December 1st is World AIDS Day

Check for World AIDS Day events in your community.

If you are in Vancouver, join us for World AIDS Day
at the Gathering Place (609 Helmcken Street).
The day begins with coffee and muffins at 9:45 with
speakers all day until 5:00 pm. Evening events include
PWA Support Group Gathering and Candlelight Vigil
from 7:00-9:30 at 1107 Seymour Street in Vancouver
and a Service of Celebration at 7:00 pm at Central
Presbyterian Church, 1155 Thurlow Street, Vancouver.

Visit BC Coalition of People with Disabilities World AIDS Day
displays at seniors organizations as well as at
disability centres at many colleges and universities throughout
the province.

View a Knowledge Network Tribute to World AIDS Day
on December 1st
Their Brothers' Keepers: Orphaned by AIDS
TV premier10:00 pm December 1st, repeats December 27th
at 7:00 pm
Call Me Average -- a portrait of Vancouver artist, Joe Average
December 1st at 11:00 pm

Knowledge Network http://www.knowledgenetwork.ca


Learn about HIV and AIDS so that you can help to educate others.
Contact the BC Coalition of People with Disabilities' AIDS &
Disability Action Program / Wellness & Disability Initiative / Health
Literacy Network at 604-875-0188 or by email at wdi@bccpd.bc.ca
for our free HIV prevention booklets.

Fall issue of "Literacies" journal now available

The Fall 2005 issue of Literacies journal is available at
http://www.literacyjournal.ca/literacies/6-2005/readers_f05.htm.
The theme is "Literacy and Community."

Take a look at over 50 pages of terrific Canadian news and articles,
including Janet Pringle's "No Justice without Clear Language"
(http://www.literacyjournal.ca/literacies/6-2005/pdf/pringle.pdf).
Pringle is a plain language writer and trainer working with and for
people with developmental disabilities.

In this article she writes:
"When I'm asked to create a plain language brochure, report or list of
instructions, for example, I usually begin by writing the first draft
alone, using language that I think will be clear. Then I work with
teams of two or three 'translators' with developmental disabilities.
They are the experts in this field and they tell me what they
understand."

And while you're at the Literacies website, check out back issues,
including the Fall 2004 issue on Health and Wellness
(http://www.literacyjournal.ca/literacies/4-2004/readers_f04.htm).
This issue includes an article called "Health Literacy and People with
Disabilities"
http://www.literacyjournal.ca/literacies/4-2004/pdf/hourston.pdf.

Support Literacies by subscribing. One year is only $15.00/two years
$25.00. Details at the website.

Sources of Translated Consumer Health Information

The following websites provide consumer health information in English and a variety of other languages.

BC HealthFiles offer reader-friendly health information in English and are also available in Chinese, French, Punjabi, Spanish, and Vietnamese.
http://www.bchealthguide.org/healthfiles/bilingua/index.stm.

The Region of Peel (ON) Public Health provides fact sheets on a range of health topics in Chinese, French, Hindi, Punjabi, Spanish, Urdu, and Vietnamese.
http://www.region.peel.on.ca/health/translated/.

The Canadian Mental Health Association provides information on a variety of topics in:
Farsi/Dari, Hindi, Greek, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Somali, Serbo-Coration, Tamil and Urdu.
http://www.cmha.ca/bins/content_page.asp?cid=4-42-211&lang=1.

The BC Schizophrenia Society offers information in English, French, Bengali, Chinese, Hindi, Punjabi, Spanish, and Urdu.
http://www.bcss.org/information_centre/translations/index.html.

The Australian Multicultural Health Communication Service offers one of the most comprehensive websites of translated consumer health information. Languages include:
Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Assyrian, Bengali, Bosnian, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Dari, English, Farsi/Persian, Filipino/Tagalog, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Khmer/Cambodian, Koori, Korean, Kurdish, Lao, Macedonian, Maltese, Maori, Oromo, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Pushto, Russian, Samoan, Serbian, Sinhalese, Somali, Sorani, Spanish, Tamil, Tetum, Thai, Tigrigna, Tongan, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, and Vietnamese.
http://mhcs.health.nsw.gov.au/health-public-affairs/mhcs/publications/langindex.html.

The Ohio State University Medical Center provides reader-friendly information on nearly 100 health conditions, diseases and procedures. Languages include African French, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, English, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Somali, Spanish, and Ukrainian.
http://www.healthinfotranslations.com/english.php.

Ethnomed Patient Education Resources also offers consumer health information in a variety of languages.
http://ethnomed.org/ethnomed/patient_ed/.

Needs of Parents with FASD in Prince George

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is among the most common developmental disabilities of our times. It is caused by prenatal exposure to alcohol in utero and is a leading cause of birth defects and mental handicaps. The available data on FASD focuses largely on the challenges faced by children affected with FASD, and the challenges of parenting children with FASD. In the thirty years since FASD was first recognized, an entire generation of individuals has reached adulthood. Despite the fact that one million Canadians over the age of 15 may have FASD, the amount of information about adolescents and adults who are affected by FASD remains a mere trickle.

UNBC graduate student Velma Abraham has been working to change this. In particular, she has been studying the perspectives of adults with FASD who go on to become parents themselves. Service providers and parents were interviewed in Prince George, BC to explore the needs of adults who face the dual challenge of parenting and living with FASD.

People with FASD have limited cognitive skills, are less likely to participate in the labour force, are more likely to be the victims of violence, and are vulnerable to cycle between prisons or institutions--or at least to live in substandard conditions. Although FASD was first diagnosed in the late 1960s, it remains difficult to accurately diagnose adults who suffer from the disorder and therefore provide access to appropriate services.

The research was initiated by the Parenting Services division of Northern Health and undertaken by Abraham for her master’s degree in Psychology, which was completed under the supervision of professor Cindy Hardy.

More information: www.unbc.ca/releases/2005/09_27fasd.html.