In the News

 Welcome to SNOW. As of August 3, 2010, we have a new home.

We are now located at 205 Richmond St W. as part of the new Inclusive Design Institute, at OCAD University. We can be reached at 416 977 6000 ext 3967.

ViewPlus and its partners announced the launch of the second phase of the mydreamclassroom.com website. This new interactive tool was designed to help educators discover different solutions for students who are blind, have low vision or learning disabilities. It will also help them find out how assistive technologies can increase their students’ learning independence.

Now in its second phase, the mydreamclassroom.com website is better suited to address the specific needs of educators. They can now select one of three school levels: elementary, high school and college. Educators can also select different categories of technological aids within the same class (blindness, low vision, learning disabilities). The “My Wish List” option allows users to create an online list of assistive tools they would like to have in their classroom. This wish list will also facilitate the purchasing process when acquiring the products.

Canada Ratifies UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

 Ontario Public Sector Must Comply with Accessible Customer Service Standard as of January 1, 2010

or in this CBC article

SNOW's Independent Workshops and Discussion Topics

Visit SNOW's Chat and Learn for independent workshops, discussions, and more.

 Introduction to Special Needs in the Classroom                        

This series has been developed for educational assistants who work with students with special need, but is useful for anyone interested in an introduction to special education. These on-line courses are three weeks long .

There is a fee for each of these workshops: $35.

For Registration and questions  (416) 977 6000 ext 3967 or e-mail This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

Registration Forms may be faxed to (416)  977-9844

Developmental Disabilities
Moderated by Roseanne Elliot
September 27, 2010 and  January 24, 2011

We'll examine developmental disabilities and how to work with a wide range of student competencies in a classroom setting. Topics covered include: definitions related to developmental disabilities and how these impact learning, and strategies and techniques that can be useful in the classroom setting.

Learning Disabilities
Moderated by Fran Dandy
October 18, 2010 and February 16, 2011

Learning disabilities, because of their invisibility, are difficult to define and great debates rage over which definition should take precedence. This can also lead to a reluctance to accept learning disabilities as legitimate. We'll examine different types of learning disabilities and practical strategies for working with children.

Behaviour Disorders
Moderated by Anne Marie Borthwick
November 15, 2010 and March 14, 2011

Many of us have had experiences working with students who have refused to comply to the classroom expectations or who are unable to perform to their true potential due to behavioural deficits. This course will explore strategies for intervention and the creation of appropriate behaviour intervention plans.

Autism 
Moderated by Susan Evans
January 3, 2011 and April 11, 2011

This three-week course is an introduction to working with students with autism. Specific attention will be paid to teaching adaptive and functional skills.

Registration for Fee-Based Courses

There is a charge of $35 for each of the Introduction to Special Needs in the Classroom Series Workshop courses listed above.

For registration call  Pat Murray at 416-977 6000 x 3967 or email her at pmurray[at]ocad.ca

Link to registration form to fax or mail

Registration forms may be faxed to (416) 977-9844

Mental Health Issues in the Classroom
   A free, self-paced, independent workshop

Mental Health Issues in the Classroom is an unmoderated workshop that provides an overview of the state of children's mental health in Canada, and covers a broad range of mental health problems that may manifest in school-aged children and youth.

The course is built around a series of captioned videos taken from a workshop that Glenn DiPasquale conducted with a group of teachers when he was chief psychologist for the York Regional School Board. A fast Internet connection is desirable, though transcripts and audio files are also available in case you don't have a high speed internet connection.

Participants may post comments throughout the course and share thoughts and observations with others who are taking the workshop at the same time.

ONE is FUN - A Teaching Guide for Introducing Braille to Kids

SNOW is pleased to provide an on-line teaching guide for introducing Braille to children. Learn about teaching approaches as well as a fascinating short history of the development (and politics) of Braille, including what is known as the "war of the dots".
[Read More]

 Education Week's Weekly Online Chats

Education Week holds weekly online chat sessions on a variety of topics. An archive of past the chat transcripts, including one titled "Cutting Edge Classroom Technology", is available online.

To learn more, click on the topic link above or go to http://www.edweek.org .

Connecting Families and Educators

Let's talk about Connecting Families and Educators.

Let's talk about: Teaching Your Child Self-Advocacy, Assistive Technology and Your Child, Challenging Educator Vs Parent Relationships, and more. Where we go with these topics is up to you. To get there, go to our companion site, www.inclusiveworkshop.ca . To participate, you'll have to register at the site.

It Takes a Village: Educating Children with Learning Differences, a Parent's Perspective
by Wendy Bailey

The old saying, 'It Takes a Village to Raise a Child', comes to mind when considering the public education of children with Learning Differences, which are commonly referred to as Learning Disabilities. To be clear from the start, within our current systems of education, these Learning Differences are disabilities but do not have to remain as disabilities. The fostering of a co-operative relationship between those who are involved in public education could ameliorate barriers that create the condition of disability for those whose function exists outside of the current definition of 'norm'.      Read More

Adaptive Technology: Adaptive Input Devices
   A free, self-paced, independent workshop

Adaptive Input Devices provides an quick introductory overview of various adaptive and alternative input devices, from adjustable tables, to single switches, and on-screen keyboards. You can ask questions, comment, and add your own reviews and experiences with different adaptive devices.

In The Classroom

Disability and Universal Design

Designers hold a significant key for the full integration of people with disabilities into mainstream society. The designs of our environment, with inherent barriers to access for people with disabilities, reflect the mainstream views of our society. Disability Rights Movement advocates and Disability Studies academics, must engage in a dialogue that support and promote the practice of universal design to further the elimination of social barriers and assist society to understand the social model of a disability perspective ... Read More

Transitions: Access to Learning Canada

We're pleased to announce Access to Learning Canada . This startup web project is a joint endeavor of the Canadian Abilities Foundation and the IDRC. It represents the beginnings of an online inventory that will serve students with disabilities, parents and guidance counsellors who are looking for information about a school's disability services. This resource is intended to assist in the research phase and provides additional tools for students to gather accessibility information specific to their needs.

Books for All - The Need for Alternate Formats

The CALL Centre (Communication Aids for Language and Learning) provides support to those who have speech, communication and/or writing difficulties, covering schools across Scotland and makes a wealth of information (e.g., articles, eBooks and tutorials) available through its web site. They recently posted the results of their research that explores the need for making content available in alternative print, audio and digital formats for learners with disabilities. Topics covered include:

• What learning materials are required in alternative formats?
• Which alternative formats would benefit pupils with literacy difficulties?
• What benefits are achieved by having learning materials in alternative formats?
• Issues of equity and provisions under copyright exemption legislation.

While the research focused on students in Scotland, this work is is applicable to anyone working with students who need alternative formats. You can find the Books for All report on the Call Centre's web site.

Do you work with people who need alternative formats? Share your experiences with alternative formats?

Using Scratch - A New Computer Language - with Kids in Cambodia

Guest contributor Liddy Neville shares her experiences introducing Scratch, a free, multi-platform(Mac, Windows, Linux coming) computer language for children in Cambodia. Scratch is developed by MIT's Lifelong Kindergarten Group. Read Liddy's article, "Scratch and Learn" to learn more.

High School Students Discover Accessible Media

Several years back, my teenage daughter started her high-school journey at Ursula Franklin Academy in Toronto. She became involved in videography, loved it and learned to make movies, everything from documentaries to film noir. Each year, the young filmmakers, their parents and teachers attend “Night at the Movies,” a special screening of their works at a posh and cinematic location, such as the National Film Board of Canada in downtown Toronto.
... continue reading "High School Students Discover Accessible Media".

AT, UD, and One Laptop Per Child

One Laptop per Child Initiative (known as OLPC) hopes to place $100 laptops into the hands of kids in the developing world. OLPC has been underway for several years now and is just now moving into a stage where the laptops are ready for distribution and various projects, etc. have been set up. It's a big topic and evokes a lot of discussion.

Will the OLPC laptop, referred to fondly as the XO laptop, support various assistive technologies (AT)? SNOW's particular interest centres around assistive techhnology and inclusion. We think of assistive technologies as essential Universal Design (UD) features that make computers accessible to everyone. Features such as text-to-speech, on-screen keyboards, and voice recognition, to name a few, need to be part of the XO laptop right out of the box.

What accessibility solutions exist at present for the XO? Is this machine fast enough to support built-in AT features? A $100 laptop which comes with built-in AT features that normally cost many hundreds of dollars would be really something.

For more information about the OLPC, check out these links:

• Wired June 2009 Article Part 1
• Wired July 2009 Article Part 2
• The Official MIT Media Lab Link.
• Wall Street Journal article
• BBC article
• Blog: Colonialism's new look for the 21st century: OLPC, One Laptop per Child