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June 2015
AUTISM CENTRE NEWSLETTER
Occupational Therapy
Summer Groups
Regina Occupational Therapy is offering a number of pediatric occupational therapy sum-mer groups. Groups include: Self-Regulation Group, Social Skills Group, Kindergarten Readiness Group, Fine Motor Fun Group, Mo-tor Planning Madness and Social Skills for Tweens (ages 10-13). For more information, contact Suzanne Lendvoy at (306) 539-3037 or [email protected], or visit http://www.reginaot.ca/index.html
ABA Parent Training Opportunity
The University of New Brunswick has begun offering online
courses, “Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) Training for Par-
ents”. Six modules are provided. Parents can choose to enroll in
all six modules, or select the ones they feel are most beneficial
to them. All modules are based on the principles of ABA and
cost $49 + HST. Modules include:
Behaviour 101 (a pre-requisite
for all other modules)
Reducing Challenging Behav-
iour
Teaching New Skills
Feeding Difficulties
Functional Communication
Training
Toilet Training
The University of New Brunswick’s College of Extended
Learning is currently in partnership with the Saskatchewan
Ministry of Health to offer an “Autism Spectrum Disorders In-
tervention Training Program” to support workers, consultants
and partners in the educational system who provide services to
individuals with ASD. To date, six Autism Centre clinicians
have completed this program and three clinicians are currently
participating. Autism Centre Senior Social Worker, Brenda
Pedscalny, is in the process of becoming a trainer for UNB.
PARENT NETWORK UPDATE:
This year we had organized presentation and educational pieces on Disability Savings Plan and Disability Tax Credit, Positive Psy-chology, and Self Experiences. We planned but we were forced to cancel educational sessions on Estate Planning and Savings, Gluten Free Diets and PLAN. Due to low interest and attendance, this group will be inactive until further notice.
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Special Olympics: Special Olympics has partnered with ICANPLAY
Sports to offer a Special Olympics Summer Camp the week of August 10th-14th,
2015. The camp will be half days (mornings) and will focus on fundamental
movement skills and sports skills. You can choose to stay and participate with
your child (as parents/caregivers do in the Active Start and FUNdamental pro-
grams), or you can choose to drop your child off.
Ages: 2-12
Location: Lakeview United Church
For more information: http://www.reginasummercamps.ca/Dates---Registration.html or contact Special Olympics (Amy Bosche) at (306) 780-9401
Looking for Summer
Activity Ideas?
PlayEscapes is a FREE summer drop-in program offered by the City of Regina. The program offers
leader-facilitated play opportunities that develop and foster life skills, creativity, imagination, positive
self-image and promote a physically active lifestyle. Self-directed play is the key to the PlayEscapes
program. Children engage in play they select by themselves and are encouraged to explore and discov-
er activities they enjoy. The City of Regina partners with Regina Education and Action on Child Hun-
ger (REACH) to offer a lunch program at some of the sites.
Ages: Kindergarten through Grade 7
Location: Various Locations throughout the city of Regina
For more information: http://www.regina.ca/residents/recreation/
playescapes/ or call (306) 777-7032 or (306) 777-7047
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Summer Fun Program Recreation Activities and Learning Opportunities for Children and Youth with Disabilities
Ages: 6-18
Programs: Our Time Sunshine (Ages 6-14): 1-3pm
Night Flight (Ages 15-18): 7-9pm
Run throughout July and August; either Monday/
Wednesday OR Tuesday/Thursday
For More Information:
www.abilitiescouncil.sk.ca
OR
Nortown Bowling Lanes and Golden Mile Lanes in Regina participate in the “Kids Bowl Free” program. Registered children receive
two free games of bowling all summer long. For more information and registration details, visit http://www.kidsbowlfree.com/ .
Thank you to the following people for donating toys:
Patron Family
Bernardin Family
Anonymous donations
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New Facebook Page for Interventionists
The Autism Centre is looking into a more efficient way of connecting with our over 60 Interventionists. We are currently working with our RQHR Communications team to set up a Private Facebook page which can only be accessed by our Clinicians and the current group of Interventionists. There would be no access by parents or the general public. We plan to use this page to notify Interventionists when a new con-tract becomes available, to remind them of upcoming training or workshops and to let them know of any general changes to our pro-cess or program. We will not be posting any confidential client in-formation (ie: client names, parent names, addresses etc.). New contracts might be shared using age of child such as preschool, school-aged or teen, general city location such as Northwest or East, and length of contract. Rural contracts would not be included to ensure that family privacy is maintained. If you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions about this Fa-cebook page, we welcome your feedback. Please send these di-rectly to [email protected] .
Cineplex Entertainment/Autism
Speaks Canada Collaboration
Galaxy Cinemas in Regina is now offering
“Sensory Friendly Screenings”, in collabora-
tion with Autism Speaks Canada. For more
information, please refer to the following
link: http://www.cineplex.com/Theatres/
SensoryFriendly
Additionally, make sure to check out the Access 2 pro-gram. The Access 2 Entertainment program seeks to offer more opportunities for people with disabilities to partici-pate in recreational activities with an attendant, without added financial burden. It is also designed to raise aware-ness and help businesses provide quality customer ser-vice to customers with disabilities. For more information, refer to the following link: http://www.access2card.ca/
Interventionist Training
The Autism Centre continues to offer train-ing for Interventionists throughout the year on a rotating basis. Training is offered monthly (with the exception of summer months) and includes the following topics: - What is Autism? - Ethics - Responsibilities and Boundaries - Communication & Visuals - Behaviour &Strategies - Discrete Trial Training Training sessions are led by Autism Cen-tre clinicians, and all Interventionists are encouraged to attend the presentations relevant to their work with the Centre. Training sessions will resume in Septem-ber 2015.
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www.luthercollege.edu
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Regina’s 3rd Annual “Light it Up Blue” Celebration
For the third year in a row, Jeanelle Mandes organized a local “Light It Up Blue” event. Held at the First Nations University on April 2nd (World Autism Awareness Day), the “Light it Up Blue” event aimed to raise autism awareness, provide support, and unite families within the ASD community. The event was host-ed by Nathan Pasap and featured guest speakers from the First Nations University, Federation of Saskatche-wan Indian Nations, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education and Beardy’s First Nation. Ashley Bakken and Amy Ewart spoke on behalf of the Autism Centre, reviewing the staff’s efforts throughout the year at building autism awareness through collaborations in the education, health and justice sectors, as well as various community agencies. Lani Elliot spoke about her experiencing in raising her son, Jamieson, an individual with ASD. Informational booths, children’s activities and refreshments were also available.
Jeanelle, thank you for your efforts in coordinating this wonderful event! Events like “Light It Up Blue” allow us to celebrate people with ASD and to promote autism awareness right here in our community!
The Active Start Program (ages 2-7 years) was piloted in the spring in Lumsden. This program ran for 12 weeks and was hosted at the town hall. Active Start Lumsden had 5 athletes participate, as well as a number of sibling mentors. Kara and Phil Bernardin coached this session of the program and were assisted by some older children in the community who acted as junior coaches.
For more information about this program, or about starting a Special Olympics program in your
community, please contact Amy Bosche, Youth Development Coordinator with Special Olym-
pics Saskatchewan, at (306) 780-9401 or email: [email protected]
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Autism Centre clinicians, Maureen Thompson and Shauna Gallagher, will be piloting a “Girls
Group” in the Fall of 2015. On Wednesday, June 24th, from 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m., a Girls
Group Introduction and Parent Meet up Session will be offered. The purpose of this session is
to have parents who have daughters between the ages of 10 and 18 with an Autism Spectrum
diagnosis meet in an informal setting. Parents will be given an opportunity to connect with
each other while their daughters play board games in a separate room. Parents and daugh-
ters will be given the opportunity to provide topics to develop a curriculum for a more formal
Girls Group which will be offered in the Fall of 2015. For further information, please contact
Shauna at [email protected] or Maureen at [email protected] .
This seven session parenting program will help parents to:
√ Build positive relationships with their children
√ Manage those stressful times of the day (like before school,
mealtimes, bedtimes)
√ Learn new ideas to help C.O.P.E.
SUMMER COPE PROGRAM
RANDALL KINSHIP CENTRE
1680 ALBERT STREET
7 Thursdays
1:00-3:00 pm
July 2-August 13, 2015
(Child Care not Available)
All C.O.P.E programs are
FREE of charge!
Refreshments will be provided.
To register or for more information please contact Child & Youth Services
at 306-766-6700
MENTAL HEALTH & ADDICTIONS SERVICES
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Parent Meet-Up Group: 8 week long group offered in May and June for caregivers of preschool-aged children with a diagnosis or query of ASD. This group offered informational sessions relevant to the preschool population, including presentations from SLPs, OTs, psychologists, and dieticians. Special thank you to Carolyne Bell from RBC for her presentation on the Registered Disability Savings Plan. 35 families were invited to participate in this group; 10 regis-tered to attend. Social Play Group: Cancelled due to lack of enrollment. This group is designed to provide preschool-aged children (ages 4-6) a chance to practice their play skills in a small group setting. 9 individuals were invited to participate in this group; however, only 2 registered to attend. Sibling Connections: 6 week long group offered in May and June for children aged 6-9 who have a sibling with ASD. 6 participants registered to attend. The group focused on building relationships with other children, understanding and labeling emotions they may feel about their sibling and learning more information about ASD and challenges each per-son may have through books, videos and interactive activities. Social Connections-Varied Sports (ages 6-9): 12 week long group offered from April-June. 48 children were invited to participate in this group; 21 children registered to attend. This group is typically limited to 12 participants; however, due to high registration numbers, modifications to scheduling were made to allow for 18 children to participate. 3 chil-dren were put on a waitlist for participation in the fall group. Superflex (ages 7-10): 10 week long group offered from April-June. This social thinking curriculum aims to teach indi-viduals how to regulate their behaviours and become stronger social problem solvers. A parent group runs alongside the child group. 17 children were invited to participate in this group; 7 children registered to attend. Social Connections-Creativity (ages 10-12): 12 week long group offered from April-June. 48 children were invited to participate in this group; 7 children registered to attend. This group is limited to 12 participants. Magic the Gathering (ages 13 and older): Ongoing evening group offered every week and led by facilitators, Kevin McLean and Simon Tubello. This is a social skill building group, bringing peers together who have a common interest in the card game, “Magic the Gathering”, as well as expanding skills in playing the game so that players can transition to community settings where these games are played (i.e., Comic Readers or Tramps). Social skill development goals include practicing appropriate conversations, negotiation, turntaking etc. 10 participants regularly attend this group. Teen-Drop-In (ages 13 and older): Ongoing evening group offered every other week. Generally 10 individuals partic-ipate each week. Dungeons and Dragons (ages 16 and older): Ongoing evening group offered every week and led by facilitator, Dane Pennett. Through role playing, the participants learn life skills related to the challenges of ASD while building positive relationship building skills through a meaningful activity. Participants also learn rules and mechanisms of a game they may engage in with peers in community settings. A pilot group of experienced players (4-5 individuals) participated in a peer led group this semester, while Dane taught a novice group of players (4-5 individuals). Parent Intro Group: This mandatory group for parents following their child’s diagnosis of ASD continues to operate twice per month. Each month, one evening session and one daytime session is offered. Since April 2014, 17 new fami-lies have been invited to participate in this group. *Groups are offered on a rotating basis based on a number of factors, including client interest (numbers), clinician avail-ability and space availability. When collaborating with outside agencies (i.e., REACH, Ranch Ehrlo Society), group scheduling and offerings are based on funding, space available in community settings and availability/flexibility of com-munity partners.
Group Summaries Spring 2015 Group Update (April-June 2015)
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Workshops/Conferences Coming to Saskatchewan - 2015
Where It’s AT: Assistive Technology for Children and Youth Conference
Saskatoon: September 24th-25th, 2015
http://www.bcaslpa.ca/content/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/2015-AT-Conference-Brochure.pdf
PECS Level 1 Training (Basic)
Saskatoon: October 5th-6th, 2015
http://pecs-canada.com/attendworkshop.php
PECS Level 2 Training (Advanced)
Saskatoon: October 7th-8th, 2015
http://pecs-canada.com/attendworkshop.php
Superflex & Friends Take on Social Emotional Learning and The Curriculum
Standards
Saskatoon: October 23rd, 2015
http://autismawarenesscentre.com/shop/conferences/saskatoon-sk-october-23-24-2015/
Interoception: The Eighth Sensory System
Saskatoon: October 24th, 2015
http://autismawarenesscentre.com/shop/conferences/saskatoon-sk-october-23-24-2015/
Need a Babysitter Experienced with
Children Diagnosed with ASD?
We now have a list compiled of interventionists who are willing to babysit . Wages will be set between the parents and the babysitter. These interventionists have been through our hiring process and have a clear criminal record check, as well as offered training from
the Autism Centre.
If you wish to receive a copy of our babysitting list,
please call Reception at:
Contact: 306-766-0750
OR
