Call for Proposals: Advocacy – Strategies and

Solutions, BCEdAccess 2018 Conference and

AGM

BCEdAccess, as an organization of parents, guardians and allies, supports the rights of children and youth with special needs and/or disabilities to achieve equitable access to a quality education in accordance with international human rights law, and full inclusion and participation in their schools and communities.

On October 6th, 2018, our annual parent advocacy education conference in Surrey, BC will gather parents, guardians and allies of students with special needs and/or disabilities to continue our conversations, learn strategies and seek solutions to achieving equitable access to education in BC.

This is an opportunity to inspire and educate parents and guardians as leaders in their communities and to drive progress by sharing information and resources, and connecting with other advocates and activists striving for inclusion and equity in education, and creating a larger community seeking to advance rights for children and youth.

Possible session types may include:

• Workshops: 60 minutes interactive, participatory, planned to integrate web based participants as well where possible
• Transformational talks: 4 minute structured Ignite/Lightning talk/pecha-kucha style presentations (may be filmed)
• Keynotes: 20 minute TED-style talks (may be filmed)
• Student panel: Seeking self-advocate students with special needs and/or disabilities willing to participate in a Q&A style panel, and a self-advocate or other facilitator willing to work with students to assist them in preparing and to ask questions and facilitate conversation at the conference

We invite proposals for workshops and presentations around some of the themes identified by our membership and also welcome other ideas fitting to the them of Strategies and Solutions, or to our mission as a whole:

• From the school level to Section 11 and the Human Rights Tribunal – how to escalate if you can’t get what you need at the school level
• How to communicate productively within potentially adversarial relationships
• School Act, Hewko and Moore
• Mental Health
• Your child’s rights to stay in school
• Behaviour is communication – how to help the school board understand aggression and what it really means coming from a child
• Who is who and what are they supposed to do – in schools, at the District, at the Ministry of Education, and other Ministries and agencies – how do the systems connect?
• Transitions through the years (home to preschool, preschool to K, etc.)
• Working through school refusal
• Media training
• How to run for office

We are interested in presentations that:

• Use inclusive language
• Make every attempt to address students with special needs within an intersectional context (First Nations and Indigenous communities, LGBTQ2S, etc)
• Promote evidence-based practices
• Promote the advocacy and issues common to families served by BCEdAccess
• Do not engage in promotion of products or services within the presentation (there are opportunities to book a table outside the presentation space for this purpose if you wish)

Please submit your workshop or presentation proposal by sending the following information to the email address below:

1. Your name and organization if applicable, email and cell phone number
2. A general summary of what you would like to present
3. If it’s a workshop, how will you make it interactive and participatory?
4. What 1 to 3 practical or important things will participants leave having learned and/or achieved?

If you have questions about this call for proposals, please contact Tracy Humphreys, bcedaccess@gmail.com 250-858-5165

Deadline for Proposal Submissions: August 19, 2018

Deadline for electronic submission of presentation materials: September 20th, 2018