Celebrating AccessAbility in Langley Schools
May 26, 2023
National AccessAbility Week is observed each year in Canada as way to celebrate inclusivity and accessibility, while shining a spotlight on the valuable contributions of people with disabilities.
As part of this initiative, the Langley School District is taking this opportunity to highlight the work of some of our Learning Support Services staff. We are talking to them about their roles and learning more about how they make a difference in our school community and the lives of our students and their families. Throughout the week, we will be adding to this page as we speak with different staff members about their contributions.
In addition, on Wednesday, May 31, the Learning Support Services department will be helping educate staff at the school board office and raising awareness of accessibility through demonstrations. Thank you to our staff for continuing to foster an inclusive and nurturing culture in our schools.
Glen MacDonald, Melane Culham & Katie Manghillis
Teachers of the Deaf & Hard of Hearing
Describe your role in the school district?
We support students and the teams around them who are Deaf or hard-of-hearing. We create a climate of inclusivity in our schools and the community that surrounds them.
What outside agencies do you work with as part of your role?
Provincial Outreach Program: Deaf and Hard of Hearing (POPDHH), Auditory Outreach, Fraser Health Audiology, Deaf Wellbeing Program, Sunny Hill Health Centre and the BC School for the Deaf.
What do you love about your profession?
We love being able to follow the same students for multiple years and watching them flourish; we love having multiple roles (teachers, student advocate, parental support), and we love having flexibility in how we reach our goals.
How do you feel you contribute to students and families in the District and wider community?
We help students with hearing loss reach their full potential. We educate parents and staff to better understand differing hearing levels. Quite often, a parent has never met a deaf/hard-of-hearing person before their child.
How do the students you work with inspire you?
Our students face challenges every single day. Their hearing level affects their access to language, peers, instructional information, and so much more. Their resiliency of meeting and overcoming these challenges is inspiring to all of us.
Marsalie Black & Kari Olesen
Physiotherapists
Describe your role in the school district:
We support students with physical challenges so they can participate as fully as possible in their school community. We look at physical access to spaces, such as the school building, classrooms, playgrounds etc. We support participation and inclusion in activities such as in-class activities, physical education, and field trips.
What outside agencies do you work with as part of your role?
BC Children’s Hospital, Sunny Hill Hospital, community child development centres, equipment vendors, charities, community recreation facilities, SportAbility, Let’s Play, and the BC Wheelchair Sports Association.
What do you love about your profession?
We develop relationships with the children and families we support and watch them grow and develop as they move through their school careers. We are continually learning as we work to support the students in their success.
How do you feel you contribute to students and families in the District and wider community?
We celebrate the differences of all our students. We see things from a different perspective and make students aware of what is possible and available to them both at school and in the greater community at large.
How do the students you work with inspire you?
They overcome obstacles every day and continually challenge themselves to learn new things. We also learn from the students as they challenge us to be more creative and resourceful to support them to pursue their goals.
Tammy McEachern Hughes
Speech Language Pathologist/Augmentative Alternative Communication
Describe your role in the school district:
In my role, I find solutions for students who require support due to complex communication needs. Communication needs can be present throughout life, episodically, or for a short period of time. Augmentative means to add to someone’s (spoken or written) communication. Alternative means there is a need to provide another way to communicate, often with AAC visual communication supports/boards, or customized technology (iPad/app, switch/eye gaze devices) to replace voice or written output.
I consult to support students, their speech language pathologists, school teams, and families. I collaborate with my interdisciplinary colleagues (occupatioinal therapistst, physical therapists, Vision, Hearing, & others) to provide communication solutions, which include both strategies and tools to support the greatest access to communication for our students.
What outside agencies do you work with as part of your role?
Private therapists, Children and Youth With Support Needs social workers, the Centre for Child Development, Sunny Hill Health Centre, equipment vendors, home interdisciplinary colleagues, and with fellow colleagues.
What do you love about your profession?
I love my profession as an Augmentative Alternative Communication Specialist! I feel that communication is the most essential feature of life and any individual who experiences communication difficulties should receive speech-language pathology services. I have skills that allow me to make a difference, explore, identify, and provide ways for those who may be without the physical, sensory, or developmental ability to communicate (voice or text).
How do you feel you contribute to students and families in the District and wider community?
My goals include building capacity amongst all communication partners (classmates, friends, families, teachers, principals, clinicians, admin). I break down barriers to allow for the greatest opportunity for inclusion using enhanced communication strategies. Increasing the number of knowledgeable communication partners will assist AAC users to participate and attend fully in school, at home, and throughout our community. work collaboratively to identify, enhance, and provide access to communication.
How do the students you work with inspire you?
I am inspired each time students find success using their “voice.” Saying what they want, when they want to, regardless of what it looks like or sounds like as they are truly communicating, is priceless!
Holly Guinan
Teacher (Blind/Visually Impaired Students)
Describe your role in the school district:
I get blind and visually impaired students set up for success in their classrooms. I teach some students braille, and teach them how to operate a computer without seeing the monitor. I get students access technologies that address their visual limits, teach them how to use their devices, and show them which tasks the devices are designed for.
What outside agencies do you work with as part of your role?
I work with the Province Resource Center for the Visually Impaired, and SET-BC, Provincial Outreach Program for Students with DeafBlindness (POPDB), Accessible Resource Centre BC (ARC-BC), Shared Vision BC, the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, Children’s Low Vision Project-BC, and Inclusion Outreach.
What do you love about your profession?
I work with students and their families from Kindergarten through to graduation so I get to see the entire arc of my students’ public school careers. Each student is different, and I love figuring out what makes them tick, and I love helping them weave through the known and unknowns to get them to graduation.
How do you feel you contribute to students and families in the District and wider community?
I just love seeing students, staff and families develop along the way, and finish school with confidence and success.
How do the students you work with inspire you?
I love seeing them move on and have success in their lives. Some of my students are very successful, and go on to work from Google or the government, and one of my students has climbed Mt. Everest.
Rae Fong
Occupational Therapist
Describe your role in the school district:
We work with children with diverse needs (physical, sensory, developmental), their families and school teams. Our role is to help all students participate in activities inside and outside of the classroom.
What outside agencies do you work with as part of your role?
We work with the Centre for Child Development, the Sunny Hill Health Centre, social workers with Children and Youth with Support Needs, recreation centres, Inclusion Langley, private therapists, equipment vendors and BC Children’s Hospital.
What do you love about your profession?
I love the diverse nature of the work and seeing children grow and develop through the years.
How do you feel you contribute to students and families in the District and wider community?
We break down barriers to allow students to participate to their fullest potential, and to access their school environment and curriculum. We assess and recommend equipment and accommodations that support student’s participation in daily life activities at home, school, and their communities.
How do the students you work with inspire you?
I’m inspired when I see students overcome challenges that other people don’t think they can achieve. Witnessing their perseverance and determination to reach their goals.