New Group on the CE Block

Wow, it's been so long since my last post! Cold winds and snowflakes have returned to the midwest, and it's nearly Christmas. I can't believe it!

After a little nudge, Susie M. and I have started a new project, a new Google Group called Spina Bifida and Conductive Education. Here is the group description:

This is a group for everybody who would like to see the benefits of Conductive Education extended and developed for children and adults with spina bifida, their families and their carers, wherever they may be.

Here you can share experience, ask questions, offer information and advice on CONDUCTIVE UPBRINGING at home and CONDUCTIVE PEDAGOGY however it might be applied.

The group welcomes the experiences and expertise of ANYONE who lives with spina bifida and everyone who wishes to help in a conductive manner.

Write in English, or in any language that you feel comfortable with.

Anyone can join -- Go to the right side of the page and click "Join this Group" and you will be directed to create a Google account. You can use your current email address to join.

Anyone can post, after they have joined -- Click on "Discussions" then "+ new post". Or add your comments to an existing discussion.

Please join us, and tell us your experience of Spina Bifida and Conductive Education.

Conductive Education News from North America

News regarding a Conductive Education Awareness Day and the Sixth Annual ACENA Conference has recently been posted on ACENA's website. Check out www.acena.org under "What's New" for the full information. I will give a little preview here.


Conductive Education Awareness Day
The Association for Conductive Education in North America (ACENA) will launch the first ever North American Conductive Education Awareness Day on Thursday, February 25, 2010.

A CE Awareness Day campaign ‘kit’ will be prepared and circulated to all ACENA members that will provide customizable press releases, letters to local government, Conductive Education stats and facts, sample advertisements with a common message, and a post-campaign evaluation. Look for the kit in late December.


6th Annual ACENA Conference
ACENA, in cooperation with March of Dimes Canada, will host its 6th Annual Conference in Toronto, Ontario, August 26-27, 2010. The Host Committee is very pleased to offer a forum for showcasing research, best practices, trends and specific issues related to the practice of Conductive Education for children and adults in North America.


Feel free to contact me for further information on these events or on ACENA in general.

A great day

It was a great day to be in the classroom today...

• A very serious little girl who rarely speaks (and when she does it is only a whisper) was playing, laughing, and excitedly shouting "lion! lion!" in my morning group of little children.

• One of my boys stood up by the plinth all by himself.

• A previous wheelchair-user took unassisted steps all the way across the room.
  

There was so much laughter, cheering, and some misty eyes too. What a great day to be a conductor...

ACENA Newsletter with Article on Conductor Training

The latest Association for Conductive Education in North America (ACENA) Newsletter has recently been mailed out.

Articles include: "President's Column", "Fundraising by Movie", "Conductive Education on Demand", and a brief summary of the Fifth Annual ACENA Conference.

Also in this issue is the following article called "Aquinas College Conductor Teacher Training Program" written by Andrea Benyovszky, CET, ACENA Director of Practice.

After a hiatus on enrollment to the Conductive Education/Physically Impaired (POHI) training program, due to Michigan Department of Education changes in standards, Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, MI, is reinstituting the only Conductor Teacher training program in North America.

The Conductive Learning Center (CLC) will be working closely with Aquinas to market and recruit students to the program. Graduates of this program will receive an elementary, K-grade 5 teacher certification, K-grade 12 physically impaired (POHI) endorsement, and a Peto certified Conductor-teacher certificate. Past graduates of the program are highly qualified in the field and have found employment very quickly upon graduation from the program.

The requirements for the degree are:

• 165 credit hours of classes (9 semesters)
• 10 lab school hours/week sophomore through senior year
• 1 semester student teaching (8 weeks general ed. and 8 weeks conductive ed.)

Potential candidates for the program are encouraged to contact Aquinas College, Director of Admissions, Angie Schlosser Bacon at (616) 632-2860, Nanette Clatterbuck, Dean of the School of Education at (616) 632-2973.

Andrea Benyovszky at the Conductive Learning Center would be happy to answer questions about the lab school requirement and Peto Institute's program at (616) 575-0575.

An American CE Video: Conductive Learning Center

Andrew's posting on Conductive World this morning reminded me of this video from the Conductive Learning Center, Grand Rapids, Michigan. I don't know if it is the same video that he was referring to as being posted on Facebook. Perhaps it is. I enjoy the video so much, I thought it should be shared further.


Notes
Conductive World. "The American Way" http://www.conductive-world.info/2009/10/american-way.html

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsgoG9XvOaM

Conductive Learning Center, Grand Rapids, Michigan: www.aquinas.edu/clc

Conductive Assistants

Since the new school year started, I have been working with three lovely ladies who come to my after school group from the local elementary school. There they work as aides in special education classrooms. Before the work began, we had a brief introductory meeting. Since then it has been on-the-job training for them. We have limited time together, really the only time we have is when we are together in the group.


I am looking for ways, advice, suggestions to improve our work together. How can I help them to understand our aims without overwhelming them? How can I help them to work more 'conductively'?


How do I train conductive assistants?

A Back Saver!

Just enough time tonight for a quick update...I'm happy to report that a local family has volunteered to help me move and put away furniture at the end of the day. My back is feeling better already!

My groups are coming together quite nicely...smoother than I had anticipated. Thanks to Judit Sz. for some beautiful advice:
"...The master peace will manifest be sure about that."