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Archived Newsletters
October 1999
In this edition
EINS Update Upcoming Events Message from the Chair of EINS If You Can ... One Loop at a Time Infant Development Programs in British Columbia Guidelines to help assess a quality childcare centre On Discovering User Friendly Technology Evaluation of Treatment Options Editor's Note
| Allkids Services EIP (Glace Bay) Valerie Donovan / Margaret Ann Green |
phone 849-3429 |
| Antiginish ECIP Brenda MacInnis / Georgia Cleary | phone 863-2298 |
| Bright Beginnings EIP (Annapolis) Beth Roberts | phone 825-3411 |
| Colchester EIP (Truro) Ronda Bagnell | phone 893-3342 |
| Cumberland EIP (Amherst) Barb Boiduk / Robin Fage / Lisa Gower | phone 667-8244 |
| First Steps EIP (Lunenburg) Carol Langille | phone 634-8801 |
| Guysborough County EIP Brenda MacInnis / Karen Roberts | phone 863-2298 |
| L'Association pour L'Intervention Precoce aupres de la Jeune Enfance de Claire | phone 769-9000 |
| Pictou County EIP (New Glasgow) Lisa Jollymore | phone 752-1016 |
| Progress Centre for EI (Halifax) Patricia Morse / Vivien Blamire / Patty Monaghan Emilie Lively / Debra Reynolds-Banting Rhia Davidson / Wanda Jewers / Ann Upson | phone 423-2686 |
| Queens ECDA (Liverpool) Donna Dexter / Maggie Fortey |
phone 354-5890 |
| Sackville-Bedford EIP Caroline Gallop / Monique Dauphinee | phone 864-5251 |
| Shelburne County ECDA Debbie Churchill | phone 875-4067 |
| Cape Breton Family Place EIP Lisa Brewster / Judy McGinnis | phone 562-5616 |
| Valley Child Development Assn. (Kentville) Jamie Parker / Rebecca Dunstan / Crystal Strickland | phone 678-6111 |
| South West EIP (Yarmouth) Valerie Gullison | phone 742-3366 |
| Provincial Program Specialist Department of Community Services (Halifax) Angela Barnhart (Nancy Taylor) | phone 424-6286 |
Upcoming Events
October 21 - 23, 1999
Celebrating the Past, Building the Future
Family Service Canada's National Conference
Edmonton, Alberta
Phone : (613) 722-9006
October 22, 1999
Autism Workshop with Dr. Kim Ward and Kim Ukrainetz
Autism Treatment Services of Canada
Sydney, Nova Scotia
Phone : (403) 258-5501
October 22, 1999
Nova Scotia Teacher's Union Professional Development Day
various topics and locations within Nova Scotia
contact your local school board office for more information
October 28 - 30
Healthier Futures Through Recreation
Recreation Nova Scotia Halifax, Nova Scotia
Phone : (902) 425-1128
November 12 - 13
Moving Toward Success
Two day workshop on movement disorders / Cerebral Palsy presented by the
Cumberland Early Intervention Program in partnership with the Chignecto-Central Regional School Board and supported by an External Grant from the IWK Grace Health Centre Foundation.
Amherst, Nova Scotia
Phone : (902) 667-8244
November 20
Conductive Education
First Steps Early Intervention Program
Lunenburg, Nova Scotia
Phone : (902) 634-8801 ext. 3149
November 29 - 30
Partners For Progress : Working With Your Community
Western Region Department of Health White Point, Nova Scotia
Phone : (902) 742-3541 ext. 390
December 9 - 12
DEC Conference on Children with Special Needs
Council For Exceptional Children Washington, DC, USA
Phone : (407) 628-3602
If You Can ...
If you can start the day without caffeine,
If you can get going without pep pills,
If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles,
If you can eat the same food everyday and be grateful for it,
If you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to give you any time,
If you can overlook it when something goes wrong through no fault of yours and those you love take it out on you,
If you can take criticism and blame without resentment,
If you can ignore a friends' limited education and never correct him,
If you can resist treating a rich friend better than a poor friend,
If you can face the world without lies and deceit,
If you can conquer tension without medical help,
If you can relax without liquor,
If you can sleep without the aid of drugs,
If you can say honestly, deep in your heart, you hold no prejudices against creed, race, color, religion or politics,
Then my friends, you are almost as good as your pet !!
Congratulations to Nancy Taylor and her family and a warm welcome to Marshall Keith who was born on June 4, 1999 !!
Welcome also to Angela Barnhart who is occupying Nancy's desk until the end of her maternity leave in February 2000.
One Loop at a Time
by Rita Sannar
"He will never be able to tie his shoes. Buy Velcro," stated each of my son Andrew's teachers for the last ten years. However, as a family we still continued to try to teach this most fundamental of self-help skills, but with no success. I began to accept what the professionals had predicted. Children like Andrew are unable to perform the sequential steps necessary in this most basic task.
Well ... last week, two days before his fifteenth birthday, Andrew tied his shoes for the first time. Not once, but several times. His sister taught him how.
I have reflected on this experience over the past week and learned several things:
1. Never give up on yourself or another. In this fast-paced society in which we live, we are always looking for the quick fix, immediate gratification solution to our challenges. We want it all ... last week. Changes in others and ourselves take time and only come after much love, hard work, prayer, determination, and patience.
2. The parent or professional is not always the best teacher. Sometimes a peer or less emotionally involved family member can best meet an individual's needs. Ashelyn had set a goal to help Andrew learn to tie his shoes as part of the Young Women Personal Progress Program. When she excitedly shared the goal with me, I thought ... GOOD LUCK ("cause you are going to need it"). But I feigned enthusiasm as all good mothers do when their children set out to accomplish the unattainable. I watched in awe as she patiently and lovingly repeated, "Now make a loop, wrap it around ..."
And before long, almost like magic, he had it. I don't know who beamed the brighter, Ashelyn or Andrew, when they emerged from the bedroom to show off the newly acquired skill. It rivaled Christmas morning!
3. Shared goals have many advantages. Often times, we are afraid of failure, so we keep our goals to ourselves which extremely limits our support system. We need each other. When we share our goals with others, they become interested in our progress and spur us on in times of discouragement.
The power of a goal in black and white posted in a conspicuous place for everyone to view one's progress is far-reaching. Posted on our refrigerator is Andrew's 'I Can Learn to Tie My Shoes' Chart. His goal is to complete the task three times a day, earning a smiley face or star each time. There are a lot of people coming and going from our home each day. They notice the chart and make encouraging comments to Andrew, and he enjoys the attention and well deserved praise.
This month marks the beginning of a new school year for our children, and along with that come new expectations and goals. It is a time of renewal and fresh starts. Why don't we all capitalize on the back-to-school concept and set goals for ourselves. Make charts, post them, mark off your progress, and accept praise graciously. You might want to invest in some stickers, stars, and smiley faces. After all, growth should be fun and rewarding. And remember ... it's only one loop at a time. Just ask Andrew.
Thank you to Donna Dexter for sending along this from Andrew's mom.
Check It Out !!
Guidelines submitted by EINS Board Member Kim Arcon ... a handout from her son Rory's childcare centre
The following points can be used to help assess a quality childcare centre. While visiting a centre, ask yourself these questions :
GENERAL
Is the centre licensed?
What are the hours of operation?
STAFF
Are the staff warm and friendly?
Do the teachers ‘ get down' on each child's level to speak to each child?
Are the children greeted as they arrive?
Are children treated with fairness and consistency?
Are the teachers trained in CPR, first aid and early childhood education?
Will the teachers always be ready to answer your questions?
Are parents ideas welcomed? Are there ways for you to get involved?
Is there enough staff to serve the children?
Do the teachers seem to really like children?
PROGRAM
Is there a choice of activities, some directed by teachers and others chosen by the children?
Are activities appropriate to the child's age?
Is the schedule of daily activities planned in advance and available to parents?
Is there a daily balance of play time, story time, activity time and nap time?
Are you comfortable with the centre's policies regarding discipline, nap time and toilet training?
SETTING
Is the centre bright, clean and attractive?
Is the playground fenced in and free from hazards?
Are there different areas for resting, quiet play and active play?
Are there enough clean, safe toys and learning materials for the number of children?
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT
Are parents welcome to visit anytime and join in the program?
How are parents kept informed and involved? Is there a newsletter?
Ask about the centre's policy regarding such issues as illness, late arrival or departure, payment of fees, statutory holidays, vacation times, notice of withdrawal, fees for special events, emergencies, and supplies to be provided by the parents.
After you have collected all the information you need, you will be able to compare centres and select the one that best suits your needs and those of your child.
Message from the Chair of EINS, James Sanford
I would like to take this opportunity to comment on a number of developments that may be of interest to many of the families and professionals who receive this newsletter.
I want to take this opportunity to encourage any parents reading this newsletter to consider becoming a member of the Board of Directors of EINS at the upcoming AGM on October 16. We will see a number of our Directors leaving the Board this year and creating the need for dedicated volunteers to ensure the efforts of EINS and our local programs continue to be noticed and success achieved. Please contact me (902-798-9536) if you would like further information on the Board and the expectations of our volunteers. Parents play a key role in determining government support to early intervention and we need your help to bring that message forward.
The Association has been active in a number of areas:
-
The Professional Development Committee has been active developing the "The Early Years Conference". This initiative (our 4th Annual) is a partnership effort to provide families, Board Members, and professionals with an opportunity to obtain information that will assist in their efforts to support children with special needs and their families.
- The Advocacy Committee is active, continuing support efforts to ensure Early Intervention availability throughout NS, to ensure that Early Intervention is part of the Transition Planning to school entry, to ensure a meeting with the Minister to support these efforts and those of local boards takes place, and to schedule a meeting to discuss our partnership efforts with the IWK~Grace.
- The PR and Fundraising group has also been active working on our EINS poster update and Silent Auction for the Conference.
- EINS is also supporting efforts of another of our partners, the Truckers Association of NS, in their Annual Fundraiser.
- EINS has also been working with the Technical Resource Centre to develop an Early Intervention Technology Initiative.
The purpose of the initiative is to determine technology needs for the Early Intervention (EI) programs in NS. The focus will be in two areas:
1) Administrative (office management, service delivery and support, and communications).
2) Specials Needs Assistive Technology Services.
The objectives to achieve this focus will include conducting a survey and questionnaire of regional and provincial technology needs and developing a technology strategy and initiative through partnership, sponsorship and funding.
Parent and Board members will also have an opportunity to participate.
PLAN UPDATE
Interest grows in the possibility of developing a program in Nova Scotia that provides an opportunity for families to plan a secure future for a family member with a disability as well as providing and implementing a personal support network..
A small committee has been working since June to develop A Lifetime Advocacy Network in NS including an organizational structure, research information from other similar programs throughout Canada, and respond to workshop requests regarding planning for future issues that families have. A committee member recently attended a workshop in Toronto focused on the formation of this type of organization and plans are being developed to present a workshop updating PLAN progress as well Wills and Estate Planning.
The group has been invited to present information at the Moving Toward Success Conference in Amherst, November 12&13. The session will allow individuals to learn more about PLAN efforts in NS.
CSNA UPDATE
The Community Special Needs Alliance continues efforts to advocate collectively for appropriate support services on behalf of children, youth, and adults with special needs and their families.
The Alliance will be presenting information at the Moving Toward Success Conference in Amherst, November 12&13. The session will allow individuals to learn more about CSNA and the focus of advocacy efforts.
Current focus issues include Pediatric Home Care, the In Home Support Program, Respite, Family Benefits Act and Regulations, National Children's Agenda and Education.
CSNA meets the 3rd Wednesday of each month at 9:30 am. Meetings are held at the HACL office, 3845 Dutch Village Road, Halifax, NS, and anyone interested is welcome to attend.
James Sanford, Chairperson, EINS
Dear God
So Far Today
I haven't been greedy, grumpy,
I'm very thankful for that.
But in a few minutes, Lord,
Amen
I've done alright.
I haven't gossiped
I haven't lost my temper
I haven't lied or cheated.
Nasty, selfish or overindulgent.
I'm going to get out of bed.
And from then on, I'm probably
Going to need a lot more help !!
On Discovering User Friendly Technology
Every so often a learning opportunity presents itself that is not only pleasurable but timely and informative as well. Listening to James Roy, Assistive Resource Director at the Technical Resource Centre, located at Kings Regional Rehabilitation Centre in Waterville, Nova Scotia, provided just this mix. On August 24, the Progress Centre for Early Intervention hosted an information session about the range of services and equipment that are currently available through this resource facility. Among the group of eager listeners were parents, nurses, therapists, educators and early intervention specialists, all intent upon finding ways to enable children, youth and adults to feel a greater sense of inclusion by becoming more active communicators/learners with the aid of assistive technology.
From my perspective, the primary emphasis and major message underlying James' presentation was that he and his colleagues have developed an organization strongly committed to investigating, partnering with, and attempting to meet the needs existing within a given community. Whether the specific need is for early intervention-based, rehabilitative, family centered, educational, and/or some other form of supportive care and direction - this agency seeks to achieve the following major goals :
1. To develop, adapt, modify and explore both high and low assistive technology tools for the purpose of reaching out to individuals who experience a broad range of disabling conditions and who represent all different stages along the age spectrum.
2. To function as an active and ongoing hands-on facility able to inform, educate, train, demonstrate, share (through a technology loan program), advise, assess, offer consultation, and hone each of us into informed assistive technology consumers.
3. To increase our understanding of process particularly as it pertains to each person and the acquisition of particular functional skills*.
* [The Technical Resource Centre defines ‘functional skills' as those which ‘frequently are demanded in natural, domestic, vocational and community environments and which influence a student's ability to perform as independently as possible in the home, school and community at large.']
Much of our discussion during this two-hour talk centered upon increasing our own awareness of all the possibilities and flexibility that exists within the world of technology. Our speaker's mission was clearly to encourage each of us, in a time of more limited financial resources, to look beyond the assumption that costly computer applications are always the solution for helping people in their daily lives. Sometimes, James stressed, when the time was taken to determine what actually ‘moves' the child/person challenged with a disabling condition, an inexpensive technological solution such as a simple switch mechanism (e.g. the Big Mac) might become the effective and durable solution. In a video entitled ‘ Early Childhood Classroom : What is Typical?' we were able to view a teaching team put into practice the notion that we can serve a host of special needs with ‘reasonable, beneficial and everyday technology'. A second videotape ‘Imagine the Possibilities - Growing Up Capable' presented at the conclusion of this very full presentation, gave examples of ways in which adaptive technology was bridging the experiences of challenged children for the purposes of new learning, growing, joining in, being an active group member. In summary then, it is my sense that this talk was, as James Roy suggested in his opening remarks, a chance for all of us within the early intervention and broader special needs community to focus on empowerment and ways of becoming ‘response-ABLE'.
Technical Resource Centre
Kings Regional Rehabilitation Centre
P.O. Box 128, Waterville
Nova Scotia, B0P 1V0
Phone : (902)538-3103 Ext:112
Fax : (902)538-7022
Email : trc@nsnet.org
Website : http://www.nsnet.org
Barb Aronchick-Zachernuk, EINS Board Member
Evaluation of Treatment Options
The following suggestions to assist parents and caregivers in evaluating treatments for any child with special needs is adapted from a list of guidelines created by Dr. B.J. Freeman in her paper "Diagnosis of the Syndrome of Autism ; Questions Parents Ask".
Principles of Evaluating Treatment:
- approach any new treatment with hopeful skepticism. Remember the goal of any treatment should be to help the person become a fully functioning member of society.
- beware of any program or technique that is touted as effective or desirable for every child.
- beware of any program that thwarts individualization and potentially results in harmful program decisions.
- be aware that any treatment only represents one of several options.
- be aware that treatment should always depend on individual assessment information that points to it as an appropriate choice for a particular child.
- be aware that no new treatment should be implemented until its proponents can specify assessment procedures necessary to determine whether it will be appropriate for an individual child.
- be aware that debate over use of various techniques are often reduced to superficial arguments over who is right, moral and ethical and who is a true advocate for the children. This can lead to results that are directly opposite to those intended including impediments to maximizing programs.
- be aware that often new treatments have not been validated scientifically.
Questions to Ask Regarding Specific Treatments :
- will the treatment result in harm to the child?
- how will failure of the treatment affect my child and family?
- has the treatment been validated scientifically?
- are there assessment procedures specified?
- how will the treatment be integrated into the child's current program? Do not become so infatuated with a given treatment that functional curriculum, vocational, life and social skills are ignored.
And some inspiration ...
Respect little people for what they can do today, not for what they are supposed to do next year.
Look up to parents by seeing them through the eyes of their child.
Single parents deserve double praise.
Compliments of Ronda Bagnell.
Infant Development Programs in British Columbia
The following information was received from Heather Todd who works as an Infant Development Consultant in British Columbia. Heather had requested information about NS programs for their newsletter and was kind enough to return the favor for us ...
Infant development programs in bc are designed to support families who are raising young children with developmental delays or disabilities or at risk for developmental delays. The programs are well established and are available throughout most of british columbia. Since the first program started in vancouver in 1972, over 20,000 families have received service. In 1998, infant development consultants in 50 programs served over 4000 families. The program is available to families who are concerned about their child's development and wish to participate. Approximately 50% of the children are referred due to developmental delay, 25% referred are at risk for delay and 25% referred have a diagnosed disability. The bulk of referrals are made by public health nurses, physicians and parents.
The programs are funded by the ministry for children and families and are sponsored by a variety of voluntary agencies which include associations for community living, neurological societies, and family and children service societies. Staff report to an executive director and board of a voluntary society and also receive direction and support from a local advisory committee. Sitting on this advisory committee are parents who have used the services, a public health nurse, social worker, etc.
Staff function as generalists to gather information from a variety of sources and translate into practical daily use for the family. Most consultants have a degree in a field relating to child development - nursing, early childhood education, etc. There are approximately 100 full-time equivalent positions in the province. Some consultants work alone, though bigger centers have more staff. A full-time caseload is 15 - 20 families ideally, but many consultants are swamped with waitlists and overextended. Families are seen on an active basis (2 times per month), follow-up (less frequent visits), or monitor (no visits, but telephone contact and monitoring with ages and stages questionnaires).
The provincial advisor is dana brynelson. Generally two provincial inservices are scheduled each year, and at least one regional get together.
Their mandate is to work with children from birth to three. Homevisits are provided and a neurodevelopmental assessment done using gesell (rev.ed., 1980). Playgroups, support groups, toy and book resources are also offered. Many consultants are offering the mother goose program which offers songs, stories and rhymes for parents and their little ones.
The biggest challenges include the waitlists and the need for ongoing ‘selling' of this program to the government that provides funding. In bc there is a climate of restraint and cuts, as well as a very public child protection focus in the ministry. Changes in departmental structure recently has meant the loss of many government bureaucrats who were aware of and supportive of the infant development program in BC.
Thank you to Heather and her fellow consultants in BC. It would seem that many of the issues and approaches she reported are ones we share ...
Editor's Note
I am pleased to announce that I had MORE submissions from people than I could use in this newsletter!! It is a wonderful thing ... if you forwarded something and it isn't included rest assured that it is in my file for future use ... Contributions are always welcome ... our next issue will be in April 2000. Please send contributions by March 31 to:
Barb Boiduk
EINS Newsletter Editor
PO Box 997
Amherst, Nova Scotia B4H 4E1
Phone 667-8244 Fax 667-0585
Email ceip@atcon.com
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