Hey everyone, last month we celebrated Community Inclusion month…this month, we invite you to join us — and other organizations in North America! — in celebrating CAREGIVERS!
While the first Tuesday of April has been adopted as National Caregiver Day in Canada, we are having caregivers take over the month of November on our blog — you can expect to see posts each week with Great News! that recognize and feature caregivers, training opportunities and resources, Frequently Asked Questions (and a summary of answers) and suggested topics!
To start us off, we are featuring the Caregivers Resource Expo — where you can find resources under the topics of connecting, empowering, and supporting caregivers — on the Carers Canada webpage. Check it out and pass it on!
Hey everyone, just a reminder that Daylight Saving Time (DST) ends this weekend on Sunday! Since this change happens in the wee hours of the morning on November 1st, you might want to change your clocks (if needed) the night before, when you go to bed.
Hey everyone, the Boston Consulting Group has posted some great COVID-19 articles and resources on their Restarting Societies and Economies—Safely page — check it out here!
Here to Help is a BC-based resource there to help you take care of your mental health and use substances in healthier ways, find the information you need to manage mental health and substance use problems, and learn how you can support a loved one. Check out their website, and pass along the information!
Hey everyone, don’t miss out on these upcoming training opportunities!
October 22 – November 26, 2020 Thursdays from 1:30-3:30 PM EST Let’s Learn Research Join a virtual course for adults with developmental disabilities to learn about mental health research. Let’s Learn Research is led by researchers at the Azrieli Adult Neurodevelopmental Centre and will run every Thursday from October 22 to November 26 from 1:30 to 3:30 pm.
November 3 – December 8, 2020 Tuesdays from 1:00-2:30 PM EST Mental Health for adults with developmental disabilities during COVID The Azrieli Adult Neurodevelopmental Centre at CAMH is hosting a new virtual course beginning November 3, 2020. This course is for family caregivers of adults with intellectual/developmental disabilities (IDD). The curriculum will specifically address the mental health challenges that this population can face during the COVID-19 pandemic.
November 26-27, 2020 7th Biennial Conference on Developmental Disabilities: Health and Wellbeing across the LifespanVIRTUAL CONFERENCE Online registration is now OPEN, Early Bird Registration available until October 30th.
The term developmental disabilities (DD) refers to people with intellectual disability, autism spectrum, fetal alcohol spectrum and related neurodevelopmental genetic syndromes. Children, youth, and adults with DD are vulnerable to high rates of general health and mental health concerns. This interactive 2020 conference will focus on practical strategies to optimize the quality of life for people with DD. Our goal is to help clinicians and caregivers learn effective ways to work with people with DD, and their families, in partnership to improve their quality of life experience. The conference will also provide educational and informative psychiatric, behavioural, mental health, and complex physical health updates specific to people with DD, and showcase best practices in the field. This conference will engage health care providers and educators from a wide range of professional disciplines in knowledge transfer and interdisciplinary collaboration. Please note that the conference is scheduled to run from 8:30am – 12:30 pm PST / 11:30 – 3:30pm EST (-/+ 30 minutes) from November 26-27, 2020. The registration fee includes access to the conference portal for the days registered, as well as viewing of all session recordings for two weeks after the conference adjourns.
Hey everybody, we are celebrating rights (and responsibilities) this month! Today’s post is about VOTING. You can register to vote in BC if you are:
18 or older by General Voting Day (Oct. 24)
a Canadian citizen, and
a BC resident for the past six months as of General Voting Day (Oct. 24)
While Election Day in BC is coming up next Saturday (Oct. 24), in many places advance voting starts TODAY (Oct. 15)! If you plan to vote, check out what political parties say they will do about issues you care about. For example, the BC Special Olympics focused in on health care, check out this article for more information. Inclusion BC wrote to the political parties to find out what their plans were, check out their questions and issues here. You will need to decide which political party you will vote for in the election.
When you have decided who you will vote for, you will need to know where to go to vote. Find the place you will be voting (either in advance, or on Oct. 24) on the Elections BC website.
You will need to bring some specific items with you when you go to vote. You might want to get the items together in advance (i.e. your ID, a mask, etc). If you aren’t sure what you need, there is more information in this Elections BC voter guide.
Most importantly, if you’re planning to vote… ask for help, if you need it! Here are some ideas of who you could talk to and ask for help:
Your family or your friends
Your support worker or your home share provider
People you know at your church or in your neighborhood
When you’re making your plan to get out there and vote, you might need to know what help is available at the voting station. You can find information about what help is available on this Elections BC webpage.
Elections BC also has a webpage all about keeping healthy and safe while you vote — check it out here.
Hey everyone, if you haven’t already – check out the LINK! training all about safety, sexuality and relationships, starting next week online through posAbilities! This training is open to participants in the Okanagan and in the Kootenays.
Hey everyone, if you’re going to vote in the upcoming BC election there’s a webinar that can help answer your questions about voting — happening tomorrow!
You Can Vote! Webinar with Guest Melanie Callas from Elections BC WHEN: October 14th, 2020 at 1:00-1:45PM (PST)
Inclusion BC is pleased to welcome Melanie Callas, Outreach Coordinator with Elections BC, to host the 5th webinar in our Virtual Learning Series. Melanie will talk about the voting process and answer questions about voting and the election. Send us your questions! Inclusion BC is collecting questions to ask Melanie in the webinar. We want to hear from you! Please send your questions to Semanthi at swanni@inclusionbc.org
