LDA-LC News

June 2003 Newsletter
Learning Disabilities Association for Lambton County
Newsletter Editor: Caryn Taylor

Learning Disabilities Association of Lambton County - Resource Centre
321 Devine Street, Sarnia, Ontario, N7T 1T9,(519)344-7745, www.sarnia.com/groups/lda-lc e-mail ldalc@xcelco.on.ca
Office Hours: Tuesday through Thursday - 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

The LDA-LC does not endorse any particular method, therapy, treatment, institution, opinion expressed or the methods described through our public meetings, guest speakers, Resource Centre library, newsletter or product.
We do endorse your right to know about them!

Great News!

The LDA-LC is delighted to announce that on March 27,2003 we received funding from The Ontario Trillium Foundation in the amount of $82,600 over 2 years. This grant is for the LDA-LC to hire a part-time Executive Director and a part-time Fundraiser. On May 8 the Board of Directors hired Annie Sheehan as Executive Director. Please note that the Resource Centre is now open Tuesday through Thursday from 9:30 to 2:30 p.m. (including through the summer). The Board is still searching for a part-time Fundraiser and hopes to report on this in our next newsletter.

Working Mothers National Survey

The University of Ottawa is conducting a study surveying working mothers (min 10 hours per week) of children with ADHD. It consists of a mail-in questionnaire. If you are interested in taking part in this study please telephone 1-888-389-1518 or e-mail dahproj@uottawa.ca for more information.

More Great News!

On April 17,2003 the LDA-LC was announced as on the local organizations approved for the Early Years Challenge Fund. Our grant in the amount of $170,224 is for the Learning to Learn Differently Program ("LLDP"). For this three-year grant, we will very soon be hiring a Program Coordinator (a full-time position). The LLDP program is a teacher-guided, yet child and parent focused program that will help parents understand and reinforce their children's learning styles and strengths and provide new ways for parents to help their children succeed in school and experience the joy of learning. The idea behind LLDP is that the Program Coordinator will talk to all Senior Kindergarden and Grade One teachers throughout Lambton County. The teachers will refer "at risk" students to the LLDP Program. The Program Coordinator will assign a volunteer tutor to the at risk child. The volunteer tutor will work throughout the school year with the child and the child's parents. Therefore at risk children and their families will receive one on one tutoring once a week. in order to identify the child's learning style and help them with their weak areas. If you have children that are in SK or Grade One and would like to make sure that LLDP comes to your school, please let us know at the Resource Centre and we will do our best to have LLDP come your school.

 

Introducing...Our Board Members for 2003

 
Duncan Longwell Position: President Occupation: Business Owner(Retired), Lambton Kent Board of Education Trustee and Special Education Advisory Committee Chair
Trudy Catt Position: Past President Occupation: School Teacher(Retired
Janice Craig Position: Secretary/Treasurer Occupation: Parent
Dr. Susie Sioutis Position: Director Occupation: Doctor of Chiropractor
Rose Bridgeo Position: Director Occupation: Holistic Nutritionist
Corrie Danielis Position: Director Occupation: Wellness and Achievement Facilitator

New Board Member

Please join us in welcoming new Board Member Corrie Danielis Many in the community know Corrie from her work as a Certified Brain Gym instructor. Corrie also performs food sensitivity testing through Clinic in the Grove (869-4309). Corrie can also be reached by e-mail at danielis@sympatico.ca.   Corrie is very interested in education and hopes to join our soon-to-be-formed Education Committee

Committee Coming soon...

Volunteer Committee Members Needed

We are now ready to start forming our committees as set forth in our Strategies Plan. The four Committees are:

  • Education
  • Finance and Fundraising
  • Personnel Management
  • Public Relations

If you have two hours a month to meet and have a special interest in one of the above committees, please give us a call. The meetings will be held in the evening at the Resource Centre in Devine Street School. We can answer any questions about what functions the committees will perform. The Finance and Fundraising committee will meet July 16, 2003 at 6:30 p.m., but the other committees will probably be formed over the summer and meet in September.

LDA-Ontario is featuring Guest Speakers
Richard Lavoie and Dr Larry Silver

Speaking on
Social Skills, Self Esteem and Self Advocacy Skills (Thur) Treatment & Programming for Learning Disabilities (Fri)

September 25 & 26, 2003 - 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Holiday Inn, Toronto - Don Valley

Registration for LDA-O members is $180 for each day or $325 for both days prior to June 1, 2003. Registration after June 1. 2003 is $225 per day and $450 for both days. Registration forms available from LDA-LC Resource Centre, 321 Devine St. Sarnia, ON.

PARKING NOTICE

Parking in now on Brock Street, south of Devine Street, with entry at the front of the school

Attention Contacts

Our subsidy for mail outs has expired. This will be the last newsletter for our contact list. If you wish to continue receiving our newsletter, please apply for our membership at the offices. Financial assistance is available.

WEBSITES WORTH VISITING

Yahooligans: Search engine for kids

www.yahooligans.com

LDOnline: The place for parents, educators and kids to learn, to find help, and to exchange ideas. Wonderful resource for keeping up on learning disabilities.

www.LDOnLine.org

Family Education Network: Free newsletters, resources, and shopping for parents, teachers, and kids.

www.familyeducation.com

Encarta Schoolhouse: Educational tools and resources.

www.encarta.msn.com/schoolhouse

We have recently enrolled in Grocery Store Coupon Programs. We are registered with A&P and Zehrs, so if you shop at either of these stores please save your tapes for us.

Have a safe and happy summer!

Looking Forward - 2003: The Second Half

Grants: We are in the process and hope to announce soon government funding that will allow us to hire two people to help us with two very important tasks at the LDA-LC. Some of you may have noticed that our web site is extremely out of date. The first person will help us update our web site. The second person will help us catalogue our resource library.

Resource Centre: Please remember that the Resource Centre will be open throughout the summer if you need any reading for the beach. We have on order THREE copies of "How Difficult Can This Be?" by Dr Richard Lavoie. If you haven't seen this video yet, you will love it. We also have some new books in the Resource Centre, including "Healing ADD The Breakthrough Program That Allows You to See and Heal the 6 Types of ADD" by Daniel G. Amen, M.D. Another recent addition is "You Mean I'm Not Lazy,Stupid or Crazy?" by Kate Kelly and Peggy Ramundo. This on is a self-help book for adults with attention deficit disorder. Another recent addition is "What Should I Tell the Kids?" by Ava L. Siegler, Ph.D. This book is a parent's guide to real problems in the real world.We know September is far, far away but keep in mind our Learning to Learn Differently Program. We will need to recruit approximately 40 volunteer tutors who will work with SK and Grade One at risk students this coming school year. This Early Years initiative is an important step in the right direction. The earlier we can help these children the better chance they have of succeeding.

 

Looking Back - 2003: The First Half

Other that what we have noted elsewhere in this newsletter, we have had a busy first half of 2003.

Volunteer Orientation: On Monday, June 9 we had our first ever Volunteer Orientation from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. This orientation was to welcome new volunteers into our fold and tell them a little about what we do here at the LDA-LC. Thanks to all who showed up and watch for the next Volunteer Orientation in the fall

Golf Tournament: On Friday, June 6 we had our First Annual Golf Tournament for the LDA-LC. Although we did not have a huge turnout of golfers, we had a glorious day for golf. The Arkona Fairways hosted our tournament and everyone in attendance had a fabulous time. Next year we will have more time to promote and advertise the event and hope to have many more golfers. This tournament would not have happened without the hard work of volunteers Trudy Catt and Mike Brigdeo, among others. Trudy and Mike solicited lot of great prizes for our golfers and received hole sponsorship funds from local businesses. We will thank our sponsors/donators in our next Newsletter.

Parent Support Group: This Spring we resumed our Parent Support Group (which takes place on the first Monday of every month). We like to have a guest speaker to talk to our parents and we were lucky enough to have the following speakers:

  • Rose Brigdeo, a Holistic Nutritionist from Clinic in the Grove. Rose talked about children with Learning Disabilities and/or ADHD. Nutrition and the identification of toxic metals and their harmful effects were discussed.
  • Corrie Danielis, a Certified Brain Gym Instructor. Corrie took us through some very fun and energizing Brain Gym exercises and talked about food sensitivity testing.
  • The Workplace. In March we welcomed Andrea Barrett and Anne Marie Cosford who talked to the group about resources for adults dealing with learning disabilities in the workplace. We were also fortunate to have Brett Humphrey speak to the group about his personal experiences in the workplace and how parents can help prepare their children for employment.

Parenting Children with Learning Disabilities: We have just finished another 10-week session of this great course. If you have not taken this course yet, there will be another session beginning in the fall. This course is invaluable to parents of children with a learning disability.

K.P.P. - Social Skills Program for Children with Learning Disabilities: We have had a bit of a gap in delivering services for this program, but we are in the process of hiring a Coordinator and will be offering the next KPP sessions in the fall. Parents who have signed their children up for this course and are waiting will be contracted with start dates and times.

Display Booths: We took our show on the road and had displays set up at the following venues this spring:

  • 3rd Annual Forum for Parents, Teachers and Principals sponsored by St. Clair Catholic District School Board and the Board Advisory Council. On Saturday, April 5 we took part in this forum and were well received by the parents and teachers in attendance. We also got to hear Barbara Coloroso speak.
  • Bridges to Health Fair at Lochiel Kiwanis Centre. On Saturday, May 3 we manned a booth at this fair. It is always a good venue for us and we enjoyed ourselves.
  • Child Health Fairs- May 1 in Sarnia and May 22 in Forest