Disability Awareness Program
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Grandview's Disability Awareness Program is a free service to the community to educate students about differences, while advocating acceptance and inclusion. Our Disability Awareness Program Coordinator is available to work with parents/guardians to develop a presentation with a particular child/youth in mind, or can conduct presentations tailored for various age groups to raise general awareness of disabilities - and abilities.
Parents/guardians, principals, teachers and staff can request a presentation.
For more information, or to request a Disability Awareness presentation, contact:
Lisa Wilson
Disability Awareness Program Coordinator
905-728-1673 x 2560 or 1-800-304-6180 x 2560
Click here to print a Disability Awareness Program flyer
Click here for information about Grandview's Family Facilitator & Family Networking Opportunities
The Disability Awareness Program makes a difference in the lives of families everyday please read the story below written by a mother of a Grandview Kid!
My son Kyle is 5 years old and has just started kindergarten. Kyle has Autism, so I had several concerns about him entering the school system. I also wondered how other children - and their parents - would react to him because of the differences in his communication, behaviour and social skills.
Grandview has been such a great support for my son and our family, and by being a part of their community, I heard about Grandview's Disability Awareness Program.
The Disability Awareness Program Coordinator comes into your child’s school and tells a story about your child to their peers so they can gain understanding about how your child may be different from other children in his/her class.
Program Coordinator, Lisa Wilson, and I met together and discussed all of the wonderful things about Kyle and about his Autism. Based on that information, she put together a great storybook about Kyle, including pictures provided by our family, and presented it along with a DVD about Autism to his class. I attended the presentation with Kyle's teacher, educational assistant, and other school staff.
It was very moving for me to see the children learning about Kyle and how he is like them in many ways but is also different. It was good for the school staff to learn about Kyle's likes, interests and abilities from the presentation so they are able to get to know him as a whole person, not just as a student with Autism.
After the presentation, Kyle’s teacher had a wonderful idea. She asked if Lisa would come back to Kyle's school and conduct a presentation for the parents of the students in Kyle's class to help them understand Autism and how it affects Kyle.
This request was just one more way staff at Kyle's school have shown their support for him and his diagnosis, and have been doing a great job in helping Kyle adapt to new routines.
Several parents of the children in Kyle’s class came to the second presentation, as well as his teacher, the school principal, and me. Lisa gave a great presentation about Autism and included some specific information about Kyle.
Afterward, some parents asked questions about Kyle and how their children could try to communicate with him. It was great to see the parents so interested in supporting my son.
The next day at school it was amazing to see the children in Kyle’s class - as well as their parents - say hello to Kyle and try to interact with him. A little boy asked me if he could have a play date with Kyle.
It really means a lot to our family that there are parents in our community that are truly interested in helping their children understand why some of their classmates are different, and want to learn ways to get to know them. The Disability Awareness Program presentations were very important to our family in helping to make that happen.
I want to thank Grandview and Lisa Wilson -- she did a wonderful job on these presentations!
Written by Tracey McQuade, Mom of Kyle
Feedback about Grandview's Disability Awareness Program:
From Educators:
"The Disability Awareness Program promotes awareness and equity and highlights ways that students' differences can be valued."
"Visual aids were excellent. Interaction and questions from the students were always encouraged."
"The presentation was engaging and interesting. Thanks!"
"This was very positive in increasing awareness of the abilities of children with various challenges."
"I like how the presentation got the kids thinking and sharing. It was worthwhile - and the presenter was enthusiastic."
"Excellent presentation involving students from JK to Grade 8. Everyone was able to learn and participate."
From Parents:
"We want to thank you for the excellent presentation to our son's class. He was thrilled, as was his brother and all of their classmates. The customized storybook you prepared was 'bang on' and targeted the concerns our son had [about the way his disability is perceived by peers] most appropriately. We plan to use it every year from now on to share with each classroom teacher. Your kindness, compassion and understanding of children with special needs is much appreciated in how you met with us and our son to learn about him and our family, and in how well you conducted the presentation to his class."