À propos d’AIDE Canada

Qu’est-ce qu’AIDE Canada ?

Le Réseau d’échange de connaissances sur l’autisme et la déficience intellectuelle (AIDE Canada) est un outil qui permet aux membres de notre communauté d’accéder aux informations et aux ressources dont ils ont besoin. Nous fournissons des ressources crédibles, fiables et fondées sur des données probantes, de manière impartiale et accessible.

Comment est financé AIDE Canada ?

AIDE Canada est financé par l’Agence de santé publique du Canada et par des contributions en nature de notre réseau de centres. Nous n’acceptons pas de subventions ou de financement d’autres sources. 

How does AIDE Canada find or create resources for the website?

Between January of 2019, when we launched our initiative, and September 2020, when we released the full version of our library and website, we held dozens of formal and informal meetings with groups, organizations and individuals.

You can read about who we spoke to, what we asked, what they told us and how we are using this information in our 2019/2020 Community Consultation Report.

Moving forward, AIDE will remain committed to ongoing input and guidance from our community. Understanding the wide range of individual, family and community needs and priorities is integral to our work. Please check out our “work with us” page for current job posts and consultation opportunities.

Program Report

If you have an interest in our work dating back to 2020, we invite you to review our report .

AIDE Canada’s Approach to Ableism

AIDE Canada endorses the social model of disability as described in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. We believe that it is society’s response to difference, not the difference itself, that creates disability.

Definition of Ableism: Ableism is discrimination in favor of people who are able-bodied and/or neurotypical.

Examples of Ableism: Some forms of ableism are obvious, like using accessible parking spaces without a permit, or wearing scents in a scent-free environment. In the context of the autism and/or intellectual disability community ableism might mean:

• Assuming that someone who is non-verbal can’t understand you
• Workplace employee evaluations that focus on “cultural fit” and exclude quantifiable outcomes
• Using ableist language

Examples of steps we have taken to minimize ableism on our site:

Accessibility widget:

• Click the human icon in the lower right corner of your screen to change the website to suit your needs or enable a screen reader or assistive technology.

AIDE Canada connection centre:

• Staff are ready to connect with community members who would like assistance using our site

Being respectful of individuals’ identity language preferences:

• We ask everyone how they prefer to be identified and use their stated preference. Some of our self-advocate staff prefer to identify as autistic, others prefer to identify as a person with autism. If you see us using either term to refer to a particular person, it’s because we asked them, and they told us that this was their preference.