OC Transpo is hosting their next round of Para Transpo Talk. If you’re a customer, family member, companion or support person, come out in person and share your comments on how to improve the service. Everyone is welcome. There’s no need to register in advance, just drop in. We have the full list of dates, times and locations. https://bit.ly/4epSKqo
Category Archives: Advocacy
🏫Reflecting on our Practice: Ten Ways Schools Can Foster Belonging Among Students With and Without Disabilities
Suggested reading by OIFN: Ontario Independent Facilitation Network
Check out this reflection guide from the PROGRESS Center at the American Institutes for Research. Although the questions are asked from an education lens, they can easily be applied to thinking about our communities and social groups.
https://promotingprogress.org/sites/default/files/2022-02/Fostering_Belonging_Handout.pdf
🌻An Evening of Story Telling and Advocacy with Families Matter Co-Operative
Come join Families Matter Co-Operative and professional storyteller Kim Kilpatrick, who has been totally blind since birth, for an inspiring evening of stories, conversation and networking. Les Moulins La Fayette on Thursday, November 7, from 7 to 9 PM. Register while space is available: https://www.familiesmattercoop.ca/events/8al77eq18ifuetij8o3m7xjm31a933
✊The Audacity of Inclusion: Fighting for the Equality of Persons Labelled Intellectually Disabled
Inclusion Canada recommends this book:
The Audacity of Inclusion: Fighting for the Equality of Persons Labelled Intellectually Disabled
Details on the book can be found here: 👇
https://books.friesenpress.com/store/title/119734000433366040/Dulcie-McCallum-The-Audacity-of-Inclusion
« The Audacity of Inclusion cracks open the vault of injustices perpetrated against people who have an intellectual disability, helping shatter preconceptions and opening new ways of seeing people who are forced to live with a legally sanctioned label. »
🎙️Podcast on Disrupting Ableism in the Workplace
In this episode of You Can’t Spell Inclusion Without A D podcast, Ontario Disability Employment Network (ODEN) got a perspective on Ableism in the workplace: Why it’s happening, its many forms, its impact and what can, and needs to be, done about it.
The two guests for this episode had many powerful insights on ableism.
Sree Nallamothu is the Co-Executive Director of Toronto Neighbourhood Centres. She’s also a documentary film-maker and an advocate for social change.
Fran Odette has more than 25 years of experience in disability advocacy, activism and education. She co-designed and co-teaches a critical disability studies course titled, Disability Discourse: The Experienced Life, at George Brown College in Toronto.
Their insights will get you thinking more consciously about ableism.
Read this excerpt from the conversation: https://www.odenetwork.com/qa-excerpt-disrupting-ableism-in-the-workplace/
Then, to get the full impact of their guests’ insights on ableism, catch the full episode: https://youcantspellinclusionwithoutad.podbean.com/e/episode-20-disrupting-ableism-in-the-workplace/
📢It’s Canadian Down Syndrome Week!
This year for Canadian Down Syndrome Week, join the Down Syndrome Association of Ontario to explore the importance of social connections to our health and happiness and how societal barriers contribute to social isolation in the Down syndrome community. Feeling ignored or misunderstood by society is a reality many youth and adults with Down syndrome face, especially once school is over and routines change. The amount of time spent sitting rises, time outside the home decreases, and new relationships are harder to establish.
Learn more:
https://cdss.ca/canadian-down-syndrome-week/
🎓Pathways to Special Education Support: Meet & Greet for Families
Supporting your autistic child’s educational journey can sometimes feel overwhelming, leaving you unsure of where to turn for guidance. You’re not alone — many families experience the same uncertainty and challenges.
Autism Ontario is offering ‘Pathways to Special Education Support: Meet & Greet for Families’ to change that. It’s your chance to learn about some available supports Autism Ontario has to offer.
Join them to meet their team and learn about resources to help your child achieve educational success.
October 29, from 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm
Registration:
https://www.autismontario.com/civicrm/event/info?id=10268
📣ABLE2 Programs
ABLE2 strives to deliver programming that helps build an inclusive community in Ottawa, where everyone can participate, according to their abilities, as full community members.
Impact evaluations clearly show that inclusion, the reduction of loneliness and isolation, and the resulting improvement in mental and physical health have a significant positive benefit on the lives of people with disabilities, their families, our volunteers and partners, and the community at large.
Learn more at able2.org
💬Au-Some Conference
Autism Canada is proud to present this year’s annual Au-Some Conference on October 26, 2024 from 10 AM – 3 PM EDT, during Autism Acceptance Month. The Au-Some Conference is the only Canadian conference in which all of the presentations are created and delivered by neurodivergent individuals, sharing their lived experiences and enriching the lives of everyone in attendance.
It is a day for people to learn about the diversity of the Autism Spectrum and where, together, we will create an inclusive environment for sharing successes and for creating acceptance for those on the spectrum, caregivers and communities.
Now in its 8th year, the Au-Some Conference is a free, national conference presented virtually to allow us to bring it to hundreds of people in every region of Canada.
Learn more and register here:
https://www.autismcanada.org/ausome-conference
💼Beyond AODA Compliance: Disability Inclusive Hiring Webinar
October 22, 2024 1:00PM – 2:00PM
Elevate Your Business with Disability Inclusive Hiring Practices!
The Ontario Disability Employment Network (ODEN) is unveiling a transformative way of making Ontario workplaces accessible and inclusive. It’s called Beyond AODA Compliance — Disability Inclusive Hiring. And you’re invited to attend one of the sessions hosted by ODEN to find out about it!
