DSW: We Inspire Week
Tags: December 2021, Vol. 2, Issue 2
Fall 2021 has been a busy semester for the Developmental Services Worker (DSW) program!
Program faculty and students celebrated We Inspire Week (November 15-19), this year’s theme being We Inspire Professionalism. Throughout the week, DSW students spent time in class talking about the various ways DSWs demonstrate professionalism in the developmental services field and raising awareness about the role that DSWs play in supporting people with developmental disabilities.
Over 365 students and faculty members from DSW programs across the province, along with community partners, came together virtually to celebrate the end of the week in a conference with speakers talking about equity, diversity and inclusion in developmental services. The keynote address was given by Dr. Jeffrey Schiffer, Executive Director of Native Child & Family Services of Toronto.
Andrea Rutherford, DSW faculty and Program Coordinator, and Chair of the Provincial Colleges DSW Program Coordinator group, served as Master of Ceremonies at the event. John Kosmopoulos, Professor in the DSW and BBS Programs, together with the Sim-Lab team, were able to successfully provide virtual alternatives for the sim-lab case vignettes and assignments. They will be working on additional projects in the future as it relates to both the DSW and BBS Programs. They are also looking at ideas on how to create cross-disciplinary ventures and opportunities across programs in FSCS.
The DSW program looks forward to being involved in more events that provide faculty and students a chance to learn and network with other DSW professionals in the field. Two such conferences coming up in the Winter 2022 semester include the Canadian Health and Wellbeing in Developmental Disabilities conference in February 2022, and the Ontario Association for Developmental Disabilities (OADD) conference in April 2022.
