Balance Support & Self Care Studios
@balancesscs.bsky.social
89 followers 70 following 340 posts
Balance Support & Self Care Studios is a Hamilton-based not-for-profit supporting Ontario parents/caregivers of individuals with diverse needs https://linktr.ee/BalanceSSCS
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Join us for a #Halloween Fun Fair!

Come for an afternoon filled with costumes, crafts, games & sweet treats. Children & families can enjoy safe trick-or-treating & fun activities

📆Oct 25 at 12-3 pm
📍River Road Nature School, 2335 River Rd, Haldimand

tinyurl.com/nb7f56d9

#HamOnt #autism
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Did you know menopause often begins earlier for women with Down syndrome, around age 46?

Caregivers may notice symptoms years before menopause actually starts. Our updated guide to aging with Down syndrome will help you provide the right support.

Learn more: buff.ly/Dec3Kji
Reposted by Balance Support & Self Care Studios
This ADHD Awareness Month, we are highlighting Dino Island, an engaging game-based program developed with KBHN to help children build attention, memory, flexible thinking and self-regulation skills.

Explore their stories and see how Dino Island is creating real impact: buff.ly/fAb9eCC
Reposted by Balance Support & Self Care Studios
Reposted by Balance Support & Self Care Studios
There’s no single way that ADHD looks. It can be a mix of strengths, challenges and incredible potential. Through better understanding we can challenge stereotypes and help people access the right support. #ADHDAwarenessMonth
Reposted by Balance Support & Self Care Studios
I was a nonverbal kid and honestly it makes me very uncomfortable knowing a good chunk of USAmericans and RFK jr felt I shouldn’t have been allowed to live because of it

I’m very privileged for eventually gaining communication skills, but they describe kids who were like me. I was one of those kids
Reposted by Balance Support & Self Care Studios
My latest for @msnbc.com: The Trump administration's gutting the special education personnel not only betrays people with disabilities; it rolls back the work of four Republican presidents who passed bills for special education (Nixon, Ford, and the Bushes)
www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
Opinion | Trump's mass firings strike a hammer blow against Americans with disabilities
The GOP once supported special education programs. Recent dismissals at the Education Department put an end to that support.
www.msnbc.com
“It is unconscionable for people with disabilities, in violation of their rights and with the potential for devastating consequences, to be moved from their homes without their consent as a way to navigate an evolving labour dispute,” Lattanzio said in the release.

#ONpoli #disability
Reposted by Balance Support & Self Care Studios
Join us for a #Halloween Fun Fair!

Come for an afternoon filled with costumes, crafts, games & sweet treats. Children & families can enjoy safe trick-or-treating & fun activities

📆Oct 25 at 12-3 pm
📍River Road Nature School, 2335 River Rd, Haldimand

tinyurl.com/nb7f56d9

#HamOnt #autism
We've been calling for education reform in ON for awhile

Schools here follow a compliance-based model. The provincial MoEd directs boards to use ABA-based strategies when teaching autistic students

Staff are not trauma-informed or neuro-affirming

SO MUCH has to change tinyurl.com/y4k5jw7w

#OntEd
Policy/Program Memorandum 140 | Education in Ontario: policy and program direction
Read the Ministry of Education’s direction and expectations for district school boards and school authorities. Direction is issued as policy documents called Policy and Program Memoranda (PPM), which ...
tinyurl.com
Reposted by Balance Support & Self Care Studios
📢 New publication alert involving MacART Founder & Co-Director Dr. Stelios Georgiades!

📖 Read “Social Skills as a Predictor of Mental Health Trajectories among Autistic Youth and Youth with ADHD during the COVID-19 Pandemic”: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

#Autism #Research
Reposted by Balance Support & Self Care Studios
(1/4) 📣 NEW EVENT ALERT! 📣 NEADS is hosting an online workshop on October 28th from 5:00-6:00pm ET about the use of AI for accommodations and navigating disclosure in the workplace.

Registration is required, please register at buff.ly/Y2URBpG
Reposted by Balance Support & Self Care Studios
Reposted by Balance Support & Self Care Studios
First Nations are reporting the loss of funding for children’s programs after changes to Jordan’s Principle rules.

That includes Onigaming First Nation, which has been under a state of emergency since 2024 as deaths remain alarmingly high.

That's on Nation to Nation.
First Nations across Canada are losing Jordan's Principle programs
Funding for Jordan's Principle services fell from $1.72 billion in 2023-24 to $1.64 billion in 2024-25. Meanwhile denials doubled.
www.aptnnews.ca
Reposted by Balance Support & Self Care Studios
Did you know that 30% of Canadians with Down syndrome are over 40 years old? A new study released this summer shows a dramatic demographic shift that has serious implications for our healthcare systems and aging Canadians with Down syndrome.

Learn more at WeDeserveCare.ca #CanadianDownSyndromeWeek
Reposted by Balance Support & Self Care Studios
"Anything your autistic child is doing that is annoying or distressing to you… is because something is annoying or distressing to them. You can take that as a personal slight, or you can take that as inspiration to make the environment better for your child."

thinkingautismguide.com/2019/04/runn...
Running Away: Autism and Elopement
“Elopement” is a ridiculous term. Right up there with “differently abled,” IMHO. It’s running away. It’s wandering. Call it what it is!
thinkingautismguide.com
Reposted by Balance Support & Self Care Studios
We’re proud to have helped co-create Canada’s first National Standard on plain language. This tool helps organizations communicate information in a way that is easy to find, understand, and use. Plain language is an important part of accessibility.

Learn more:
CAN-ASC-3.1:2025 – Plain Language - Accessibility Standards Canada
Use the Left and Right arrow keys to navigate between the top level menu items. Press the ENTER key or double tap the SPACEBAR to select a menu item. To navigate through a sub menu, Press the…
ow.ly
Reposted by Balance Support & Self Care Studios
And now that wording is out there for others to read, giving the impression that it's "acceptable" to use it

Ugh

People need to do better
Reposted by Balance Support & Self Care Studios
Join our upcoming webinar to learn about the latest developments in employment services for people with intellectual disabilities in Ontario.

🔗 Save your spot today! us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
Perhaps another term should be used?

"avoidance" still implies choice but a student isn't choosing not to go. It's that they can't

Maybe "School-Induced Anxiety" or "School-Induced Trauma" instead?

#OntEd
Yes ALL students can learn

That's not what was in the article

"...have a greater potential to learn"

"They’ve become caretakers for children that, unfortunately, can’t learn.”

Those words are harmful

Advocate for more support in schools but don't put down a group of children in doing so #OntEd
Reposted by Balance Support & Self Care Studios
As one of late-diagnosed, fully agree...That recognition had made a difference for me.
--
From Dr. Jen Wolkin on FB:

It’s not 🚀science! People aren’t “suddenly developing #ADHD.” We’re finally seeing it. Naming it. Measuring it.

Diagnosis isn’t invention.
It’s recognition.