Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Nov 30th meeting

with Anne Kresta has been cancelled and we will re-schedule for the spring. Give thanks to mother nature and her wonderful blustery snow :)
have a Merry Christmas and we will hopefully see you at the next meeting with David D, Jan 11, 2011.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

CTV Winnipeg Nov 16 2010 - Inclusion in MB Schools

Debate surfaces over policy of inclusion in Manitoba schools
Under a mandated policy of inclusion in Manitoba, children with special needs are taught in classrooms with other children.

Some say the policy benefits children, while others question whether students are getting the assistance they need.

Amanda Manness is a teacher at Lord Roberts School. She supports the policy of inclusion.

"I think it benefits all the students because they learn to accept others for who they are," says Manness.

Monique St. Germain's son Dylan has autism and he is in one of Manness' classes.

"He takes a little bit to process things. So when you talk to him, sometimes you have to wait a few seconds, sometimes a little longer, to get a response," says St. Germain.

As a result, Manness has adapted her lesssons.

"We will work together and decide what he can do from the assignment -- whether it's shortening it, whether having him do a visual instead of the writing," says Manness.

But some say that doesn't benefit Dylan or other students.

John Long and Rod Clifton are two of the authors of a book called What's Wrong with Our Schools: and How We Can Fix Them.

They suggest policies of inclusion force teachers to divide their attention, which may prevent scholastic achievement.

"The children who otherwise are quite gifted…they're not going to be well-served under a strategy in which attention is focused always in the middle or at the bottom," says John Long.

They said it doesn't make sense to teach people with vastly different abilities all in the same class.

Clifton and Long said some children should instead be put in segregated classes.

"A severely handicapped child would be best served by a specialized environment," says Long.

Monique St. Germain said that may be true from a strictly academic perspective, but adds other matters come into play for students like her son Dylan.

"He has to be a whole person. It's not just about academics. It's also about making friends. It's also about being around and being able to function in society," says St. Germain.

School officials also say children need to learn about living in a world filled with diversity.

"We…certainly don't want to create a community where we only accept those who are just like us," said Julie Millar, director of student support services at the Winnipeg School Division.

- with a report from CTV's Jon Hendricks

Friday, November 5, 2010

Nov 4 -Connect with Mark Kelley

Julian Seguin, 13, talks about living with Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism
{watch video}
Temple Grandin, one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people of 2010, talks to the CBC's Mark Kelley about how she has learned to live with her autism
{watch video}

*both pages are currently having loading issues, but the sound does work

Monday, November 1, 2010

Nov 2 Meeting - Social Thinking

Meeting is tomorrow! same time same place :) 7:30 pm at the Boundary Trails Health Centre.

Our topic of Discussion: Social Thinking By Michelle Garcia Winner

What is Social Thinking?
Social Thinking® is required prior to the development of social skills. Successful social thinkers consider the points of view, emotions, thoughts, beliefs, prior knowledge and intentions of others (this is often called perspective-taking - considering the perspectives of others). This is for most of us an intuitive process. We can determine the meanings behind the messages communicated by others and how to respond to them within milliseconds to three seconds! Social thinking occurs everywhere, when we talk, share space, walk down the street, even when we read a novel and relate to our pets. It is an intelligence that integrates information across home, work and community settings - something we usually take for granted!

In neurotypical (so-called normal-thinking) people, social thinking is hard-wired at birth and learned intuitively from infancy onward. While most of us develop our communication skills as we grow up, steadily observing and acquiring social information and learning how to respond to the people around us, many have great difficulties with this process. These difficulties with learning and applying social information is often considered a social learning disability.

to learn more about social thinking, please visit Michelle Garcia Winner's website.

Please also remember to bring back any books you have borrowed from our lending library, so that we may pass them on to our other members!

see you tomorrow!

Thank you to our Volunteers & Sponsors!

The basket donated from Floral Scents in Morden was won by Isabelle C from Morden.
The stoneware bake pan & pizza server donated by Cheryl Peters for Pampered Chef was won by Agnes C from Winnipeg
The metal art donated by Linda Rempel and the 8x8 digital scrapbook donated by Michelle C was won by Robyn G of Greysville

* the $40.00 gift certificate donated by Town 'n' Country Grooming and the $30.00 gift certificate donated by Colors was won by Julie H of Darlingford.

Thank you to everyone who donated to our raffle and to those who purchased tickets. We truly appreciate your support! With the money that was raised, we will be purchasing a some more books to add to our lending library.