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https://cnib.ca/en/event/virtual-music-kidsMusic Therapist Erin Koop hosts weekly sessions on Zoom for children and youth participants across the country. These interactive sessions are filled with songs, stories, and more! Get ready to make some music! This group runs via Zoom web conference every Tuesday from 2 to 2:45 p.m. Pacific Time. Call in information will be given upon registration.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4E98HDsPXrf5kTKIgrSmtQ

Interviews with disabled and neurodiverse people. SBSK started when I was a teacher for students with disabilities/neurodiversities. My students and I set out to publish a book in which they shared what life is like from their perspective. We hoped that this would help educate others on what it is like to live with a disability. No publishers were interested so we then started creating videos. Soon, people around the world started emailing me asking if I could interview them also. Although the medium has changed, the idea remains the same. Founded in 2016, SBSK is a 501(c)3 organization that seeks to normalize the diversity of the human condition under the pillars of honesty, respect, mindfulness, positivity and collaboration. This multi-media movement supports the acceptance and inclusion of all members of the neurodiverse/disability community regardless of diagnosis, age, race, religion, income, sexual orientation, gender or gender expression.

The Tactile Working Memory Scale (TWMS) is designed to give professionals tools to identify and assess tactile working memory in persons with deafblindness.  Published in 2019 by the Nordic Welfare Center, authors Jude T. Nicholas, Annika M. Johannessen, Trees van Nunen aim to “give an overview of the theoretical foundations of working memory and link it to the assessment and intervention of tactile working memory. In this manual there are a series of examples to demonstrate and clarify the description of each items of the TWMS. The manual also covers several learning strategies, classified according to their particular emphases. The major emphases are on the perceptual, cognitive and social cognitive strategies.”

This newly released study outlines the wide reaching impacts of the pandemic on this specific population of students:

https://open.library.ubc.ca/cIRcle/collections/facultyresearchandpublications/52383/items/1.0395118

Tar Heel Reader https://tarheelreader.org/

The Inclusion Outreach team has created a How-To Video regarding Tar Heel Reader.

Tar Heel Reader has a collection of free, easy-to-read, and accessible books on a wide range of topics. Each book can be speech enabled and accessed using multiple interfaces, including touch screens, the IntelliKeys with custom overlays, and 1 to 3 switches.

More information regarding accessible books can be found on our website under Active Participation

This year has been unique with more students accessing a wider variety of education options. For clarity, we’ve summarized the array of possibilities here.

1. Local School:
• Public “bricks and mortar” in class instruction

• Hybrid learning -part time online, part time in school (this is not offered by all districts, and is the only option currently in some larger secondary schools in the province)

• Public school Hospital/ Homebound -for students who are hospitalized or homebound due to medical complexity or immune suppression. Students remain enrolled in catchment school, supported by school staff and district LST. This is generally intended to be a short term support until the student is stable enough to attend school, but this year with COVID some students who are immune compromised are receiving this type of support longer term.

• Public School district ‘transition’ programs -After several families requested more time to make a decision about returning to school some districts offered a time limited option of home learning with the aim to transition back into bricks and mortar during the year. Some districts have timelines set for transition points at natural breaks, while others are more flexible for re-entry.

• Independent bricks and mortar schools -Most charge families a tuition and if they follow the BC curriculum, these schools are eligible to bring in supplemental funding for low incidence students. Often therapy services and assessments must be contracted privately as the smaller numbers don’t warrant having these typed of staffed services.

2. Distributed Learning (DL) (not to be confused with Home Schooling)
• Public Distributed Learning Programs – several public school districts offer distributed learning programs where students learn at home. Parents receive the support of a teacher and a few hundred dollars to cover basic supplies. Low incidence supplemental funding is pooled by the larger school district. Services like SLP, OT/PT and Psychology are accessed through the district. These programs follow the BC Curriculum and students are eligible for Dogwood graduation diplomas. Often there are group activities offered in the community, but these are limited currently with COVID.

• Independent Distributed Learning Programs -these distributed learning programs are run by independent schools where students learn at home with the support of a teacher. Some have a tuition fee, while others rely on government funding alone. Low incidence supplemental funding is not pooled, a set amount is allocated individually to each student to cover the cost of privately contracted therapy services, psych-ed assessment, tutoring etc. These programs follow the BC Curriculum and students are eligible for Dogwood graduation diplomas.

3. Home Schooling
• Registered home-schooling -Parents can choose under section 12 of the BC School Act to educate their children at home separate from the BC Curriculum. Parents take full responsibility to educate their children and do not have the guidance of a teacher. Parents do not receive any funding. Homeschooled students are not eligible for Dogwood graduation diplomas.

For more information see the Ministry of Education website: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/education-training/k-12/covid-19-return-to-school

Step-by-step instructions from the Inclusion Outreach team on how to use the Pictello app.

Create and share visual social stories and schedules with this app for iOS. Adding your own pictures, videos and recordings to stories you create makes it easier to share information while building literacy skills, as well as confidence in storytelling.

More information regarding accessible books can be found on our website under Active Participation

Thank you to all those who attended and a recording of our District Partner Forum held via Zoom on October 1st, 2020 is now available for viewing on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PemGIgDDJbk

along with the matrices and documents referred to therein:

Inclusion Planning Matrix

Elementary Home Learning Inclusion Planning Matrix

Elementary in school Inclusion Planning Matrix

Middle School Home Learning Inclusion Planning Matrix

Middle School in school Inclusion Planning Matrix

High School Matrix Home

High School Matrix School

Social Inclusion Solutions

Inclusive Practice Solutions

Technology Solutions

AssistiveWare is celebrating AAC Awareness Month with 50% off selected apps and training videos from October 12-16.  More information on their blog post at:

https://www.assistiveware.com/blog/aac-awareness-month-discount-2020?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=discount%20announcement

TouchChat by Saltillo is also being offered at 50% off from October 14-18.  More information on their blog post at:

https://touchchatapp.com/blog/general/celebrate-aac-awareness-month-with-50-off-touchchat

A big thank you to all our District Partners, Case Managers and guests who contributed to the Inclusion Outreach forum held on June 17th, 2020.

For a compilation of the notes taken, please click on the link below.

District Partner Zoom Forum Notes June 17 2020

Information provided by Auditory Outreach, a Provincial Outreach ProgramAO COVID-19 Cleaning Guidelines (1)

The Inclusion Outreach team has created a resource handout for general strategies for teams to consider when planning the return to school for complex learners. To view the handout click the link below:

Strategies to Return to School for Complex Learners

Visual supports are helpful for all learners.

Consider creating a custom video model of your school and protocols for families and students to learn what to expect when they arrive back to school.

• • E.g. drop-off protocol, entering school, leaving school, what room/classes available (music, gym, library, computers), recess activities and routines, classroom set-up
  • See the below link for a SD61 example video: 

Back to School Video Model

• Ensure your video model (or social story) uses simple language that is accessible for all – see the below link for language recommendations:

Language for Back to School Resources

After a successful preview at Vancouver Opera Festival last year, the Pacific Opera Victoria and Vancouver Opera co-production of The Flight of the Hummingbird took flight in January 2020 to schools across our province. The tour and sold-out performances at Pacific Opera Victoria’s Baumann Centre were stalled due to COVID 19.

In the spirit of staying physically distanced and socially connected and of sharing the music and knowledge of our amazing artists and community, a free online broadcast of the opera will be available on the website below for families and educators, Tuesday, May 19, 2020, at 10 am PDT. The video will remain available on demand until late summer.

The Flight of the Hummingbird is accompanied by a Study Guide aligned with the First People’s Principles of Learning and the BC curriculum.

https://pacificopera.ca/event/the-flight-of-the-hummingbird/

Free virtual groups flyer – April 20- 30 2020 

Join the Cerebral Palsy Association of BC online.
They are transitioning the Adapted Yoga, Dance Without Limits, and Youth Support Group programs to virtual delivery.

If you have any questions or want to register, please contact programs@bccerebralpalsy.com

Video modelling can support visual learners to learn new skills, such as thoroughly washing hands. Video models are used as teaching tool to teach a positive motor and behaviour example for your child to imitate.

Many examples are available on YouTube, including this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_d-kSG4rX0

This Social Story was created and shared to support children’s understanding of the current situation and how to keep everyone healthy by social distancing and washing our hands, and what to do if feeling lonely or scared.

COVID-19 Social Story

Thank you to Molly Findall-Hanna and Child Youth Mental Health for sharing this social story.

Zoë Watt, Inclusion Outreach SLP, found a new resource by the folks at Tar Heel Reader.  They have created a synthesized speech core vocabulary to run along the bottom of the pages of the books so reading can be a shared, have a more active role for the student and support making meaning in literacy.  They have ProD modules attached to this development which look great and it is all research-based.

https://www.sharedreader.org/