Autism Awareness Centre

Due to high demand, we have added another online training date for September 29th. Please register early if you wish to attend. These courses are selling out in less than 48 hours once the email blast goes out about them.

Introduction to the Low Arousal Approach Online Training - September 29, 2026 - Autism Awareness September 29, 2026 - 9 am - 3:30 pm Mountain Time Featuring Jill Wur The one day, 6 hour Low Arousal Training focuses primarily on practical, non-confrontational approaches to supporting individuals who experience significant stress and present behaviours that may be difficult to manage. Training en...

There are only 2 spots left for the October 1st course. Register soon if you would like to attend.

Introduction to the Low Arousal Approach Online Training - October 1, 2026 - Autism Awareness October 1, 2026 - 9 am - 3:30 pm Mountain Time Featuring Jill Wur The one day, 6 hour Low Arousal Training focuses primarily on practical, non-confrontational approaches to supporting individuals who experience significant stress and present behaviours that may be difficult to manage. Training encou...

Join us this National AccessAbility Week ( ), as we celebrate the contributions of people with disabilities and promote inclusion and accessibility in communities and workplaces across Canada. This is work our team does everyday, and it’s great to see people, organizations, and communities joining in across the country.

The theme for NAAW2026 is “Building a Strong, Accessible Canada.” As the government embarks on numerous projects, from ports to railways to housing and more, Chief Accessibility Officer Stephanie Cadieux is reminding leaders and decision-makers of the importance of consulting people with disabilities and embedding accessibility into plans and designs from the very beginning.

This is a moment of opportunity to get accessibility right. If we don’t, people with disabilities – more than a quarter of the Canadian population – will continue to face systemic barriers to inclusion. Here’s to building a barrier-free Canada! We look forward to celebrating with you this week! What do you have planned?

Alt text: Webcard that reads “National AccessAbiliy Week 2026 – Building a Strong, Accessible Canada – May 31-June 6 . The card features graphics depicting various disabilities and accessibility tools as decorative elements. Our office’s applied signature and the Canada wordmark appear at the bottom.

Screen Time and the Health and Well-Being of Autistic Individuals - Autism Awareness Screen time is a part of everyday life. For autistic individuals, devices can provide great opportunities for connection, learning, exploring interests or deep dives into passions, and communication without pressure. Screens can help with regulation by offering a sense of safety and predictability i...

We’re having a book sale! Check out our discount section of reduced prices on a wide number of book topics. Once they’re gone, they’re gone so shop early for the best selection.

Sale Items Archives - Autism Awareness This concise, highly practical guidebook gives educators across grade levels a powerful new way to think about students'”obsessions” as positive teaching tools that calm, motivate, and improve learning.

Neuroaffirming care and practice recognizes neurological differences, such as being Autistic, ADHD and other types of neurodivergence, as natural variations of the human experience rather than deficits to be corrected or having to be cured from.

What is neuroaffirming care and practice? - Autism Awareness Neuroaffirming care and practice recognizes neurological differences, such as being Autistic, ADHD and other types of neurodivergence, as natural variations of the human experience rather than deficits to be corrected or having to be cured from. The focus changes from fixing individuals to understan...

Pleased that our concerns about Canada's Disability Benefit are in today's Parliament Hill newspaper. Below is an edited version along with a screenshot of The Hill Times.

We sincerely hope that MPs, their staff along with government officials see this as constructive policy advice to better the lives of people with disabilities so they won't have to keep living in poverty.

Inclusion Canada CEO Krista Carr outlines the feedback that our community members regularly share with us: how difficult it is to even qualify for the CDB - let alone move ahead on up to $6.66 a day.

To learn more, get involved and show support, check out our new website.

https://www.inclusioncanada.ca/our-work/income-security

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The rising cost of living in Canada has become a dominant national concern, but its impact is not felt equally. Inflation has driven up the price of basic necessities — food, housing, electricity, and medication — at a pace that far outstrips income supports for the most vulnerable. Among those hit hardest are people with disabilities, many of whom rely on fixed or limited incomes that have not kept up with this rapid escalation in costs.

About 27% of people in Canada live with a disability. And they are more than twice as likely to live in poverty compared to those without disabilities.

In this context, the Canada Disability Benefit (CDB) was introduced with the promise of reducing poverty and improving financial security for individuals. Yet in its current form – that the benefit amounts to roughly $6.66 per day — a figure that is not only inadequate but, frankly, disconnected from the lived reality of those it is meant to support.

While extra income is welcome, six dollars and sixty-six cents a day does not buy dignity. It does not cover a meal, let alone contribute meaningfully to rent, utilities, or essential medical expenses. In cities and rural communities alike, housing costs alone can consume the majority of a person’s income. Add to that the rising price of groceries — where even basic staples have become noticeably more expensive — and the financial strain becomes overwhelming.

For individuals with disabilities, these pressures are often compounded by additional costs that others may not face: specialized diets, mobility aids, transportation, and other disability related support. Medication, in particular, can be a significant and unavoidable expense. Yet for many, it becomes one of the first things sacrificed when budgets no longer stretch far enough.

This is the cruel arithmetic of poverty: when resources are scarce, survival takes precedence over health. Skipping medication, delaying treatment, or rationing doses becomes a coping mechanism — one that carries serious, long-term consequences. People with disabilities are navigating food, housing and economic anxiety and already face systemic barriers to employment along with social isolation.

Many people with disabilities are unable to even access the $6.66 a day because government makes them jump hurdles. They first must apply for the Disability Tax Credit. Persons with disabilities need to have a family doctor who will fill it out or find one and pay them to do it. To qualify for the CDB, a person with a disability is not simply assessed based on their own income, but also based on the income of people they live with. Put simply, the benefit remains too small, too restrictive, and too difficult to access for many who need it most.

As a minimum starting point, the Canada Disability Benefit should be $1,393.00 a month in line with the Guaranteed Income Supplement for Seniors and adjusted to reflect the cost of living with a disability. It should then be increased because the gap between income and cost of living continues to widen.

If Canada is serious about reducing poverty and promoting inclusion, then the approach must be bolder and more responsive to actual needs. This means aligning disability income supports with the true cost of living, ensuring that individuals can afford not just to survive, but to live with dignity. It also means recognizing that poverty is not just about income — it is about access, opportunity, and the ability to participate fully in society.

No one should have to choose between rent and medication. No one should face hunger in a country of such abundance. And no one should be left behind by policies that fail to meet the realities of everyday life.

If the federal government is serious about building a strong Canada, it must include people with disabilities in that vision.

Compliance Should Never Be The Goal - Autism Awareness We live in a world where compliance and obedience are often goals when supporting autistic people. Chris Bonnello, autistic author, teacher and speaker asks the question, ““How come we encourage non-autistic people to think independently, question authority and stand up for themselves, while aut...