Links
between the CQJDC and the International Council for Children with Behavioural
Disorders (CCBD) are strong.
Our professional connection with the CCBD is highly regarded by the CQJDC executive. Allow me, as CQJDC liaison person with the CCBD, to introduce you to this important international organization dedicated to serving children with behavioural disorders.
The CCBD (approximately 8500 members) is one of 17 divisions of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC). The CEC itself has a membership of approximately 50,000. The CCBD is in turn comprised of 38 subdivisions, 33 of which represents American regions, and 5 which represent Canadian regions. The CQJDC is one of those 5, and is well appreciated by the CCBD as a very dynamic participant.
At the CCBD's recent executive meetings, on which one of our members sits as Canadian member-at-large, two principal initiatives were decided upon. The first is a significant investment in setting up an electronic conference center. The objective of establishing an electronic conference center is to have at our disposal a means of conducting various forms of professional development over the internet. The goal is to make professional development opportunities more available to professionals in the field, at a much reduced cost. The center hopes also to be in a better position to solicit ideas and strategies from practitioners around North America and the world, and to make these more available. As an official sub-division of the CCBD, the CQJDC would have access to this center. However, if individual CQJDC members wish to participate, they must also belong to the CCBD.
The second initiative being undertaken by the CCBD this year is a focus on governmental advocacy. As it turns out, the same CQJDC member on the executive also sits on the advocacy committee as Canadian representative. Given the political and legal context that education and special needs children fall into in the U.S., the CCBD has a long and effective history of governmental advocacy. I feel that we in Quebec can benefit from these experiences. We are also in a position to share some of our experiences with governmental advocacy, most notably the CQJDC's submission and presentation to the Estates General on Education in 1997, and more recently the CQJDC's initiative to position ourselves in the ministry's eyes as a credible spokesgroup for children with behavioural disorders. At the same time, the Ontario CCBD is breaking new ground on advocacy issues, and the communication between our two groups is strong.
The CCBD also organizes several very valuable professional development activities each year. Included in these is their collaboration with Canadian subdivisions in organizing bi-annual Canadian National conferences on educationg students with behaviourally disordered students. There have been 3 such events so far, the first at Brock University in St. Catherines Ontario in 1997, the second held in Quebec City in 1997 (600 participants), and the third last May, 2001, in Vancouver, British Columbia. We are in the midst of planning to host the fourth conference in Quebec City, in May 2003.
All this to say that our link with the CCBD is extremely fruitful and mutually beneficial. The CQJDC has been twice recognized (once at the 2000 CEC convention of approximately 5000 delegates) as a "sub-division of excellence". I wish to again underline the importance of individual professionals from Quebec becoming members of the CCBD. Presently Quebec has 19 CCBD members. This compares to an average of 80 members in States and Provinces with a comparable population. We are benefiting both on the professional development level, as well as on the resource level, from our association with the CCBD. The CCBD has gone out of its way to publish bilingual articles in its newsletters, and has contributed to the publication of a Quebec translation of a mini-series on treating children with behavioural disorder, released in the fall of 2001.
So, please consider becoming a member of the CCBD. It is an organization that is currently very supportive and interested in the CQJDC, and I want to ensure that this relationship remains mutually beneficial. Application information can be obtained from the CQJDC administrative coordinator, Gilles Vachon, or by contacting Peter Hamilton at 450-263-
3772, or email at synch@total.net
Our professional connection with the CCBD is highly regarded by the CQJDC executive. Allow me, as CQJDC liaison person with the CCBD, to introduce you to this important international organization dedicated to serving children with behavioural disorders.
The CCBD (approximately 8500 members) is one of 17 divisions of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC). The CEC itself has a membership of approximately 50,000. The CCBD is in turn comprised of 38 subdivisions, 33 of which represents American regions, and 5 which represent Canadian regions. The CQJDC is one of those 5, and is well appreciated by the CCBD as a very dynamic participant.
At the CCBD's recent executive meetings, on which one of our members sits as Canadian member-at-large, two principal initiatives were decided upon. The first is a significant investment in setting up an electronic conference center. The objective of establishing an electronic conference center is to have at our disposal a means of conducting various forms of professional development over the internet. The goal is to make professional development opportunities more available to professionals in the field, at a much reduced cost. The center hopes also to be in a better position to solicit ideas and strategies from practitioners around North America and the world, and to make these more available. As an official sub-division of the CCBD, the CQJDC would have access to this center. However, if individual CQJDC members wish to participate, they must also belong to the CCBD.
The second initiative being undertaken by the CCBD this year is a focus on governmental advocacy. As it turns out, the same CQJDC member on the executive also sits on the advocacy committee as Canadian representative. Given the political and legal context that education and special needs children fall into in the U.S., the CCBD has a long and effective history of governmental advocacy. I feel that we in Quebec can benefit from these experiences. We are also in a position to share some of our experiences with governmental advocacy, most notably the CQJDC's submission and presentation to the Estates General on Education in 1997, and more recently the CQJDC's initiative to position ourselves in the ministry's eyes as a credible spokesgroup for children with behavioural disorders. At the same time, the Ontario CCBD is breaking new ground on advocacy issues, and the communication between our two groups is strong.
The CCBD also organizes several very valuable professional development activities each year. Included in these is their collaboration with Canadian subdivisions in organizing bi-annual Canadian National conferences on educationg students with behaviourally disordered students. There have been 3 such events so far, the first at Brock University in St. Catherines Ontario in 1997, the second held in Quebec City in 1997 (600 participants), and the third last May, 2001, in Vancouver, British Columbia. We are in the midst of planning to host the fourth conference in Quebec City, in May 2003.
All this to say that our link with the CCBD is extremely fruitful and mutually beneficial. The CQJDC has been twice recognized (once at the 2000 CEC convention of approximately 5000 delegates) as a "sub-division of excellence". I wish to again underline the importance of individual professionals from Quebec becoming members of the CCBD. Presently Quebec has 19 CCBD members. This compares to an average of 80 members in States and Provinces with a comparable population. We are benefiting both on the professional development level, as well as on the resource level, from our association with the CCBD. The CCBD has gone out of its way to publish bilingual articles in its newsletters, and has contributed to the publication of a Quebec translation of a mini-series on treating children with behavioural disorder, released in the fall of 2001.
So, please consider becoming a member of the CCBD. It is an organization that is currently very supportive and interested in the CQJDC, and I want to ensure that this relationship remains mutually beneficial. Application information can be obtained from the CQJDC administrative coordinator, Gilles Vachon, or by contacting Peter Hamilton at 450-263-
3772, or email at synch@total.net