This workshop will address seniors’ issues, specific to deaf-blindness, including low vision assessments, changes in mobility, technical devices, low tech rehabilitation strategies and communication. Charles Bonnet Syndrome, dementia, Legacy Theory and how they impact communication will also be discussed. There will be simulations to gain a greater understanding of what seniors are experiencing and an opportunity to gain further insight into our own behaviours. Hearing aids, FM systems and oral strategies will also be touched on as well as accessible recreation and what long term care activities can be made accessible.
 
Andrea Radcliffe is the Senior Support Services Coordinator at the Canadian Helen Keller Centre (CHKC). Andrea is also an
Instructor at CHKC and a part-time Intervenor in the Rotary Cheshire Homes Outreach Program.

This session will describe the role of the substitute decision maker and making “best interests” decisions as they relate to medical treatment and the release of information on behalf of incapable persons in Ontario. This role of the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee will also be examined.

Through an interactive and hands on presentation, intervenors will explore new ideas and build on their current creative communication skills. Intervenors will learn a variety of strategies and techniques to create materials and activities that can bridge the gap between language and communication with the congenitally deafblind. Adapted activity folders, concrete cue planning systems, tactile books, experience boxes and interactive stories will be highlighted.
 
Janis Anderson is the Communication Coordinator with TheW. Ross Macdonald School..

This session will provide a brief overview of mental health problems in Canada and the barriers to individuals obtaining help and recovery. Substance-related mental health such as mood, anxiety and psychotic disorders will also be addressed including signs, symptoms and risk factors.
 
Denise Waligora is the Intensive Case Manager, Justice Program with the Canadian Mental Health Association Niagara Branch.

Having Usher Syndrome has meant many changes in Jane Sayer’s life both personally and professionally and she will share her personal experiences in this session. She will look at the wide range of emotions that can be overwhelming at times. Jane will share how she has learned to retain her sense of humour even in adversity. Friends, family, co-workers and even intervenors travel along side Jane through the many peeks and valleys this road has lead and will continue to lead.
 
Jane Sayer, a consumer, is the Coordinator for the Resource Centre for Manitobans who are Deaf-Blind in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

This session will consist of four presentations:

1. Spin to Win: Are You In The Know?
   This interactive session will be a game-show format. Attendees will participate in teams and be asked questions in both
   areas of work and study, congenital and acquired deaf-blindness.
   
   Molly Saunders is the Director of Outreach Intervenor Services with Rotary Cheshire Homes
    
2. Success in the Classroom
   This session will share an intervenor’s success experienced through use of a computer. Some programs that will be
   addressed include Clicker 5 (free ministry licensed software),Word, Boardmaker and PowerPoint. Successful tactics include using the computer to create and modify the student’s calendar, spelling, reading program and math. The session will demonstrate some of the manipulatives, computer programs and adapted equipment used in a classroom. The presenter will share a real life case study and explain how a student went from no communication to integration, independence and success.
    
   Tracey Riggillo is an Intervenor for the Toronto Catholic District School Board and also works as an Instructor and Intervenor for the Canadian Helen Keller Centre.
    
3. Inspirational Success
   The Program Module of DeafBlind Ontario Services has had great success with a resident who transitioned to their
   organization within a period of one year. The presentation will address the success in terms of communication (calendar
   system, experience books), vocational opportunities, living environment, etc. As well, the presenters will also discuss the
   values of the organization and how they interlinked with his success.
    
   Star Masawi is a Team Leader for Elgin Mills House, with DeafBlind Ontario Services.
   Lyn Pamani is an Intervenor with DeafBlind Ontario Services.
   View and download presentation in another window. (Adobe PDF)
    
4. Everyone Has the Right to Fulfill Their True Potential
   Given the appropriate support and opportunity each person can develop their talents, choose a rewarding career path and
   gain steps to greater independence. This session will discuss how consumers can reach their potential. A video will
   demonstrate how consumers with various degrees of hearing and vision loss in the workforce have had success with the
   assistance of their intervenors.
    
   Stacey Copeland is the Director of Intervention and Donnalee Boudreau is an Intervenor with The Canadian Deafblind
   Association, New Brunswick/Prince Edward Island Chapter.

Braille is a coded system of dots that can be used by both congenitally and adventiously deaf-blind people to become
more independent. Braille and other tactile marking systems can be used to identify and sort personal belongings and to
find their way in familiar environments. This presentation will be an interactive one where participants will debunk the
myths about the difficulty of reading and teaching braille. Intervenors will learn how non-literate consumers can learn
tactile codes to promote independence. Intervenors will be enabled to promote tactile learning within the deaf-blind
community by discussing new approaches to teaching braille and other tactile systems.
 
Kelly Pollock is a Specialist Teacher of the Blind, Orientation and Mobility Specialist with the Toronto District School Board.
She is also a Board Member for Rotary Cheshire Homes and the Canadian Helen Keller Centre.

CHARGE Syndrome is an incredibly complicated and quite fascinating condition. This presentation goes beyond the
acronym and suggests strategies for assisting persons with CHARGE to meet their challenges and reach their potentials.
 
Dr. Tim Hartshorne is a Professor of Psychology at Central Michigan University, with a specialization in school psychology.

This session will focus on how a relationship of trust must be formed between an intervenor and the person who is deafblind to reach goals they may have. From intervening important government meetings to having a drink in the bar, it’s imperative that intervenors know when to be professional and when to be just themselves. That's how a team can effectively work together and the end result is empowerment of the person with deaf-blindness and a relationship of trust and mutual respect.

Jane Sayer, a consumer, is the Coordinator for the Resource Centre for Manitobans who are Deaf-Blind in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Pamela Friedrich is a freelance Intervenor and Interpreter and computerised note-taker with E-Quality Communications Centre of Excellence in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Intervenors are well aware of the importance of the five senses for the individuals they support. The theory of sensory integration emphasizes the integration of the seven senses; more particularly the “forgotten” senses of proprioception (body awareness in space) and vestibular (motion and balance) sense. It is important to recognize and understand the neurological development of sensory processing in order to develop effective strategies.
 
In this workshop, participants will gain an understanding of brain development and why sensory integration is important to processing information and learning, basic theories of sensory integration and what sensory processing disorders can look like in adults as well as experience “hands on” techniques based on recent clinical success stories.
 
Shirley Sutton is a registered Occupational Therapist.

The Interpreter and Intervenor Services Database is a project funded by the Government of Ontario under the Strengthening Our Partnership Investment. The partnership between The Canadian Hearing Society and CDBRA Ontario Chapter began in April 2006. The project will commence in March 2009. The project is to develop a comprehensive and highly integrated web-based database. This workshop will show the audience different samples of the kind of functions that the database will produce.
 
Heather Marsden is the Service Coordinator, Interpreter & Intervenor Database Project with the Canadian Hearing Society.

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Technology has opened a new world for the deaf-blind population around the globe; something never imagined during Helen Keller’s time. The presentation will focus on how amazing technologies are being used by consumers and will discuss how deaf-blind individuals are using these technologies to enhance their success and enjoyment in terms of recreation, employment, and in personal life.
 
Anindya “Bapin” Bhattacharyya is a Technology Development & Training Specialist with the Helen Keller National Center,
San Francisco, California.

Quite often intervenors are faced with difficult behaviour. A first thought would be to find a way to just stop it. However often trying to stop difficult behaviour can make it worse. This session will focus on how behaviour should be recognized as communication by the consumer.
 
Dr. Tim Hartshorne is a Professor of Psychology at Central Michigan University, with a specialization in school psychology.

Personal stories are a powerful way for people to share experiences and connect with others. Kim is a consumer with a sense of humour who draws on her personal disability experience and Disability Studies background to offer insights into impairment, disability and empowerment. This interactive session will engage you through stories and case scenarios.
 
Kim Wrigley-Archer, B.A. Brock University & B.A. Disability Studies (Honours) Ryerson University is a consultant with Disability/Consulting Awareness Training.

Taking into account the characteristics and needs of the deafblind, how should multi-sensory environments be approached? This session will look at the fundamental principles of the Snoezelen approach and how to relate them to the reality of deafblind individuals. Some concrete examples will be discussed.
 
Christine Sauvé, Paulette Bédard and Pierre Beaudin are Deafblind Resource Consultants with Centre Jules-Léger, Ottawa.

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This session will consist of four presentations:

1. Empowerment to Independence
   Learn about a consumer’s successful transition from being very dependent and living with family members to now living in his own apartment. Provincial funding was provided to the Resource Centre for Manitobans who are Deaf-Blind to undertake this one-year project. This presentation will focus on the journey of independence and address the ideas, planning and processes as well as the trials and tribulations along the way.
   
   Curtis Hainsworth is a SSP and Administrative Assistant with Resource Centre for Manitobans who are Deaf-Blind
    
2. Dear Resident, Thank You For...
   An opportunity will be given to think beyond how Intervenors can change the lives of residents, and ask how the residents have positively affected the lives of intervenors..
    
   Ellen Shumka is an Intervenor at Ridgeview for DeafBlind Ontario Services.
    
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3. Creating Programs for Multi-Exceptional Children in the Classroom
   This session will share ideas from a classroom with five students ranging in age from 5-13. The session will address 3-D cues, environmental cues, cue names, sign names, 2-D cues, textures and some ASL signs.
    
   Jennette Howe is a fifth-year Special Education Teacher with the Toronto District School Board.
   Cristina Chirila is an Intervenor with the Toronto District School Board, at W.J. McCordic School.
    
4. The Effectiveness of Combining Communication Tools
   Learn about the effectiveness of utilizing a combination of communication tools, including; calendars, experience books, picture cues, tangible symbols, concrete cues and sign. This session will include the struggles and successes the individuals and intervenors experienced when creating the most valuable methods of communication and the lengths the individuals with deafblindness have come.
    
   Keri Newbigging is an Intervention Coordinator with the Canadian Deafblind and Rubella Association, Ontario Chapter.
    
   View and download presentation in another window. (Adobe PDF)