--- title: The Latest | Donna Thomson description: "Donna began her career as an actor, director and teacher. But in 1988, when her son Nicholas was born with severe disabilities, Donna embarked on her second career as a disability activist, author, consultant and writer. In her book, \"THE FOUR WALLS OF MY FREEDOM\", Donna examines her personal family experience with caregiving, probing the ethics and economics of how families giving and receiving care can flourish in society. Donna examines how social innovation leading to practical solutions can help families thrive even in very challenging circumstances - a subject she blogs about regularly at her site \"The Caregivers' Living Room\" (www.donnathomson.com). Donna also writes extensively for magazines on the topics of eldercare, disability parenting and family caregiving. Donna is the Special Advisor for Caregiving at Tyze Personal Networks and is a Senior Advisor to the PLAN Institute for Caring Citizenship. She is a board director of NeuroDevNet, a Canadian Network of Centres of Excellence (NCE). She is the co-founder of Lifetime Networks Ottawa, a PLAN affiliate and speaks often on the subject of integrated, coordinated networks of professional and personal support to ease the way for families giving care in the community. Donna is also an instructor at the Advocacy School (Ottawa, Canada), teaching families how to employ best practice political advocacy strategies when advocating for care. She consults to hospitals and research projects, representing the interests of patients and families. Donna holds degrees in Fine Art (Theatre), Education and Theatre in Education. She has spoken on disability and family wellbeing extensively, including at the London School of Economics, the Skoll World Forum, and the International Centre for Evidence in Disability." --- [![20yrLogo-2_WhiteOrange](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/hs-fs/hubfs/Administration/Tamarack%20Logos/20yrLogo-2_WhiteOrange.png?width=200&height=47&name=20yrLogo-2_WhiteOrange.png "20yrLogo-2_WhiteOrange")](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/?hsLang=en-us) # The Latest Contribute. We love to hear your thoughts, your musings and your latest work. Please share with us! [![Write a post](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/316071/33819a55-1164-4664-8ab0-c9fe2f42d6f1.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/316071/33819a55-1164-4664-8ab0-c9fe2f42d6f1) #### Subscribe. Be in the know. Get the latest updates about community change and building vibrant communities. [Learn More](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/subscribe?hsLang=en-us) × - [Climate Change & SDGs](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/latest/topic/climate-transitions) - [Collective Impact](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/latest/topic/collective-impact) - [Community Engagement](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/latest/topic/community-engagement) - [Community Development](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/latest/topic/cities-deepening-community) - [Evaluation](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/latest/topic/evaluation) - [Innovation](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/latest/topic/community-innovation) - [Leadership](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/latest/topic/collaborative-leadership) - [Poverty](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/latest/topic/cities-reducing-poverty) - [Youth](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/latest/topic/communities-building-youth-futures) ## Donna Thomson ![Donna Thomson](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/hubfs/Photos/Headshots/donna-300x282.jpeg) Donna began her career as an actor, director and teacher. But in 1988, when her son Nicholas was born with severe disabilities, Donna embarked on her second career as a disability activist, author, consultant and writer. In her book, "THE FOUR WALLS OF MY FREEDOM", Donna examines her personal family experience with caregiving, probing the ethics and economics of how families giving and receiving care can flourish in society. Donna examines how social innovation leading to practical solutions can help families thrive even in very challenging circumstances - a subject she blogs about regularly at her site "The Caregivers' Living Room" (www.donnathomson.com). Donna also writes extensively for magazines on the topics of eldercare, disability parenting and family caregiving. Donna is the Special Advisor for Caregiving at Tyze Personal Networks and is a Senior Advisor to the PLAN Institute for Caring Citizenship. She is a board director of NeuroDevNet, a Canadian Network of Centres of Excellence (NCE). She is the co-founder of Lifetime Networks Ottawa, a PLAN affiliate and speaks often on the subject of integrated, coordinated networks of professional and personal support to ease the way for families giving care in the community. Donna is also an instructor at the Advocacy School (Ottawa, Canada), teaching families how to employ best practice political advocacy strategies when advocating for care. She consults to hospitals and research projects, representing the interests of patients and families. Donna holds degrees in Fine Art (Theatre), Education and Theatre in Education. She has spoken on disability and family wellbeing extensively, including at the London School of Economics, the Skoll World Forum, and the International Centre for Evidence in Disability. ### Recent Posts [![](https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tcySo0_ZOEU/XKz6Kf94JGI/AAAAAAAAEcI/zSKpP9UB7i8RG29eZat5YqoI-ffYYnp0QCLcBGAs/s400/1140-Caregiving-Dealing-with-Long-Grind.imgcache.rev13bf077dfb5a2c3abc7016fddcd0651b.jpg) ](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/latest/natural-caring-a-new-way-to-think-about-what-we-do-best-everyday?hsLang=en-us) ### [Natural Caring: A New Way to Think About What We Do Best Everyday](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/latest/natural-caring-a-new-way-to-think-about-what-we-do-best-everyday?hsLang=en-us) Posted by [Donna Thomson](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/latest/author/donna-thomson) on April 15, 2019 Today I listened in to a podcast called "Caring Counts: A Celebration of Natural Caring" featuring Canadian social innovators, Paul Born, Al Etmanski and Vickie Cammack.  Vickie and Al are champions of natural caring, which they define this way: *Natural caring is love in action. It is freely given. It involves a relationship with someone or something we care deeply about. It is flexible and responsive to the situation. It is reciprocal, with meaning for both the giver and the receiver.* [Read More](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/latest/natural-caring-a-new-way-to-think-about-what-we-do-best-everyday?hsLang=en-us) [![](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/hubfs/elephants.jpg) ](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/latest/new-way-to-share-care-its-as-easy-as-abcd?hsLang=en-us) ### [A New Way to Share Care - It's as Easy as ABCD!](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/latest/new-way-to-share-care-its-as-easy-as-abcd?hsLang=en-us) Posted by [Donna Thomson](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/latest/author/donna-thomson) on April 22, 2018 I'm just back from a truly inspiring conference hosted by the [Asset Based Community Development Institute](https://resources.depaul.edu/abcd-institute/Pages/default.aspx) (or ABCD) and their Canadian partner, [Deepening Community at the Tamarack Institute](https://www.deepeningcommunity.org/abcd-canada-home?hsLang=en-us). The conference was titled "[ABCD For Healthy Neighbourhoods](https://events.tamarackcommunity.ca/abcd?hsLang=en-us)" and what I learned from [John McKnight](https://resources.depaul.edu/abcd-institute/faculty/Pages/john-mcknight.aspx), [Cormac Russell](https://resources.depaul.edu/abcd-institute/faculty/international-faculty/Pages/cormac-russell.aspx), [Al Etmanski](https://resources.depaul.edu/abcd-institute/faculty/international-faculty/Pages/al-etmanski.aspx) and [Paul Born](https://resources.depaul.edu/abcd-institute/faculty/international-faculty/Pages/paul-born.aspx) (they are the ABCD Faculty) changed the way I think about our caregiving community. [Read More](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/latest/new-way-to-share-care-its-as-easy-as-abcd?hsLang=en-us) [![20yrLogo-2_WhiteOrange](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/hs-fs/hubfs/Administration/Tamarack%20Logos/20yrLogo-2_WhiteOrange.png?width=3401&name=20yrLogo-2_WhiteOrange.png "20yrLogo-2_WhiteOrange")](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/?hsLang=en-us) ### Tamarack [Home](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/?hsLang=en-us) [Latest](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/latest) [Events](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/eventlisting?hsLang=en-us) [Donate](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/donate?hsLang=en-us) [About](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/whoweare?hsLang=en-us) ### Follow Us [** ** ](https://www.facebook.com/TamarackInstitute) [** ** ](https://twitter.com/Tamarack_Inst) [** ** ](https://www.linkedin.com/company/tamarack-institute-for-community-engagement)   In the spirit of respect, reciprocity, and truth we honour and acknowledge that our work occurs across Turtle Island (North America), which has been home since time immemorial to the ancestors of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Peoples. ### Subscribe Be in the know. Get the latest updates, events and resources about community change. [Learn More](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/subscribe?hsLang=en-us) Tamarack Institute © 2023