Today we are joined by Ainsley Congdon. Ainsley has worked at the Learning Disabilities Association of New Brunswick in many capacities since 2017 and has been the executive director of the organization since 2019. Coming to LDANB as a former classroom teacher Ainsley brings with her a unique, hands-on perspective on learning disabilities in the classroom. We talk learning strategies, types of accommodations, psych-ed assessments and why it’s so difficult to get one in New Brunswick, and much more.

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Steve is a community support worker who works with children with behavioural issues in 100 Mile House.

“My hearing ability is severely compromised,” he shares. “During our counseling sessions, it is imperative that I am able to listen and hear all of the sensitive disclosures and other thoughts that they may want to share. Building a successful rapport is key to our trust based working relationship.”

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Kim is a self-employed healthcare community support worker in Kelowna. Her duties include assisting her clients in daily tasks, supporting their emotional wellbeing, attending doctors appointments with clients, and providing support on recreational outings.

She was born with hearing loss in both ears.

“This has affected my ability in reaching out to potential new clients and businesses,” she explains.

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Losing your ability to speak due to aphasia, stroke, or other brain injury can feel like being a prisoner in your own mind, especially when you’ve spent your entire pre-injury life with normal speech and language skills. Thankfully there are apps and other resources available to individuals suffering from speech and language-based injuries/disabilities.

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With the help of new hearing aids received through WorkBC Assistive Technology Services, Carolina says she has found her “perfect job.”

Carolina is hard of hearing.

“[It] does affect you with your confidence,” she shares.

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Staying on top of accessibility updates, features, news, and resources is no easy task, even here at the AT Help Desk where we do our absolute best to cover everything we can, there’s just so much accessible content and information out there that it’s impossible to keep track of absolutely everything related to accessibility. Thankfully, most companies who deal with accessible devices do a great job of providing information and resources related to those products. That is especially true for Apple’s excellent accessibility page, which we have discussed in previous e-bulletins.

Today however, we are going to look at Apple’s chief competitor Microsoft, and we are going to see how their newly redesigned accessibility page stacks up against the competition. And with Windows products and Microsoft 365 being so widely used within the New Brunswick school system, this information will be useful to just about any parent, teacher, or student with accessibility needs.

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Iryna is a self-employed residential cleaner.

“My hearing is not good,” she shares. “It impacts my communication with clients.”

She was referred to WorkBC Assistive Technology Services by her audiologist at the Wavefront Centre for Communication Accessibility. WorkBC Assistive Technology Services provided her with funding for new hearing aids.

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We all like to have choices in life, and kids are no different. In 2023, there’s certainly no shortage of games and gaming platforms to choose from, and apps like Roblox see millions of users and new games added every single day. So why can’t we apply the same approach the educational content? Wouldn’t it be great for students to choose from as wide a range of educational content as possible? The developers of the app that we are looking at today clearly thought so!

MentalUp is an app-based gaming and learning platform which features thousands of games, hundreds of fitness exercises, tests, and much more. When you first turn on the app, you’ll be prompted to enter some information regarding your child’s age and learning needs. Once you’ve completed the initial set up, then you’ll find yourself in the MentalUp “galaxy” where you can choose from a variety of activities. To choose between categories of activities, users navigate to different “planets”.

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John is a veterinary technician working in Burnaby. His duties include working with pet owners to determine the animal’s medical history, as well as assisting the veterinarian during procedures like surgery. His job requires him to talk a lot on the phone.

He began having hearing difficulties in 2021, culminating with tinnitus in September of that year.

“[It] resulted in [me] losing 80% of my hearing. It was very challenging for me, it impacted me in a lot of ways I would have never imagined. Mentally, I felt left out,” he explains. “In terms of job searching, it was hard to find an employer who will understand my condition. (I’m glad I found a very supportive and caring team). Hearing plays a vital role in my daily life.”

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When it comes to successfully adopting assistive technology (AT) there’s a lot more that goes into it besides simply choosing the right technology. Developing and executing a successful AT plan takes planning, patience, and lots of adjustments along the way. That’s why we’ve developed specific techniques to ensure that you, your child, or your student can get the absolute most out of their AT adoption experience.

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