Inclusion Team Hosts Parent Autism Awareness Night
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Grande Yellowhead Public School Division’s Inclusion Team hosted a Parent Autism Awareness evening at Sheldon Coates Elementary School (SC) in Grande Cache on April 23, 2025.
The evening session was attended by a number of parents, administration, and school-based staff. Alyssa Fitzgerald the Division's Communication Disorder Assistant, and Taryn EricksonMontague, GYPSD’s Occupational Therapist led the presentation along with hosts, Amy Corser the Director of Inclusion, SC Principal Jillian Hammer, and SC’s Learning Support Teacher/ Assistant Principal, Brenda Kelly.
Topics included:
- An explanation of autism (also known as autism spectrum disorder or ASD) which is a lifelong neurodevelopmental disorder that affects how people interact with others, communicate, learn and behave
- Causes and co-occurring mental health conditions
- Resources available for parents from the Inclusion Team, and
- Building an understanding of effective communication, sensory and sensory tools to regulate behaviours
The presentation was very well-received in the community with the most popular topic of interest - the definition of a Tantrum vs a Meltdown - which encouraged lots of Q and A’s for the team. Find out more about how you can support those individuals on the autism spectrum at Autism Canada and autism speaks., and by visiting a free autism library of over 6,000 resources at AIDE Canada Library which is funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada.
The Inclusion Team is hoping to host evening sessions of similar topics of interest throughout the Division.