle Hordal, an adaptive physical education teacher who concentrated on students with special needs, is directed at supporting families and helping their children grow, succeed and belong.
“Our whole mission is centred around belonging,” says Hordal. “We champion inclusion for children and adults living with visible and invisible disabilities. The people who come to us have an opportunity to grow. They are welcomed and embraced for being themselves and they learn new skills while having fun.”
AdaptAbilities, which began as a small organization operating out of Hordal’s basement, now has 200-plus staff and offers a number of year-round programs for children, youth and adults at four locations, three in Edmonton and one in St. Albert. As the children involved have grown to adulthood, so have the number of programs being offered for older children and adults. Alongside this development, an increasing number of youngsters are joining the programs as well.
- BeYou is a social and recreational program designed to give opportunities for participants to make friendships, develop greater independence and take part in various activities.
- Community Connect is a social program for people who have finished high school.
- Hearts-in-Action Year-round Camp offers purposeful, fun activities for youngsters during school breaks. The Hearts-in-Action summer camp was the first program on offer and remains one of the most popular in the expanded canon.
- Out-of-school programs provide after-school care for children beyond daycare eligibility.
- Remote Support is individually tailored to help adults outside the Edmonton area build community online.
In addition, social nights and weekend respite sessions take place on a regular basis. In-home respite is available as required.
Offering respite to families came naturally to Hordal, who started giving this type of support while she was a university student. Even then, while she was providing respite for parents, she was “always wanting to make the time I spent with the kids meaningful and find activities that would help them grow.”
When she started teaching, she says, she regularly heard from working parents struggling to ensure that their children — especially children with disabilities — were cared for outside school hours on the 200 days of attendance and during the rest of the year.
“It was really the gaps in the system that I saw,” she says. “And even on the playground during school time, kids with disabilities were left out. While respite is about giving the families a break, it has a dual impact. We can support the families and offer goal-oriented activities to participants within our programming.
“We want our community specialists to be able to support the participants by finding them activities that interest them, that will help them grow, learn new skills and become more independent.
“Then,” she adds, “there’s that feeling of success which is wonderful for anybody. It may be seeing a new piece of your artwork displayed on the fridge, being able to ride your bike or doing something else that you couldn’t do before. It’s about being the best you can be.”
Certainly, Victor, who has been with AdaptAbilities for 22 years, is a clear example of this. As his sister, Megan says, “Thank you for accepting Victor for who he is and for showing us who he can become.”
In the more than two decades that AdaptAbilities has been a force in supporting people with disabilities and their families and in having an impact for the general good in the community, the organization has served some 2,859 families in the Edmonton area.
The next step, says Hordal, who received a business leadership award from the City of Edmonton last year, is to expand AdaptAbilities’ services across Alberta. The organization hopes to reach out to 10,000 families by 2035.