Family Support for Children with Disabilities (FSCD)
Alberta provides targeted support programs to help and support children with special needs and their families. In this sharing, the Talent Service Center will explain to you the Family Support for Children with Disabilities (FSCD) in Alberta, what services it will provide, how to apply, and what conditions it needs to meet.
For your family to be eligible for the Family Support for Children with Disabilities (FSCD) program:
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your child with a disability must be under 18 years
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your child must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident
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the person applying for the program must be the child’s guardian
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the child must reside in Alberta
Requirements:
Must have a doctor's diagnosis or proof that a diagnosis is pending.
Disability criteria
Medical documentation must be provided confirming the child has a disability or is awaiting a diagnosis.
The diagnosis for a disability or health condition must:
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be chronic
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be a developmental, physical, sensory, mental or neurological condition or impairment
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health condition that impacts their daily living activities such as eating, grooming, walking, interacting with others, playing and problem solving
The diagnosis must not be a condition for which the primary need is for medical care or health services.
Families who are eligible for the Family Support for Children with Disabilities (FSCD) program may receive:
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information about government programs and services, community supports and local resources
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help coordinating and getting supports and services
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help with clothing or footwear that relates to your child’s disability
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counselling
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help with some of the costs to take your child to medical appointments such as parking, mileage, meals, accommodation and sibling care
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respite services in or outside your home to give you a temporary break
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help from aides who provide personal care, community, behavioral or developmental support
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help with some costs for medications, prescribed diets, ambulance or medical supplies
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specialized services for children with severe disabilities
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the same FSCD worker assigned to a family with more than one eligible child
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help planning your child’s transition during key changes or life events such as when they:
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are first diagnosed or the disability is identified
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return home from the hospital
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start an early intervention program
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start a new school program
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approach age 16 and plan for adulthood
Family support program
After a needs assessment, the staff will formulate an IFSP (Individualized Family Support Plan) based on your family situation and needs.
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Provide appropriate services by working with families of children with disabilities:
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Identify the specific needs of children with disabilities and their families.
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Set goals to help children with disabilities develop and participate in the home, school and community.
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Agree on services and resources to help achieve goals for children and families with disabilities.
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Regularly review the goals and needs of children with disabilities and their families.
After making sure you meet the FSCD application requirements, you can apply online. The staff needs to judge whether you meet the application requirements and whether the information is complete and qualified. and may contact you to provide further information and materials.
The above contents are all from the official website, https://www.alberta.ca/fscd.aspx.
The significance of Art and Craft activities in the education of special kids
Children with special needs have developmental disorders in language and behavior. The therapist will improve children's cognitive ability through some external interventions and relieve children's various behavioral disorders. Art therapy is a widely used healing method. Many parents are confused about the role and significance of handicrafts in children's therapeutic intervention. This article will briefly share with you.
Creation and coordination training
In art teaching, manual activities often have different themes, and children are allowed to create according to the theme to fully stimulate children's imagination. Children with autism often have sensory and motor disorders. The main purpose of manual activity teaching is to help children coordinate training of the brain and body. In this process, it is a very important factor to allow children to explore freely without restraint. Manual activities can satisfy children's curiosity and promote the coordination of hands, eyes, and brains. Teachers should make this process smoother and more natural, and stimulate the desire of autistic children to actively explore. Therefore, the interaction between teachers and children is extremely important. Free creation does not mean unrestrained and unconstrained. Teachers can give appropriate guidance, starting from enriching children's movements, so that children can use more hand movements in creation, and train children's coordination ability. For example, under the premise of ensuring safety, teachers can guide children to use tools such as scissors, rulers, glue sticks, etc. to assist in manual activities. Through these tools, children with autism will have more diverse movements in manual activities, which will not only help For the improvement of children's hand-brain coordination ability, it can also provide children with a richer imagination space.
Due to the objective situation of children with autism, teachers do not need to emphasize rigorous and accurate finished product standards in the teaching of manual activities, nor do they need to pursue the true reproduction of the image, as long as children get the coordination training of hands and brains, and fully release children's imagination Power is a very effective manual activity. In addition, teachers should try to let children use more movements in the process of creation, so as to better exercise children's hands. The complex hands-on process can help stimulate the brain and relieve various symptoms of autistic children.
Group work, social training
Many children with special needs need to be improved in social skills and their ability to communicate with others is weak, which is also one of the worries of many parents. Therefore, in the course of the course, teachers can guide certain social behaviors through group cooperation, so as to help children with autism improve their social barriers, so that children can gradually develop from no communication behavior to passive communication, and then from passive communication. To take the initiative to communicate, so as to master the ability of normal communication.
For example, a very important element in social interaction is "taking turns". Teachers can divide autistic children into different groups and let group members operate on the same object in turn, such as paper cutting, kneading colored clay, etc. Activity, when a child operates, the child in the next order waits, so that children can feel the activity of "taking turns to operate" and initially perceive the basic elements of social interaction. In addition, in group activities, allowing children to make choices can also train children's social skills. For example, when using colored clay to create, different children may like different colors. The teacher can guide a child to take out two colors of colored clay, and then let a child in the same group choose. The children will choose the color they like, but they will not To express fluently, at this time, the teacher guides the children to repeat the words of the color, or add the action of pointing to the colored clay in the process of repeating the speech. Through this kind of social training, children will use this method in whatever color they want, thus mastering certain communication skills. Gradually in this process, children's active communication ability will be stimulated to a certain extent.
Social training is the main way to alleviate the social barriers of special children. In the social courses of the Gifted Service Center, teachers will arrange such handicrafts. Through group cooperation, combined with the children's situation, they will design more interactive behaviors and continue to guide them. Communication between children can really improve the social skills of children with autism.
Multiple evaluation, emotional training
For children with autism, the manipulation of arts and crafts is a long-term learning process. In this process, more diverse evaluations are carried out on children, and through appreciation education and other methods, they can feel more positive emotional feedback and better understand and express their emotions. Handmade activities will produce specific works, and multiple evaluations can make children feel more strongly about their own works, encourage children to recognize their own creations more, and enhance their self-confidence.
In the center, there will also be an area dedicated to displaying children's handicrafts. Children's handicrafts will be displayed through more channels, so that children can often see their own works and stimulate their sense of satisfaction. Enable children to receive more encouragement and praise and more positive comments. This kind of interaction is an effective way to encourage, recognize, and drive the creation of children.
Autistic children are a special group. Understanding the needs of these children and helping them alleviate various behavioral barriers is extremely important for children's physical and mental development. The role of handicrafts in this is also extremely meaningful. If your child is interested in hands-on activities or art, you can try to cut in from these activities, so that children can learn what they need in the areas of interest. knowledge and improve their skills.
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