Events
Can Do Canines open house
Can Do Canines will host an open house noon-2 p.m. Sat, March 4 at its campus at 440 Science Center Drive, New Hope. Potential clients, volunteers, or anyone who might be interested in supporting the organization can attend to learn how an assistance dog changes the life of a person with a disability. Through a self-guided tour, attendees will be able to watch a trainer working with an assistance dog, hear from a volunteer puppy raiser, talk with volunteer staff members, pose questions to client services coordinators about the application process, and meet graduate teams from each of the five types of areas Can Do Canines trains dogs: hearing, mobility, seizure, diabetes and childhood autism. Demonstrations will be held. FFI: www.candocanines.org
Ability Summit set
Microsoft holds a free online Ability Summit Microsoft Wed, March 8. Learn how communities and organizations can imagine, include and build an inclusive culture that will empower every person to achieve more. FFI: https://twitter.com/MSFTEnable/status/1612925071575732234
Children and families
PACER workshops sampling
PACER Center offers many useful free or low-cost workshops and other resources for families of children with any disabilities. Some in-person workshops are offered. Other workshops are online and livestreamed at this time. Advance registration is required for all workshops. At least 48 hours’ notice is needed for interpretation. Check out PACER’s website and link to the newsletter of statewide workshops that allows participants to pick and choose sessions designed for their needs.
Strengthen Focus with Tools and Strategies is 4-5 p.m. Mon, March 6. Focus is the executive functioning ability to ignore distractions to accomplish a task. Participants will learn about a sampling of tools and strategies that can strengthen focus. Online.
The Rights and Responsibilities of Students and The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is 1-2:30 p.m. Thu, March 16. The ADA protects persons with disabilities from discrimination and provides equal access and opportunity for participation in education and employment. This training provides information on ADA rights and responsibilities of students who plan to work and/or attend a post-secondary institution following high school graduation. Online.
FFI: PACER, 952-838-9000, 800-537-2237, www.pacer.org
Info & Assistance
Webinar series offered
The Minnesota STAR program offers a free webinar series with useful information on assistive technology. The first collaborative webinar with North Dakota Assistive was on medication management. The recording is now available to view on the STAR YouTube channel. A webinar on Assistive Technology and Adaptive Equipment to Support Diverse Sensory Needs is noon-1 p.m. Wed, mMarch8. Preregister at https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ZnFKzTOQQl-K9W193tKQuQ
I’m Just Here for the Food: AT for Food Preparation, Eating, and Drinking is noon-1 p.m. Wed, April 12. The webinar will be focused on AT for food preparation, eating and drinking. Preregister at https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_XFD87mJoTfqqQFnQaFvOWg
Looking for other topics? Contact the Minnesota STAR office. FFI: 1-888-234-1267, star.program@state.mn.us
Many classes available
NAMI Minnesota (National Alliance on Mental Illness) has set up a wide variety of free and in-person online mental health classes. Choices include Hope for Recovery, Transitions, Ending the Silence, Understanding Early Episode Psychosis for Families, In Our Own Voice, Family to Family, Positive Psychology, Creating Caring Communities, smoking cessation, a suicide prevention class called QPR – Question, Persuade and Refer, a special QPR class for Agricultural Communities and many more.
Be aware that on Feb. 1, NAMI Minnesota’s Online Support Groups moved to a new and improved platform, HeyPeers. HeyPeers provides a safe, easy to access environment exclusively designed for online support group meetings.
The classes and online support groups are designed for family members and caregivers, persons living with a mental illness, service providers, and also the general public. Find a complete listing of these classes and how to join in by going to namimn.org and clicking on “Classes” or go straight to https://namimn.org/education-public-awareness/classes/scheduled/.
Volunteer
Be a speaker
The Spina Bifida Resource Network (SBRN) seeks speakers with lived disability experience for its Empowered Conversations virtual speaker series. The weekly, interactive event by and for adults with disabilities features disabled speakers, movement artists and other discussion leaders. The program has been offered free to participants nationwide since March 2020.
Speaking engagements are held Wednesday 7-8 p.m. ET via Zoom with auto captioning. This includes a 5-min intro, 45-min session and 5-10-min Q&A. FFI: amandak76w@gmail.com
