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Monday 25 March 2013

Information Overload?!? Where Do I Even Start


The other day I wanted to research ways to teach the alphabet to my preschool aged son.  I started with Google, typed in "teaching alphabet to preschoolers" and got 476,000 results.  I scrolled through the first 2 pages or so and tried to bookmark some of them based on the initial descriptions but I got overwhelmed.  I stopped.  

Isn't this similar to what happens when we, as parents, search for special needs resources?  We have so much information at hand yet we often end up with so little.  Sometimes we read and read but have no idea how to adapt the information to our needs or how to incorporate it into our lifestyle.  Other times we think it is what we need and invest so much time into it only to realize the results were minimal.  There are times when our research pays off but usually those times are a result of hours and hours spent plowing through articles and organizing them by relevance.  As vested partners in the lives of a special needs child, there is limited time to engage in this kind of thorough research.  So, how do we get the best resources for our special needs children without spending ridiculous amounts of time to find the relevant information?

In Montreal, there are some great places to begin our research.  Montreal Families and Inspirations both have compiled an extensive database of resources.  Once there is an official diagnosis, your local CSSS will lead you to government resources such as the West Montreal Readaptation Centre (CROM).

Even in all this, it can still be confusing and difficult to feel like you have all the information you need to make the best decisions for your special needs child.  This is where EDUCATE Montreal's services come into play.  As a special education teacher who has experience in teaching elementary and high school in the public and private sector, I am able to see the short and long term educational needs of your child.  Thus, I am able to help pinpoint the therapies and resources that would best help your child achieve his/her goals.  I am like a triage station helping assess what is most important at this moment and leading you to the right resource among the many in our special needs community.  It can be an information overload but EDUCATE Montreal helps you manage the information in the hopes of empowering you to make informed choices for your child.  

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