Another great year for REACH and the McGill University Double Challenge program

It's one sign of spring that we don't like to see - yesterday was the final day for the year of  REACH and McGill University's "Double Challenge Program". In this program, all REACH students spend one morning a week at McGill, taking advantage of the specialized equipment, facilities, including the gym and pool, and teaching expertise, available at McGill.

The way the program works, all the REACH students and accompanying staff get on a school bus in the morning and are transported to McGill. Then, each student is paired with a McGill special education student, who puts together a program based on the student's level and aptitude. 

For the past few years, the REACH Governing Board and volunteer parents have organized a spaghetti lunch when the bus returns from McGill. This is enjoyed by all and definitely helps to streamline the balance of the day.

Alberta's Wildrose Alliance Party's interesting education platform

Alberta's provincial Wildrose Alliance Party has been making headlines of the past year or two most notably for running up their polling numbers to present a clear and present challenge to the ruling Progressive Conservatives.

Although Wildrose has that 'breath of fresh air' sort of naivety to it, one soon realizes that the party is of the extreme right variety.

Nonetheless, they do have some interesting platforms and leader Danielle Smith brings mojo not seen for quite a while in Alberta provincial politics. Wildrose currently has four sitting members in the Alberta Legislature and threatens to increase that number significantly in a future election.

Of special interest to this blog would be some of Wildrose's education policies, especially its special needs policy.

Following are some of the party's talking points:

Parents and teachers have a limited say in how special needs funding is best used, and there is a movement under to force special needs children into regular classrooms whether the supports are there for them or not.


It's not clear whether the motivation is cutting costs, or a misguided ideology - either way it needs to stop...


...We would then mandate that adequate funding follow each special needs student wherever their parents want to send them.

Below I've copied the full text of the Alberta Wildrose Alliance education policies, as they appear on the party's website on today's date.

One very interesting aspect of this policy is that, unlike Quebec's ~further right~ party, the Action Democratique, Wildrose advocates a return to virtually full local control of schools at the local school board and school level. You may remember that the Action Democrtique under Mario Dumont had floated a concept where they would remove local school boards entirely and run everything from Quebec City. What a nightmare that would have been (and still could be...).

• Empower individual public, Catholic and public charter schools by implementing a funding model that sends per-student operational and maintenance funding directly to the school each student attends. Individual schools will then be able to determine how to allocate those resources most appropriately (i.e. more teachers, new equipment, etc).
• Transfer decision-making authority concerning the building of new schools away from the provincial government and place it squarely in the hands of locally elected school boards. This would be done by implementing a publicly disclosed and objective funding formula that grants capital funds directly to local school boards based on student enrollment, school utilization rates, student growth projections and other relevant factors.
• Establish multiple pilot projects across the province where open-enrollment and tuition-free public, Catholic and public charter schools are permitted to opt into a competency-based learning and assessment education model. Students in these schools will have the opportunity to learn at a pace and in a way that is tailored to their individual needs and will not move on to more advanced material until they have demonstrated strong understanding of previously taught subject matter. Students who learn at an accelerated pace under this system will also be able to obtain college and university level course credit while still in high school.
• Grant public, Catholic and public charter schools more flexibility to offer a specialized curriculum track in the trades, arts, music, physical education and business.
• Protect a parent’s right to choose what school their child attends (public, Catholic, public charter, private or homeschooling) and continue the current Alberta Education practice of permitting a fixed percentage of regular per pupil funding to directly follow a student to a private school of the parent’s choice if desired.
• Mandate the public reporting of each school’s graduation rate and overall subject-by-subject assessment results so parents have the information they need to make informed decisions regarding their child’s education.
• Work with teachers and other educational professionals to replace the outdated and inadequate Provincial Achievement Tests (PAT) with a new standardized assessment model that evaluates a student’s actual improvement and comprehension of subject matter and more effectively identifies where further learning is required. It is also important to ensure teachers are provided with the professional development training necessary to implement such a model.
• Ensure students are properly assessed and any special learning needs identified as early as possible in a child’s development. Mandate that adequate funding follow each special needs student to the institution of that child’s parent’s choice to be used in a way that the parent and the school’s learning support team feels will best meet the individual needs of the child.
• Give special needs students the opportunity to attend the same classrooms as regular students where appropriate. In such cases, it is critical that adequate supervision and support be provided to the special needs student in order to ensure the classroom remains a healthy learning environment for all students.

Lakeshore Soccer has a special needs program

Lakeshore Soccer's special needs program offers soccer for kids with special needs from ages 4-16. The program is called the "Super Sonics".

More information can be found at this article in the Montreal Gazette or on the Lakeshore Soccer website.

We are not aware of any opportunities open to one and all for special needs kids on the south shore to play soccer. (if you are aware of anything - please leave a comment to that effect)

"Disable Bullying" U.S. group targets bullying of special needs kids

Glee star Lauren Potter, an actress with Down syndrome, is featured in a video that is part of a campaign to reduce bullying of special needs kids, launched by a coalition of U.S. groups .

The campaign, nicknamed "Disable Bullying", has been developed in response to rising evidence that special needs kids are 2-3 times more likely to be bullied than other kids. As detailed in the report Walk a Mile in Their Shoes, kids with special needs have consistently been identified as more likely to be targeted by bullies at school, in cyberspace and even among siblings.

Disable Bullying is a national campaign in the U.S. aimed at raising awareness of this problem and helping parents to gain the tools to alleviate it.

The campaign expands on five simple steps that parents can use to disable bullying of their special needs kids:

1. Educate
2. Ask Questions
3. Speak Up
4. Build Community
5. Disable Bullying

"It was the best day of my life!"

Yes, Eric Stitzenberger of Drayton Valley, Alta., who has Down syndrome, had an amazing day this past weekend when he scored three baskets in a high school basketball game against another school.

There is a very cool video on the link, which is a CTV News story.

LDAQ annual conference to be held in Montreal Mar 23-25, this week.

Intervenons en toute «connaissance»

The Learning Disabilities Association of Quebec is holding its annual conference this week at the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal.

With over 2000 attendees and 100 presenters from the health and education sectors expected, this is one of, if not the largest conference in the field in Canada. Honourary chair for the conference is Monique Brodeur, Ph.D., Dean of the Faculté des sciences de l’Éducation de l’Université du Québec à Montréal.

The theme of the conference, Intervenons en toute «connaissance», or something like "Intervene knowingly", as it is translated in the conference program. There are a few English language presentations scheduled and described in the conference programme. Additional information does appear on the LDAQ website (http://aqeta.qc.ca), mostly in french.

Yet another incident as special needs kids being mishandled by school buses all over North America

A boy with special needs who functions at the level of a three-to-five year old was dropped off at the wrong address by a Calgary school bus Monday and left to stand there by himself. The boy's parents found him an hour later.

This is only the latest in a long parade of similar incidents. In fact, it is surprisingly difficult to find a specific incident by searching the internet, due to the fact that there are such a large number of similar incidents. Three separate cases in January, 2011, alone were found in a few seconds of searching.

Most of the incidents involve the children being left in the school bus.

A comment on one article indicated that the person's acquaintance was a bus driver in NY State and had been arrested and charged  after a similar incident. In most cases the bus companies seem to get by with a "sorry" and the drivers are often let go.

In another incident this January, a boy in the Windsor area was left strapped on a wheelchair for 2-1/2 hours in an unheated bus.

Obviously, school boards have a variety of procedures in place in attempts to prevent these situations. However, just by scanning the incidents, it seems that these procedures are invariably labour intensive and create openings for human error to creep in, resulting in these traumatic incidents.

Quebec "coalition" for successful integration says inclusion has "gone way too far"

A new "Coalition for Successful Integration" of special needs kids in Quebec schools was launched recently and snagged headlines in the Montreal Gazette and elsewhere. The coalition is spearheaded by the Fédération autonome de l’enseignement, a teacher's union, and also includes the Association des pédiatres du Québec and the Fédération nationale des enseignantes et des enseignants du Québec, as well as some individual members. The coalition is seeking support from the public.

The central idea of the coalition, according to its website, is that the integration of special needs kids in regular classrooms has gone much too far. (L’intégration dans les classes ordinaires des élèves handicapés ou en difficulté d’adaptation ou d’apprentissage (EHDAA) est allée beaucoup trop loin.)

The coalition's material frequently refers to the concept of inclusion (the term more often and probably more properly used in English, rather than "integration") as a "dogma".

The coalition's statement of principles includes such points as: Nous sommes persuadés que la décision d’inclure un élève à la classe ordinaire doit prendre en compte le meilleur intérêt de l’élève mais aussi l’impact de sa présence sur la réussite des autres élèves. In other words, the decision to include a student in a regular class must take into account the best interests of the student as well as the impact of their presence on the success of the other students.

Excusez-moi? That's only one of several statements that leaves one checking the year on the calendar to make sure we haven't somehow been returned to the 1950s. 

Most often this blog is presented from an objective perspective. But with all due respect, (and as much restraint as can be mustered) the ideas expressed in this declaration reflect extremely poorly on the professional associations / unions whose ideas are purportedly reflected here.

Not to mention, this coalition's commitment to an inclusive approach in general becomes embarrassingly apparent as one realizes that there is no English on the coalition website.

Stay tuned.

New prenatal testing for Down syndrome raises sensitive issues

The recent announcement that a new blood test devised to test for Down syndrome early in pregnancy has been proven highly accurate is going to result in intensified discussion of related ethical issues.

As seen in this CTV News story, there are a large range of opinions and concerns on this question.

When it becomes available, the new, non-invasive, blood test could be given earlier in the pregnancy than the status quo amniocentesis test, which has a one per cent chance of causing a miscarriage.

As the story goes on to address, parents would then have the opportunity to consider terminating a pregnancy at an earlier stage, when there would be possibly less emotional attachment. It is also quite possible that many more mothers would choose to have the blood test than currently have amniocentesis. With the predictable result of fewer Down syndrome births.

However, the ethical concerns being raised are powerful and important. Such questions as: do we have the right to "weed out" the less than perfect of our species? Those who have had the opportunity to live with people who have Down syndrome almost invariably state that these people make a rich contribution to the lives of all who know them. Do not Down syndrome people make up an important facet in the human mosaic? If the number of Down syndrome births were sharply curtailed by systematic testing, would we be in danger of removing a part of human diversity that is indeed necessary?

Without even getting into "cost to the medical and educational systems", "Pro Life/Pro Choice" angles or fundamentalist religious opinions, we see there could be legitimate, and at times contentious, concerns about new, easier, prenatal testing, not only for Down syndrome but also other so-called "abnormalities".

There are quite a number of comments following the CTV News story - I took the liberty of copying them and posting them on the Rapid Facebook group discussion section, in case they disappear from the CTV site at some point in time. The range of opinions is important to acknowledge and consider.

Special needs hockey tournament hosted in Vernon, B.C.

Young hockey players with developmental disabilities such as autism, Down syndrome and others are participating in a hockey tournament in Vernon, B.C. this weekend.

There are about 80 players involved, with teams from Vernon, Kelowna, Penticton and Nanaimo. The tournament is called the Super League Hockey Tournament.

Focus Groups will seek to assess health and social services needs and experiences of English-speaking community in south shore Montreal

The Community Health and Social Services Network in the South Shore Montreal (Monteregie) area is setting up a series of focus groups in the English speaking communities in the area.

According to the CHSSN, the reasons for the focus groups are:

"To assess the needs and experiences of English speaking citizens in relation to their accessing and receiving Health and Social Services.  This information will help influence future requests for money, projects etc. which will work towards helping the English speaking community here on the South shore (Brossard, LeMoyne, GPK, St. Lambert, Saint-Hubert, Chambly, Boucherville, Longueuil, Saint-Bruno etc.)."

There will be four two-hour focus group evening sessions held in St. Lambert, March 21-24, on the following topics:

1) people under 50 years of age with children living at home
2) Caregivers of people of all ages
3) Caregivers of people with chronic illnesses/conditions (ex: diabetes, schizophrenia, intellectual disability, etc.)
4) People 14 years of age and older experiencing or knowing friends experiencing problems with addictions: Ex: gambling, drug, alcohol, video gaming, internet etc.

The rationale cited is that this is an opportunity for people to say what is good and bad with the present situation and to help do something about it.
 
The CHSSN was seeking 10 participants for each session.

Robot to help autistic kids is a "simplified human"

The robot nicknamed "Kaspar" is being developed and tested in England.