INCLUSIVE COMMUNITIES CANADA
INCLUSIVE RECREATION WEBINAR SERIESThe Inclusive Communities Canada Inclusive Recreation Webinar Series is a 3 part webinar series hosted by the University of Toronto Club chapter. This series is designed to teach students, camp counsellors, coaches, teachers, recreation staff and anyone interested in learning about how to foster inclusion in sport and recreational settings for individuals with different abilities. Upon completion of the 3-part webinar series, participants will receive a certification of completion. You will learn about evidence-based practice for inclusion of people with disabilities in sport and recreation from leading experts in the field, researchers, and athletes with lived experiences.
Please follow this link to the online registration form:
PART ONE
Introduction to Inclusive Participation Workshop
Join us to create accessible and inclusive spaces to play, participate and belong. Together, we will share ideas and resources to promote an ability based approach to program delivery virtually or on site. Lets get active! Let’s get involved!
Archie Allison is the Director of Access and Awareness at Variety Village in Toronto and has assisted in creating many programs for children with disabilities.Mr. Allison also instructs weekly classes at The University of Toronto, Humber College and Centennial College, where he teaches courses based on inclusive recreation. He has created and taught various certification courses on behalf of Variety Village for students, educators, coaches and industry leaders that focus on ability awareness, advocacy and accessibility issues. Archie Allison was the regional coordinator for both Special Olympics Ontario and Paralympics Ontario and Ontario Games Committee Canadian Foundation for Physically Disables Persons Rolling Rampage Organizing Committee, and sat on the Ontario ParaSport Summer Games organizing committee.
PART TWO
Athletes and Coaches Panel in Inclusive Sport
During this webinar, we will learn from the lived experiences of athletes with disabilities and the importance of inclusion in sport. We will also learn from the experiences and strategies of coaches who work in adapted physical activity settings.
ADAM FITZPATRICK
My name is Adam Fitzpatrick and I am the Manager of Sport and Recreation at Abilities Centre as well as a Recreation Therapist and a Mixed Ability Sport Learning Facilitator.
I have been with Abilities Centre and in the world of recreation and Inclusion since 2012, facilitating and providing opportunities for children, youth and adults with and without disabilities both within the walls of Abilities Centre and in the community Regionally, Nationally and Internationally.
AHSAN MUSAVI
“I was diagnosed with Septic arthritis when I was 18 days old and I have used a lift in my shoe all my life, growing up I was really active and played cricket and soccer. After age 10 I solely focused on soccer and played for my school team. I followed my passion for sports in my studies and did my bachelors in Sports Management from Brock, currently I work for Jays Care Foundation by designing and coordinating accessible programs for kids with disabilities. I am also an outreach facilitator Holland Bloorview, we raise awareness of including disability in our media industry and talk to people about my lived experience as an athlete with disability.”
RYAN COLPITTS
Ryan Colpitts has been a Special Olympics Ontario athlete for the past 14 years and a staff member with SOO for the past 3 years. Throughout his SOO career, Ryan has attended 5 Provincial games, 2 National games and 1 North American games winning gold at the 2018 National Summer games and Silver in 2019 at the North American games. Throughout his work at SOO, Ryan has been the Athlete Leadership Coordinator where he teaches fellow athletes on how to be successful leaders in their communities through health, leadership and speakers training. He has run over 30 workshops teaching more than 300 athletes in the past 3 years. Ryan is always welcome to share his story about the Special Olympics movement and the message of inclusion to inspire and motivate the next generation of athletes.
NICOLAS HURTADO
Nicolas Hurtado is the Manager of Recreation at North Toronto Soccer Club and organizes their Special Olympics Soccer Program. He’s been dedicated to making soccer accessible, inclusive and engaging to all youth. Nic has been working hard to continue to grow the Special Olympics Program to allow children of all abilities a chance to get active in a social environment. He is also responsible for managing the House League, Select, Summer Camp and Summer Academy programs at North Toronto Soccer Club. He holds Canada Soccer’s Children’s License and an Honours Bachelor Degree in Physics, along with 10+ years of experience in coaching youth soccer.
PART 3
Research on Inclusive Recreation Panel
During this research panel, we will hear from leading experts in the field of disability, sport, exercise, accessibility and inclusion. We will hear about the evidence-based recommendations for best practice to promote inclusion in sport and recreation.
DR. LAURA MISENER
Dr. Laura Misener is an Associate Professor and Director of the School of Kinesiology at Western University (London, Ontario, Canada). Her research focuses on how sport and events can be used as instruments of social change, with an emphasis how sport for persons with a disability can positively impact community accessibility and social inclusion. Her research program is interdisciplinary in nature and pushes the traditional boundaries of her field to emphasize the importance of critical scholarship for innovation. She also serves as a research and policy advisor to a number of disability sport organizations focused on broadening the role of sport for social inclusion.
DR. KRYSTN ORR
Dr. Krystn Orr is a postdoctoral fellow at Special Olympics Ontario and McMaster University, funded by Mitacs Canada. Her research and expertise is in the areas of social factors of recreational sport programs among individuals who identify with a disability as they transition into adulthood. Additionally, Dr. Orr is conscious and critical of the language we in research and society more broadly use to discuss disability, access, and inclusion. Her current work aims to provide a coaching resource to assist in the high quality delivery of virtual sport (recreational and high performance) programs through Special Olympics Canada. For more information: https://www.linkedin.com/in/krystnorr
DR. KELLY ARBOUR-NICITOPOULOS
Dr. Kelly Arbour-Nicitopoulos is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education and an Advisory Member of the Mental Health and Physical Activity Research Centre at the University of Toronto in Canada. She is also an Adjunct Scientist at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, the co-Director of Knowledge Mobilization for the Active Living Alliance for Canadians with a Disability, and an Associate Editor of Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly. Situated within the field of exercise psychology, her research program is theory-driven, using both quantitative and qualitative methods to measure, understand, and change physical activity behaviour in clinical and community-based populations living with chronic disability. Knowledge mobilization is at the heart of her research. As such, she actively collaborates with families and persons with lived experience as well as community organizations to ensure her research addresses inclusion and access barriers to physical activity within the disability community.
DR. REBECCA BASSETT-GUNTER
Dr. Rebecca Bassett-Gunter is an Associate Professor in the School of Kinesiology and Health Science at York University. She has training in the psychology of exercise and physical activity behaviour among people with disabilities. Her research is focused on promoting and supporting physical activity for children and youth with disabilities. In particular, her work is focused on informing communication strategies that allow organizations to effectively share physical activity information with families of children and youth with disabilities. Rebecca and her research team have recently developed seven recommendations for the development and dissemination of targeted physical activity information for families of children and youth with disabilities. The recommendations are meant to guide and support organizations in promoting physical activity among children and youth with disabilities.
About the Certificate
How the Program WorksThe Inclusive Recreation Certificate Program is a 3-part webinar series about varying topics in regard to inclusion in recreation and sport. To successfully complete the certificate, participants must attend all 3 webinars and complete the accompanying consolidation activities following each webinar. The consolidation activities will be due before the next webinar and will be marked with a completion grade. Once participants have completed the program, both webinars and all consolidation activities, a certificate will be awarded to them.
Please note that there is no fee associated with this certificate program