Family members and community professionals interested in supporting parents
Focus
Age-span
Autism-specific?
No
Page Index
About the Event
Convincing decision-makers that a child with special needs has special challenges requiring individualized accommodation can be very challenging for parents – especially since they are often still grappling with their child’s diagnosis and understanding systems of service delivery. This day will help families better understand how to effectively and positively advocate for their children - regardless of their child’s specific special need. Most examples will be drawn from the B.C. education system; however, basic advocacy strategies relevant in other systems will be addressed in order to empower parents to gain confidence by understanding their roles, rights and responsibilities.
About the Presenter
Deborah Pugh has been actively engaged in advocacy within the autism community on both a provincial and national level for the past 20 years. She is the former Executive Director of the Autism Society of B.C. and the founder of ACT - Autism Community Training. She has helped hundreds of families successfully advocate for their children.
ACT’s live events are self-supporting through registration fees and sponsorship; we do not receive government funding. ACT fundraises to provide bursaries for low-income participants. We prioritize family members and autistic adults for bursaries which are given in the form of lower registration fees. ACT only provides bursaries prior to registration for those who want to join our online audience. Learn more about how to register using the ACT event bursary program. You are welcome to call or email ACT's office (info@actcommunity.ca) for more information. ACT provided over $11,000 in bursaries in 2019 and gratefully accepts donations to our bursary fund to allow us to provide a greater level of support. Donate to our bursary fund.
Autism Funding
Parents who receive Autism Funding may use 20% of the
total for equipment, books, training and travel costs.
ACT's live events are considered eligible expenses by
the Autism Funding Branch. Please pay when you register; the Autism Funding Branch will reimburse parents after the event.
More Autism Funding Information >