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A helping hand for parents of children with special needs By Dominik Kurek OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF The Halton District School Board's Special Education Advisory Committee (SEAC) wants people to understand they are not alone. There are other parents in the community who have children with special education needs and those parents can be a resource to others. "There are people who are going through the same thing as you and they may have answers for you, direct you to a resource or just be a friend," said SEAC chair Amy McKenzie. To this effect, SEAC, in partnership with the school board, has organized a number of coffee chats over the next few months, where people can learn about a variety of issues that relate to caring for children with special needs, and most importantly, chat among each other. And yes, the free chats include coffee and other refreshments and snacks. The chats will take place in all four corners of the region with morning and evening events planned, to ensure all parents have a chance to make it. The first coffee chat was in Georgetown on Wednesday, Jan. 16 where parents learned how they can work with teachers for the benefit of the students. Following the guest presentation at each event, parents then get a chance to talk to each other. "What we're trying to be is a parent-to-parent connection," McKenzie said. SEAC hosted expert chats before, but learned from attendees that parents really just wanted to be able to speak with each other. "Sometimes parents with children with special needs, especially if their high-needs children, they don't get out much. They are not able to do much more than they do already," McKenzie said. SEAC is also making it easier for parents to be able to attend these coffee chats. Through a government grant, SEAC can subsidize the cost of respite care for parents so that they can attend. SEAC, which is an advisory committee to the school board, decided to hold the coffee chats in an effort to be a greater resource to parents. "All the people who are on the Special Education Advisory Committee are either parents of children with special needs or they are parents who have gone through the system already and want to help other parents," McKenzie said. "One of the most important things to us was communication, not just between us and the board, but between us and parents." Following is a list of future coffee chats: · Tuesday, Feb. 12: "Ring of Safety: Teaching people with disabilities the skills to prevent abuse", presented by Dave Hingsburger at Craig Kielburger Secondary School, 1151 Ferguson Dr., Milton, from 9:30 a.m.-noon. · Monday, March 18: "Financial Planning for parents of special needs children", presented by Graeme Treeby at M.M. Robinson High School, 2425 Upper Middle Rd., Burlington from 7-9:30 p.m. · Friday, April 12: General interest at Garth Webb Secondary School, 2820 Westoak Trails Blvd., Oakville from 9:30-11 a.m. · Thursday, May 16: General interest at Robert Bateman High School, 5151 New St., Burlington from 7-9:30 p.m. For more information, or to apply for respite care subsidies, contact McKenzie at amy@mkz.com, SEAC vice-chair Jason Bartlett at bartlett.jason@gmail.com or superintendent of education-student services David Boag at boagd@hdsb.ca. 7 · Friday, February 8, 2013 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.insideHALTON.com Sore Feet, Sports Injury, Painful Ingrown Toenails? Plantar Warts? We can help! 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