December 2015    

 
Welcome to the December edition of CanChild Today, and our last newsletter of the year! Read on to discover new resources, highlighted publications by members of the CanChild community, and an exciting announcement about our next CanChild Family Engagement Day! 

Our warmest wishes for a festive holiday season. We look forward to all we can do together in 2016!

Please feel free to share CanChild resources and this newsletter with family, friends and colleagues. They can subscribe to the CanChild Today e-Newsletter for free by registering here. Our past issues are archived on the CanChild website, and can be accessed here.
 
Save the Date!
CanChild Family Engagement Day

CanChild celebrated 25 years in 2014 with a highly-rated Family Engagement Day - CanChild: What we "CAN" do together . We are thrilled to announce that we will keep this momentum going with a second event for 2016!



The next Family Engagement Day, presented in partnership with NeuroDevNet, will take place on April 2nd, 2016 at the brand new Ron Joyce Children's Health Centre in Hamilton, ON. 

Please mark your calendars and stay tuned for more information - additional details to come in the New Year!

News & Events!

The 'F-words' in Childhood Disability: I swear this is how we should think!
Free access for the month of December!

In 2012, Dr. Peter Rosenbaum and Dr. Jan Willem Gorter published a paper titled: "The 'F-words' in Childhood Disability: I swear this is how we should think!" Inspired by over two decades of CanChild research and continual discussion amongst members of the CanChild family, the paper features six 'F-words' that the authors argue should be the focus in childhood disability - Function, Family, Fitness, Fun, Friends, and Future.

The publisher is offering FREE article access for the month of December. Please share this link and help us spread  this Fun, Friendly, Family-oriented message!


Learn more about the F-words. 
MacART Inaugural Autism Research Stakeholder Symposium

Location: McMaster Innovation Park (MIP), Hamilton, Ontario
Date: Friday, January 15th 2016

On Friday, January 15th 2016 MacART will hold its inaugural Autism Research Stakeholder Symposium. This year the symposium will focus on Early Interventions. Invited stakeholders (families, researchers, clinicians, educators, and policy makers) will come together to discuss and plan collaborations to help advance autism care through meaningful research.

Learn more. 


New Resources!

CP-NET 'In Brief': Designing Action-based Exergames for Children with Cerebral Palsy

Exergames are a promising way to allow children with CP to participate in physical activity, permitting adaptations of exercise equipment and video games. Fast-paced video games are particularly popular among children with CP and might be particularly effective at motivating physical activity since their fast pace gameplay encourages fast pace exercise. However, limitations in fine and gross motor function, eye-hand coordination and visual spatial reasoning associated with CP make it difficult for children with CP to play these games effectively. With the possibilities and challenges in action-based exergames, researchers tried to answer the question: Can action based exergames that are fun to play over the long term be designed for children with CP?

View now. 
CP-NET Science & Family Day Presentations Now Online!
 
Couldn't make it to CP-NET Science & Family Day? All presentations are now available to view at your convenience online, including:
  • CP-NET Overview (Darcy Fehlings)
  • Engaging Through Social Media (Panel)
  • Genomics and CP (Richard Wintle)
  • Accessibility & Participation for Kids in the School System (David Lepofsky)
  • My Journey with Sports (Eric Flemming)
  • Fitness & Leisure for Teens & Young Adults with CP (Panel)
  • Growing Up with CP: Voices from the MyStory Project (Jan Willem Gorter)
View now. 
Recent Publications by CanChild Members

Youth transitioning from adolescence to early adulthood can experience challenges as they develop skills to navigate adult roles like independent living, work and community participation. For youth with mental health disorders, this process can be even more difficult as they traverse these 'development transitions' while simultaneously managing their disability and healthcare needs. This study examines the peer-reviewed literature evaluating interventions addressing developmental transitions for youth with mental health disorders. Authors: Di Rezze B, Nguyen T, Mulvale G, Barr NG, Longo CJ, Randall GE.Child Care Health Dev. 2015 Dec 6. doi: 10.1111/cch.12306. [Epub ahead of print]

While knowledge translation (KT) is a topic of increasing importance to researchers, there is limited information available on how KT activities should be planned and prioritized. This article outlines a KT strategic planning activity carried out by CanChild, and may be helpful to individuals and organizations interested in developing KT strategic plans.  The article describes a collaborative process where CanChild members were engaged to identify priority areas and help establish objectives, strategies and measurable outcomes. CanChild is currently in the implantation phase of the resulting KT strategic plan. Authors: Russell D, McCauley D, Novak I, Kolehmainen N, Shikako-Thomas K, D'Costa R, Gorter JW.; Scholarly and Research Communication. 2015 Vol 7, No 1.

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