About Us

The Family Support for Children with Disabilities (FSCD) Program, of the Alberta Government along with Alberta Education identified a need for an on-line learning resource that would be flexible and accessible for families who have a child with a disability. FSCD and Alberta Education provided matching grants to Mount Royal University (MRU) to develop a website to meet that need. A Steering Committee was established and included representatives from the FSCD Parent and Stakeholder Advisory Committees, Alberta Education and Family Support for Children with Disabilities. This committee provided guidance and feedback throughout the development of the website.

Whether you have just ten minutes or several hours this website is a resource you can turn to for ideas and strategies to enhance your capacity to support your child in her development. While no two children are alike, this site will help you determine how to increase your child’s motivation to develop adaptive behaviours, minimizing his reliance on challenging behaviours to meet his needs. The strategies are derived from evidence-based practice and research. The theory is explained, however if you are already familiar with it, it is easy to skip over.

This website is a collaborative effort led by two departments at MRU. The Project Leaders worked with experts in the disability field who are also parents of children with disabilities to develop content and video.

Project Leaders:

• Linda Fountain, Department of Social Work & Disability Studies, Mount Royal University (former Chair/Associate Professor). Current: Fountain Counselling & Education. lindafountainconsulting@gmail.com
• Joanne Baxter, Associate Professor, Department of Child & Youth Studies, Mount Royal University

Content Consultants:

• Brenda McInnis, Parent and Disability Field Professional
• Brian Boles, Family Supports for Children with Disabilities
• Darcy Fleming, Family Supports for Children with Disabilities
• Catherine Walker, Alberta Education
• Chris Farquharson

Content writers:

• Alison Albright (Parent/Professional)
• Dorothy Badry, Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary (Parent/Professional)
• Joanne Baxter, Department of Child and Youth Studies, MRU
• Mitchell Clark, Department of Social Work & Disability Studies, MRU, (Parent/Professional)
• Paula Coombs
• Linda Fountain, Department of Social Work & Disability Studies, MRU
• Laura Ghali, Sinneave Centre for Autism
• Brenda McInnis (Parent/Professional)

Testimonials/Parent Roundtable:

• Micheline Lambert
• Jan Mason
• Brenda McInnis
• Mike McInnis
• Krista Miller
• Shino Nakane

Content adapted from Aide website:

• Writers/Content Developers:
  Society for the Treatment of Autism, Team Leader: Kim Ward, Adele Gafka, Murray Gaetz, Brenda Wojtula, Sarah Everett LEAD, Arlene Klooster and Susan Robinson GRIT, Barb Reid and Joan MacDonald, MRU: Joanne Baxter, Mitchell Clark and Linda Fountain

Steering Committee:

• Community Members:
  Ed Riediger (Co-Chair of the Provincial Stakeholder Advisory Committee for FSCD)
  Janet Cullum (Co-Chair of the Provincial Parent Advisory Committee for FSCD)
  Shirley Craig ( Member of the Provincial Parent Advisory Committee for FSCD)

• Alberta Children and Youth Services:
  Brian Boles,
  Darcy Fleming
  Grant Smith
  MaryAnn Sinclair

• Alberta Education:
  Chris Farquharson

Instructional Development and Web Design:

• Media Learning Systems, Dr. Jonathan Ross

Video Production:

• Teaching & Learning Centre, University of Calgary
• Producer/Director: Fred Fountain; Camera/ Editor: Lawrie Edison

Marketing Graphics:

• Creative Groove, Brenda Hanna

Project Assistants:

• Project and Financial Associate, MRU: Kim Blackwell
• Administrative Assistants, MRU: Lynda Martin and Anita Lawson
• Copyright and Project Assistant, Wendy Stephens
• Content Editor: Quo Vadimus Communications, Teresa Wong