Interview on the Team 990 About Special Needs Soccer

A couple of weeks ago, Randy Tieman of the Team 990 radio in Montreal, did an interview with Barbara Cheetham, of Lakeshore Soccer, who is one of the coaches involved with the "Super Sonics" special needs soccer program there.

The interview is very informative and, dare we even say,  inspirational. You can listen to the full interview: here.

"There are no liimits as to how far we are willing to go to spread this", says Cheetham.

She adds that the Super Sonics are willing to work with other clubs to help them set up their own special needs soccer programs.

One of the strategies they use that they find works well, is that they have young soccer players aged 14-18 who are willing to get involved as coaches. These youths develop a "magical connection" says Cheetham, with the special needs players.

She also says that they have participants with autism, Down syndrome and other conditions, and it is her experience that most of the children thrive in the environment and have a great time. Often, she says, it is their parents who have low expectations, whereas the kids themselves have a lot of fun.

"We're trying to spread the news around the communities that we are there for children with even the most limited abilities."

"Even if they can't speak, even if they can't, what people would say, function, the magic happens when you put a leather ball filled with air on a field or in a room, and they just find something which inspires them."

Quebec Athletes Bring Home the Gold from Special Olympics World Summer Games in Greece

Canadian athletes from the province of Quebec have returned home from the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games with a total of 12 medals.

The games were held from June 25 to July 4, with 7,500 athletes living with an intellectual disability representing 185 countries. The week of competition was held in Athens, Greece, home of the ancient Olympic Games, and featured competition in 22 sports.

The south shore was represented extraordinarily well, as St-Jean-sur-Richelieu's Justine Morrier potted two golds and a silver medal in swimming.

An overview of the Special Olympics activities ongoing on the Montreal south shore will be provided here in the near future.

English Quebec School Boards Hoping For Promotional Bang from Videos

A couple of video initiatives earlier this year have made a pretty decent attempt at marketing our English Quebec Schools via the video strategy. Both Riverside School Board and the Quebec Association of English School Boards have placed videos on Youtube that have collected a good number of viewers.

Riverside School Board's The Power of Pink was uploaded in January this year and is a response to the viral "Pink Glove Dance" in support of breast cancer research.



The Quebec Association of English School Boards hired Montreal rapper Annakin Slayd to produce a promotional video for the "Go Publique" campaign to increase attendance in English public schools in the province.

 



Pretty cool stuff - hope it has a good effect...

The Centre for Brain and Mind Opens at UWO

The University of Western Ontario opened one of the world's premier research centres in cognitive neuroscience yesterday. Now, such diseases as schizophrenia, Alzheimer's, autism and others will be studied under one roof in a state-of-the-art facility.

The Centre for Brain and Mind unites researchers who were previously scattered around the campus and further leverages the university's longstanding expertise in the field.

The facilities include equipment such as one of the world’s most comprehensive biomedical imaging suites and one of only three 7T MRIs used for neurological use worldwide. 

Special Needs with a Special Flair

An overview of the Greenfield Park Centennial Art Show, where RAPID's special needs community artists had their work on display, along with many of Greenfield Park's talented visual artists. The woman in the wheelchair in the centre of the photo is also enjoying her centennial year this year!

An art show put on by RAPID community members has been called a brilliant success!. RAPID held its first ever art exhibition at the Cynthia Coull Arena community centre in Greenfield Park, July 4-6.

Mosaic inukshuk created by the students of REACH School

The exhibition was held in conjunction with the Greenfield Park Centennial Art Show, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the incorporation of the town.  The RAPID show included work from throughout the south shore special needs community, including REACH School, the ARSDI and adult and school age people with special needs and a special flair for creative expression!

The Greenfield Park Centennial Committee organizers were open and enthusiastic about RAPID's participation from the outset. RAPID was encouraged to get involved and given substantial space to prominently display their works.

RAPID organizers have had a vision of potentially developing a special needs art exhibition in the future, however the opportunity to piggyback on the Greenfield Park Centennial may have accelerated the timetable for this project by a period of years. With a venue, a large number of artists and a certainty of visitors already in place, the Greenfield Park Art Show was a perfect opportunity for RAPID's artists (and organizers) to get their feet wet. By all accounts they will be eager to get involved with future such opportunities that may arise.

RAPID also had the opportunity to spread the word about their services and gave out many business cards and pamphlets during the exhibition.
   
A huge thank-you goes out to all the staff and organizers from the Greenfield Park committee and city who helped make this exhibition possible!

More Cases of Special Needs Kids Mishandled by Transport Services

Earlier this week a Montreal west island boy with cerebral palsy was dropped off at the wrong address in downtown Montreal. The 19-year old, who is confined to a wheelchair and unable to speak, was dropped off at the Montreal Children's Hospital, instead of day camp. The hospital and day camp have identical address numbers on different streets. The boy's mother discovered the situation when she called the day camp and found that he hadn't arrived.

The Montreal Transit Commission's adapted transport bus dropped the boy off, even though there was no one there to meet him.

In another case also this week, a New Jersey school bus driver and an aide have been fired after a 4-year-old was not dropped off and spent the morning in a parked bus while temperatures outside soared to over 100 F. The boy was discovered by a mechanic and required medical attention.

Many similar cases have been reported recently.

Without wanting to sound alarmist, the frequency of these incidents indicates that there is a problem that needs to be addressed.

One solution in use in some places is a buzzer at the back of the bus that needs to be manually switched off before the keys can be removed from the ignition. This however does not address the problem of dropping passengers off at the wrong place.