Request for Presentation Proposals
ACT’s 12th Annual Focus on Research
Autism & Family Quality of Life – Developing Culturally Responsive Research and Intervention Programming
Download the Application to Present. **Deadline for Application to Present is Monday, January 18, 2016**
Date
Friday & Saturday, April 15 & 16, 2016
Location
Simon Fraser University, 515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, B.C.
Sponsored by:
About the Conference
ACT’s 12th Annual Focus on Research Conference will provide a forum for researchers, community organizations, educators and parents to consider the realities facing marginalized families who have children affected by Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and other developmental disabilities, including Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Intellectual Disabilities.
The focus of this request for presentations is to elicit contributions from researchers, community-based clinicians and organizations with experience in working with refugees, immigrant populations, aboriginal communities and those living in rural and remote communities across Canada. Our goal is to build relationships between researchers, community-based clinicians, community organizations and families to facilitate the collaboration that is required to better support under-served members of our communities. In particular, we are hoping to provide researchers with the important research questions that the community wishes to have answered by incorporating panel discussions during the conference, as well as to listen to research findings that can help us consider the way forward.
Download the Application to Present.
**Deadline for Application to Present is Monday, January 18, 2016**
Purpose of the Conference
– Developing Culturally Responsive Research and Intervention Programming:
- Build on Simon Fraser University’s research on family quality of life, and focus on under-represented groups, in particular, marginalized communities, including cultural/linguistic minorities, refugees and families living in rural and remote regions.
- Highlight factors which negatively impact the inclusion of children with ASD and their families in research.
- Address the shortage of culturally sensitive, reliable and scientifically validated information on
ASD in languages, other than English and French, available either in Canada or internationally. - Support best practice in British Columbia and across Canada by using family centered approaches, allowing family members, and their broader cultural/linguistic communities, to receive resources in their mother tongue language.
- Speak to the needs of new Canadians who have children with ASD, how these needs vary across cultures, and how Canadian clinicians, educators and policy makers can better respond to these needs.
We invite applications from
- Researchers and academics from across Canada; public and private diagnosticians, including psychologists and physicians; educators; social workers; Infant Development Program consultants; Aboriginal Infant Development Program consultants; speech- language pathologists, occupational therapists and behavior consultants;
- Representatives from organizations and educators who are supporting individuals and families with ASD and/or other disabilities with diverse cultural backgrounds or in rural/remote settings;
- Those who are knowledgeable about multicultural or multilingual community resources and initiatives for families and individuals;
- Those who are employing culturally sensitive and multilingual strategies in program intervention to support marginalized populations.
Conference Registration
Registration opens on February 8, 2016.
Conference Committee
- Anthony Bailey, MD, FRCPC – Chair of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of British Columbia
- Karen D. Bopp, PhD, RSLP – Senior Behaviour Consultant, BC Ministry of Children and Family Development
- Diana Elliott – Provincial Advisor for Aboriginal Infant Development Programs, B.C.
- Grace Iarocci, PhD – Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University
- Mandeep Gurm, MA – Doctoral Student, Simon Fraser University
- Bosang Lee, PhD – Executive Director, Here and Now Community Society, Surrey
- Deborah Pugh, MA – Executive Director of ACT – Autism Community Training, B.C.
- Tamara Salih, MD, FRCPC – Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, B.C. Children’s Hospital
- Michelle Schmidt, PhD – District Principal Education Services, Surrey School District, B.C.