Ted Leider, 60, sole practitioner, Richmond Hill, Ont.
Our son was born 18 years ago and he was diagnosed with a serious heart defect. He had open heart surgery at 21⁄2, and, while he was recovering, it was determined he was quite severely autistic. I wanted to stay home with him, so I quit my practice and my wife, Diana, who’s also an accountant, continued working. When I started looking for services for my son, the schools didn’t want him. I found four other fathers of kids in similar situations; we pooled our resources and skills and opened our own not-for-profit therapy centre called The Shining Through Centre: Educating Children with Autism. After several years, everything was working great, so I stepped back.
I slowly started getting back into accounting, but not full time, because I still needed to be home with my son — I drop him off at school, pick him up and continue to be involved in his programming. Now that my practice is moving along well, I thought, I’m not doing much for the community. That’s why I decided to run for municipal council.
One way I balance everything is to ensure my clients understand that my son is a priority. I won’t take clients who are demanding or expect me to meet strict deadlines. Fortunately, my clients are all very understanding.
Another way my wife and I balance our family life and enjoy everything life has to offer is by bringing our son along everywhere we can — on the subway, shopping, swimming, skiing. When he’s skiing (attached to harnesses and tethers because he can’t ski alone), he laughs and sings as he goes down the hills — and that’s the best feeling in the world.
— As told to Wendy Haaf