Adrian Polidano

Physical activity is good for your body and mind. With recreation programs cancelled amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Grandview Kids Physical Literacy Coordinator, Natalyn, has some great ways to help get your family active and keep spirits up!

You can go for a walk, get outside in your backyard, or set up some relay races, play the V-up challenge or create obstacle courses indoors, just remember social distancing.

How to set up a relay race:

A relay race is a racing competition where each member of a team completes parts of the course.

You can line up two rows of cans or bottles on your floor, space them out 2 feet apart, creating two parallel lines (try and keep as much space as possible between the two lines to encourage social distancing). At one end of each of the lines place a bin of toys/stuffed animals. Each child starts the race at the opposite end. The children crawl over the cans/bottles, grab a stuff animal/toy and zig-zag (running or crawling) back to the other end, drop their toy, and return to get another. Repeat until all items have been moved from the bin.

How to set up the V-up challenge:

Have your child lay on their back with an empty bin on the floor above their head, place stuffed animals are their feet. Have your child grab their stuffed toy with their feet and drop it in the bin above their head (creating a V-up motion with their legs). Repeat until all stuffed animals are in the bin.

How to make the obstacle course:

You can stack up cushions to make hurdles, make agility pathways by taping lines on the floor, and include stations like jumping jacks and bean bag toss. You can even use hula hoops or empty laundry baskets as targets and rolled up socks as bean bags.

Fundamental movement skills like jumping, throwing, and catching are very important for the physical development of a child. It’s incredibly important to keep kids active all year round, even if that means taking a bit of extra effort during these self-isolating times with your family.

Let your kids help with the building and everyone is sure to have fun!

For many teens across Durham Region, the recent PA Day meant extra time to sleep in, hang out with friends, or maybe play some sports or video games. For Grandview kid Kurt, 13, it meant testing out a dream job.

A plan was devised back in October at the Grandview Youth Advisory Committee’s Halloween event to have Kurt step in as CEO for the day; job shadowing Grandview Children’s Centre CEO Lorraine Sunstrum-Mann.

Diagnosed with hydrocephalus at birth, Kurt spent much of his childhood at Grandview, participating in physiotherapy and occupational therapy treatments. He also attended senior kindergarten at Grandview’s co-located educational partner, Campbell Children’s School. Needless to say, getting the chance to come back to Grandview as CEO was a “cool experience.”

During his time as boss, Kurt took part in meetings with Lorraine.

“There are so many people that Lorraine has to talk to, report to and talk about the centre with. She’s busy!” said Kurt.

One of the main highlights of his day was meeting with Grandview Kids and Campbell Children’s School’s Technology Lead Shaun Maddock and the Grandview robot Joy.

“I liked the fact that Joy can drive around,” Kurt explained. “I took Joy to see other kids and got her to talk to them and if they wanted her to dance, I’d make her dance.”

Kurt also attended the official opening of Lakeridge Health’s new 22-bed Mental Health Unit at the Ajax-Pickering Hospital, meeting the Minister of Health, The Minister of Finance and the President of the Treasury Board along with Durham MPP Lorne Coe and hospital dignitaries. Lorraine describe how heartwarming it was to watch the group treat Kurt as a VIP, going so far as introducing him to the crowd as a special guest.

Kurt made the most of his opportunity to speak to political leaders by advocating for Grandview.

“I told them the wait times are too long,” Kurt said. “They seemed to understand that there are many Grandview kids who need help.”

His time spent with Lorraine and at Grandview made Kurt more confident in choosing his future career.

“I know I want to do something with the community, helping people,” he said.

“Spending the day with Kurt was wonderful. What was supposed to be a rich day of learning for him turned out to be all about learning for me,” Lorraine explained. “Kurt impressed me with his curiosity about the work we do at Grandview and especially about why we do it. His excitement about helping other Grandview kids was touching and impressive.”

Does your Grandview kid have a dream job they’d like to give a try? Email communications@grandviewkids.ca

Daniella Altieri is not only a Grandview kid, she is a role model!

The former Campbell Children’s School student has been selected by Mattel Canada to be an official Barbie Role Model. The toymaker’s new collection of Barbie dolls is modeled after real-life, inspirational females.

Daniella, 15, has Cerebral Palsy and just like her Barbie doll, uses a wheelchair.

Grandview’s co-located educational partner Campbell Children’s School welcomed Daniella back to visit the kindergarten kids on December 10, 2019.

The students sat silently as they listened to Daniella share her story.

“I felt like I was about to cry,” Daniella said, recalling how excited the children were and how intently they listened to her every word. “They face me and were ready to listen and kept clapping. I felt so happy!”

Daniella’s journey to becoming a Barbie doll came with help from the Starlight Foundation. Daniella became connected with the organization when her wish to climb Banff, AB’s Sulpher Mountain was granted in 2014. Determined but unable to reach the top on her own, her father Roger carried her to the peak. The wish was life-changing for her and inspired her to stay connected with Starlight, helping to raise money for other kids to get their wishes granted. When Mattel reached out looking for a Role Model, it was a no-brainer for Starlight to suggest Daniella.

A high school student and athlete, Daniella plays sledge hockey and is part of a ski and snowboard club. She spoke to the students about believing in themselves and reaching their goals, no matter what.

“They can do anything, even with a disability. It can be hard but it won’t stop you from doing what you want. You are not alone. Even if you’re in a wheel chair, you can do anything. Don’t let it stop you.”

Daniella ended her presentation by giving four Barbie dolls to be shared between students in each class.

“I loved seeing the smiles on their faces when I handed out the Barbie’s,” explained Daniella. “When I made those kids happy, it felt really good.”

Grandview Kids welcomed three grade nine students to #TeamGrandview on November 6, 2019 for Take Your Kid to Work Day.

Ethan, Noah and Kyra joined their moms on the job to see what goes on at Grandview Children’s Centre. Ethan and Noah spent their day at the Oshawa headquarters, getting a chance to sit in on therapy appointments, spend time volunteering in the classes at Campbell Children’s School (Grandview’s co-located educational partner) and they were able to get their hands on some of the latest technology gadgets Grandview kids has to help children with physical, developmental and communication needs.

Kyra spent her day up in our north satellite in Port Perry. It is a smaller location but still busy and full of laughter and life like the other sites.

Reflecting on his time spent at Grandview, Ethan said he felt welcomed. “Everyone was very nice,” he explained. “It was cool to see Tulip the therapy pony and learn how to program the Campbell Children’s School iPal. I see how my mom loves going to work everyday!”

Noah commented on the skill set the staff had, noting “they all seemed to know what they were doing and how to do it.”

Thanks for joining us Ethan, Noah and Kyra! You are welcome back anytime.

Congratulations to Dr. Shannon Knights! We are thrilled to announce that she has been appointed as the new Head of the Community Section of Developmental Pediatrics. This section brings together Developmental Pediatricians across the GTA and allows us to collaborate, learn and advocate together. We are so happy to have Shannon as the leader of this group, representing the needs and voices of our Durham Region community and #TeamGrandview.

I attach the announcement from the Head of the Academic Centre based leader, Dr. Darcy Fehlings.

From Dr. Fehlings:

It is with great pleasure that I would like to announce that Dr. Shannon Knights has accepted the position as head of the Community Section of Developmental Paediatrics in the Division of Developmental Paediatrics. Shannon is an excellent community based Developmental Paediatrician working at Grandview Children’s Treatment Centre. I know she will provide excellent leadership for the community section in this role. I would also like to acknowledge the excellence that Dr. Cynthia Goldfarb has brought to the role. I know that all of Dr. Goldfarb’s hard work and initiative will help Shannon be successful in the role going forward. Please join me in congratulating Shannon!

Don’t worry – Shannon will still be here with us at Grandview in her current role, continuing to see lots of GrandviewKids and supporting medical services in our goals for an inclusive and broad range of medical services for children in Durham Region. This appointment raises our profile with our academic community and we look forward to seeing what further opportunities this brings.

Congratulations again Shannon on this terrific leadership opportunity.

Dr. Carolyn Hunt

Developmental Pediatrician

Medical Director, Grandview Children’s Centre

Research Chair

Associate professor, University of Toronto, Department of Pediatrics

In April 2019, Grandview Children’s Centre hosted the first of many Family Focus Groups so that our team could hear first-hand from our Grandview families what they believed would be helpful offerings under the new fee-for-service Grandview Kids Autism Program – Journey to Potential. Attendance across four events was very good, and we received thoughtful, engaged, and constructive feedback from 39 participants.

What we Asked

Families were asked to share the following:

What Autism services has your family received, either at Grandview or in the community?
What programs/services delivered the best results?
What programs/services did not deliver the results you expected?
What is the gap in the community for Autism Service offerings?

Families were also asked to identify what, if any, new programs and services that they would like see offered and delivered by Grandview

What we Heard

The feedback was very positive and will be useful as we move forward. Overall we were thrilled to hear that families saw Grandview as a welcoming, respectful, and thoughtful environment, and one where staff is appropriately trained and supervised.

Other key learnings from the sessions were:

All of the families who participated in the focus groups had received at least one service from Grandview – Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis, speech-language pathology, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, therapeutic recreation, behaviour services.
Families appreciated Grandview’s “wrap-around”, integrated approach to developing their plans.
Some families seemed to know what services they wanted while other said they wanted an assessment that looked at a number of areas of need to help them determine their next steps or where to start with service.
Feedback with respect to things that have not worked related to scheduling, location of program delivery, and duration of service.

Some gaps identified by participants included the need for:

More community supports
Respite support and options
Recreational/social groups for children under 4 years of age
More community-based groups for adolescents

An important action taken at the Focus Groups was to capture a list of the families’ suggestions for new or improved programming across a variety of service categories. Some of the suggestions included:

Supports to help with the transition to school or community-based settings
More therapy, including groups, and a variety of activities
A safe supportive place for children and youth to practice recreational and social skills
More workshops and training sessions for parents and caregivers. The workshops to-date have helped families learn strategies to manage challenging behaviours and develop skills

If you were unable to attend the Focus Group Sessions we would still value your input. Please send your comments/questions/feedback to our Family Engagement Coordinator at FAC@grandviewkids.ca.

What Comes Next?

In an effort to increase direct engagement with families, we plan to hold more Focus Groups and facility Open Houses. These events are intended to welcome families into our Centre, to visit with us, and to explore our delivery locations. These sessions also offer a closer look at the GrandviewKids Programs and create an opportunity for families to meet members of our team:

These will be ‘drop-in’ events and no set agenda or plan. Families are encouraged to stop by at any time during the event and to bring the kids! Keep your eye on our calendar and this site for new dates!

Our Lines are Always Open

We know that families may not able to attend focus group sessions, or open house events in person, but your feedback is very important to us. To share your ideas, or if you have questions, please reach out to our Service Navigation Team. They can be reached by phone: 905 728 1673 ext. 2468, or by email at service.navigation@grandviewkids.ca.

We will continue to keep families engaged as we build our future together!