HB Autism Summit
This event was held December 10-14, 2022
Occupational Therapy Edition
Empowering and enabling a neurodiversity-affirming and strengths-based practice
TO REGISTER TO WATCH THE SUMMIT CLICK HERE.
Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital in partnership with the Ontario Society of Occupational Therapists is excited to offer a FREE 5-Day Autism Summit for occupational therapists, occupational therapy assistants, occupational therapy students and other interested service providers!
A message from Julia Hanigsberg, President and CEO of Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital
I am delighted to welcome you all to our 2022 summit!
Holland Bloorview in partnership with the Ontario Society of Occupational Therapists is excited to offer this Autism Summit designed for occupational therapy practitioners, occupational therapy students and other service providers interested in autism.
An event like this showcases creative and innovative thinking and research advancements in childhood disability. This is an excellent opportunity to learn, and advance your knowledge and skills when supporting children and youth on the autism spectrum. We hope that you will all benefit from it and learn helpful strategies and ways in which our communities can better support children and youth on the autism spectrum and their families.
This summit is funded by the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services (MCCSS) through the Workforce Capacity Fund, which aims to build capacity within the Ontario Autism Program (OAP). We are grateful to the ministry for its generosity.
I would also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate the speakers in this summit, who are taking the time from their busy schedules to share their experiences and valuable knowledge with us.
I hope that, together we will continue helping to create a world where all children and youth living with disabilities can lead healthy and meaningful lives.
Have a wonderful summit!
Gain new neurodiversity-affirming insights and actionable strengths-based strategies from 36 speakers including national and international experienced occupational therapists, other allied health care professionals, parents of children and youth on the autism spectrum and thought-provoking autistic advocates and other neurodivergent speakers
Meet Your Speakers
Advance your knowledge and skills and gain access to our Autism Occupational Therapy Resource Toolkit which will support you in developing a neurodiversity- affirming and strengths-based practice
A message from your host, Moira Peña, Occupational Therapist and Team Lead, Autism Programs & Projects, at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital
Welcome! I am thrilled to share Holland Bloorview’s Autism Summit-Occupational Therapy Edition and our Autism Occupational Therapy Resource Toolkit!
There is a paradigm shift taking place in our understanding of autism and I believe that our occupational therapy role is a perfect fit! As occupational therapy practitioners, our call to action is not only to recognize and address challenges that come with a diagnosis but also to leverage a person’s strengths. We can begin by identifying neurodiversity-affirming principles and strengths-based approaches and move towards adopting them into our practices.
This summit’s program and accompanying resource toolkit highlight key neurodiversity-affirming concepts and strengths-based models and strategies. My best hopes are that these two projects will advance your knowledge, confidence and clinical skills needed to best support autistic children and youth and their families.
I really wanted to give occupational therapy practitioners (and others!) not only the WHAT TO DO but also the HOW TO DO it and, to that end, I ask speakers for case examples, ways to model a certain skill and/or share their thinking process and creative approaches used in their work with clients and families.
There is so much learning (and unlearning) in this summit! I so look forward to hearing about our collective ‘aha’ moments, ongoing reflections on our own personal and professional biases that may be getting in the way, and new mindset shifts that we can all begin to apply in our practices right away.
My best to you all as always
A message from Marnie Lofsky, Occupational Therapist and Executive Director of the Ontario Society of Occupational Therapists (OSOT)
Hello! We are so excited to partner with Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital on this important, informative, and essential virtual summit and accompanying autism occupational therapy resource toolkit to build the knowledge, skills and competencies in those supporting children and youth on the autism spectrum and their families.
The Holland Bloorview Autism Summit team, led by Moira Peña, has prepared an outstanding program that brings together a fantastic group of health professionals, parents/caregivers, and advocates to share their stories, research, practices, and experiences. This incredible learning opportunity is made possible through a government grant which supports increasing workforce capacity to serve the Ontario Autism Program.
We hope you learn a lot and become a voice to advocate for an inclusive and supportive community.
Enjoy the Summit!