Children’s Coalition Makes a Difference
MANITOBA - The Children’s Coalition in Manitoba has been active in promoting inclusive education and inclusive futures for children in that province. Our contact in Manitoba, Anne Kresta, reports that “… the Children's Coalition consists of many representatives from a number of service providers who represent children with special needs and their families. They have been a key player in the Special Education Review Initiative, a multi-disciplinary panel of advisors who reviewed and made recommendations regarding the education of children with special needs within Manitoba. They sponsor annual public forums that address growing concerns of families of children with a wide variety of needs. To learn more about this organization, please see the attached pamphlet, recently developed for The Children's Coalition.”
Special-Needs Role Model Dies at 20
As reported in the Winnipeg Free Press on Friday March 31, Grant Park High School has lost a student leader described as a role model by advocates for the disabled.
Eddie Badescu, 20, died yesterday morning [Thursday March 30]. The profoundly physically disabled student council president at Grant Park won an international Yes I Can Award and was looking forward to picking it up at a ceremony next week in Salt Lake City, Utah.
His family was not commenting on his death last night, nor was Joyce Billinkoff, head of the special education department at Grant Park.
"I just can't believe the news," said Anne Kresta, who has two sons with special needs at Grant Park. "He was a model of how inclusion can work for all kids... and of how far they can go," said Kresta. » View the Full Story
Advocate for Kids Wants to Do More
Seeking to expand role and department, by Nick Martin
Reprinted from the Winnipeg Free Press, Wednesday March 29
Manitoba children's advocate Billie Schibler wants to intervene throughout the public education system to help special needs kids, turned-off students, kids with behaviour problems and parents reluctant to challenge the system.
It would mean a major expansion of her department and her role, said Schibler, whose staff will already be busy in the near future helping lead two reviews of the child-welfare system that has been shaken by the death of five-year-old Phoenix Sinclair.
Schibler said the most obvious place to start is by becoming a key player in a new law that guarantees special needs students appropriate educational programming. » View the Full Story
Our Exceptional Students Say "Yes I Can"
by Nick Martin
Reprinted from the Winnipeg Free Press, Monday March 27
KAITLIN Larabie is brutally frank about the effects of having fetal alcohol syndrome. "When I was in my mom's tummy, she drank, and I got a disability. Sometimes we can't remember, and we forget," said Kaitlin, 11.
On April 7, Kaitlin will tell an international conference of special education teachers in Salt Lake City how FAS makes her think differently than most people. And she'll tell them FAS won't stop her from becoming a teacher, Kaitlin said.
She's among five Manitoba kids among only 24 North American students honoured this year with international Yes I Can Awards.
"It's awesome," Education Minister Peter Bjornson recently enthused.
Awesome indeed in their achievements. These five kids with severe physical and mental disabilities have become part of the life of their schools while preparing for lives beyond the classroom. » View the Full Story
