The Connecting the Dots conference, organized by CNIB, took place on October 16th, 2024, in downtown Montreal. This conference, offering presentations and resources for people living with a visual impairment, was also an interesting and important event for anyone living with a disability, support workers and the general public.
The AQEIPS team was in attendance for the day and took the opportunity to visit the various booths, attend presentations and take part in a round table discussion. Here is a summary of the day’s activities:
Exhibitor Booths :
The Connecting the Dots conference brought together several associations and organizations to share information about their activities and projects in booths distributed throughout the exhibitor hall. These exhibitor booths included:
ASAMM – Association des sports pour aveugles du Montréal métropolitain
An association dedicated to providing sports activities for the visually impaired. Activities are offered year-round.
AQDM – Association québécoise de la dégénérescence maculaire
An association whose mission is “to inform, guide and support people with macular degeneration and their caregivers”.
ASAQ – Association sportive des aveugles du Québec
An association whose mission is “to promote the practice of amateur sport among the visually impaired and thus foster their integration”. This organization offers several sporting activities and also manages the competitive goalball team at provincial level.
A firm offering specialized financial services for people with disabilities. Contact one of their advisors for personalized advice on the following : RDSP (Registered Disability Savings Plan), DTC (Disability Tax Credit) and insurance.
ROSEPH – Regroupement des organismes spécialisés pour l’emploi des personnes handicapées
An association that “brings together 26 specialized workforce services whose primary mission is to promote the integration and job retention of people with disabilities”. ROSEPH also works in partnership with MentorAbility Canada – a mentoring program that “promotes the inclusion of people with disabilities in the workplace”.
A platform that pairs students with disabilities (SWD) with a resource person who can help with, for example, note-taking during classes. The goal is to lighten the SWD’s workload by helping to find resource-people for the school semester, a challenging task for a SWD who already has courses and schoolwork to manage. You can visit their website to register for services or to become a resource person.
An association that offers guitar lessons for all, but also has the “world’s first library of guitar tabs in Braille and enlarged print”.
SQLA – Service québécois du livre adapté
If you are looking for Braille or audio books, contact the SQLA and you can have documents delivered to your home or be made available for download.
Presentations :
How a “smart home” can improve your daily life
This presentation focused on the smart homes and the different technologies that can make life easier for a visually impaired person. This technology allows you to use voice control to operate various household appliances such lights, the stove, fans, air conditioning, heating and more.
All these devices can be controlled by technologies such as Alexa, Siri or Google Home. Here are some companies that can help you get set up:
Workplace accommodation – Public Service Commission of Canada
A human resources advisor with the Public Service Commission of Canada gave a presentation on employment accessibility for people with disabilities, a priority for the federal government. If you decide to disclose your disability with the Human Resources department, you will be put in touch with a member of the advisory team who can help you in the assessment process and arrange accommodations for your situation. Once you become a federal employee, your file will be kept and updated regularly, so that if you switch departments, you won’t have to go through the whole assessment process again.
For more information :
Accessing Federal Contracts – Procurement Canada
A presentation was given by Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) on the various job opportunities in several departments of the federal government. These departments include: “central purchasing, property management, treasury, accounting, payroll and pension administration, integrity advisor, common service provider and language specialist.”
Procurement Support Canada within Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSC) “aims to make it easier for smaller and diverse businesses to bid on federal government contracts.”
Round table discussion with members of the CNIB team, MBDE, and AQPEHV
The AQEIPS team ended the day with a round-table discussion with participants from several organizations including members of the CNIB team, Mon Bras Droit Éduc and AQPEHV. The main topic discussed: How can we connect better with visually impaired young people in order to better serve them?
We touched on several themes related to young people with disabilities, including the participation rate in community activities, technology and publicity around events and/or services offered.
Several people noted that it was difficult to get people to participate in activities, especially in Montreal. The hypothesis put forward is that there are a lot of activities offered in the metropolis compared to small towns or villages in the regions of Québec. Today, a person with a disability can search and find a greater number of accessible events and activities via the Internet than in previous years.
It was mentioned that young people with disabilities may now be more interested in participating in activities with non-disabled people. This observation may testify to the progress that has been made in recent years in terms of integration and accessibility in general.
However, for associations serving specific communities, the question of how to attract and involve young people in the community remains an important topic of reflection.