Kevin Douglas, Wayne Thayer and Jas Romain all assisted me with designing the Breaking the ICE Conference website. This conference is about empowering
by breaking down the communication barriers and is a very good cause. I give kudos to these gentleman as they helped me with the design and the ideas. I have attached the letter of gratitude for all to read.
Dear Andrew:
Finally back at my desk! It was, as always, a very exciting weekend. It’s always an inspiration to me to be part of this event. It’s also a humbling experience. Hearing people’s stories and their perspectives really makes you think and reminds me why I am passionate about my work in AAC.
This year we met 5 year old Joseph who shared his song with all of us…and then started off the Town Hall meeting. His comments caught us all off-guard!
This year we heard Penny Kitchen’s story…and her parents were sitting there, obviously so proud of her achievements.
This year we had a “Wall of Inspiration” for the first time…and there we met Lynda M. who shared her life story.
This year we finally got some media coverage!!! MetroNews covered the event both in hard copy and via Google articles. CBC radio had Nola and I in for a live interview on “Here and Now” with Mary Eeto. I am attaching the Mp3 of that interview here. And we had a reporter and photographer from the Globe and Mail come – and stay for over 4 hours!!! The reporter was overwhelmed and impressed by what he saw and learned. He is still trying hard to take it all in. He hopes to have an article in this weekends’ newspaper. This coverage will certainly help the cause of getting increased public awareness about people who use AAC.
Increasing awareness was always one of the goals of this conference and thanks to your generosity, we were once again able to make the weekend happen.
So, on behalf of the committee and all participants, I want to thank you for stepping up to the plate when we really needed your kind of expertise. You really made a difference. Because of the website, people were able to view the details of the conference and link to the online registration. We heard lots of people comment on the ease of access – and how nice and simple the new website looked. Thanks to you.
We really appreciate your commitment and thank you for your generously in donating your time and energy to this worthy cause.
Nora.
Nora Rothschild, S-LP, Reg. C.A.S.L.P.O.
Speech-Language Pathologist,
Augmentative Communication Consultation Service
ACCS Team Facilitator & CTN eLearning Design & Development Team,
Children’s Treatment Network of Simcoe York and
Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital
