To learn more about this topic, see our other material below:

Easy-Read for Athletes:

English - https://www.camh.ca/-/media/professionals-files/hcardd/special-olympics-2025/special-olympics2025-womens-health-easy-read-pdf.pdf

French - https://www.camh.ca/-/media/professionals-files/hcardd/special-olympics-2025/special-olympics2025-womens-health-easy-readfr-pdf.pdf

Tip sheet for Family Caregivers:

English - https://www.camh.ca/-/media/professionals-files/hcardd/special-olympics-2025/special-olympics2025-womens-health-family-snapshot-pdf.pdf

French - https://www.camh.ca/-/media/professionals-files/hcardd/special-olympics-2025/special-olympics2025-womens-health-family-snapshotfr-pdf.pdf

Tip sheet for Coaches:

English - https://www.camh.ca/-/media/professionals-files/hcardd/special-olympics-2025/special-olympics2025-womens-health-coachs-corner-pdf.pdf

French - https://www.camh.ca/-/media/professionals-files/hcardd/special-olympics-2025/special-olympics2025-womens-health-coachs-cornerfr-pdf.pdf

Animated Video:

English - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhzcXMdp3Q0&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.camh.ca%2F&embeds_referring_origin=https%3A%2F%2Fspwps10cmsv.camh.ca&source_ve_path=Mjg2NjY

French - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFfcTl25SFs

Resources mentioned in the episode:

- The Endometriosis Network Canada: https://endometriosisnetwork.com/endo-hub/what-you-need-to-know-period/

Learn more about other important health topics such as Men’s Health, Mindfulness, Women’s Health, and Sleep on our HCARDD webpage: https://www.camh.ca/en/professionals/professionals--projects/hcardd/projects/special-olympics

Email us at hcardd@camh.ca if you want to get involved with projects at the Azrieli Adult Neurodevelopmental Centre!

To learn more about this topic, see our other materials below:

Easy-Read for Athletes:

English -https://www.camh.ca/-/media/professionals-files/hcardd/special-olympics-2025/special-olympics2025-sleep-easy-read-pdf.pdf

French - https://www.camh.ca/-/media/professionals-files/hcardd/special-olympics-2025/special-olympics2025-sleep-easy-readfr-pdf.pdf

Tip Sheet for Family Caregivers:

English - https://www.camh.ca/-/media/professionals-files/hcardd/special-olympics-2025/special-olympics2025-sleep-family-snapshot-pdf.pdf

French - https://www.camh.ca/-/media/professionals-files/hcardd/special-olympics-2025/special-olympics2025-sleep-family-snapshotfr-pdf.pdf

Tip Sheet for Coaches:

English - https://www.camh.ca/-/media/professionals-files/hcardd/special-olympics-2025/special-olympics2025-sleep-coachs-corner-pdf.pdf

French - https://www.camh.ca/-/media/professionals-files/hcardd/special-olympics-2025/special-olympics2025-sleep-coachs-cornerfr-pdf.pdf

Animated Video:

English - https://youtu.be/23GlYH3g4m8

French - https://youtu.be/E590LTP88lk

Learn more about other important health topics such as Health Check-in, Mindfulness, Women’s Health, and Men's Health on our HCARDD webpage: https://www.camh.ca/en/professionals/...

Email us at hcardd@camh.ca if you want to get involved with projects at the Azrieli Adult Neurodevelopmental Centre!

Pour en savoir plus sur ce sujet, consultez notre autre documentation ci-dessous :

Facile à lire pour les athlètes :

https://www.camh.ca/-/media/professionals-files/hcardd/special-olympics-2025/special-olympics2025-diabetes-easy-read-pdf.pdf

Apprenez-en davantage sur d’autres sujets de santé importants, comme la santé des hommes, l’outil d’auto-évaluation des besoins de santé, la pleine conscience, la santé des femmes et le sommeil sur notre page Web HCARDD : https://www.camh.ca/en/professionals/professionals--projects/hcardd/projects/special-olympics

Envoyez-nous un courriel à hcardd@camh.ca si vous voulez participer à des projets à l'Azrieli Azrieli Adult Neurodevelopmental Centre!

To learn more about this topic, see our other material below:

Easy-Read for athletes:

https://www.camh.ca/-/media/professionals-files/hcardd/special-olympics-2025/special-olympics2025-diabetes-easy-read-pdf.pdf

Learn more about other important health topics such as Men’s Health, Health Check-in, Mindfulness, Women’s Health, and Sleep on our HCARDD webpage: https://www.camh.ca/en/professionals/professionals--projects/hcardd/projects/special-olympics

Email us at hcardd@camh.ca if you want to get involved with projects at the Azrieli Adult Neurodevelopmental Centre!

In this episode, co-host Victor interviews Sue Hutton (a Mindfulness expert), Peter Charnish (a Special Olympics athlete), Cindy Charnish (Peter’s mom), Mark Tewksbury (a Canadian Olympic swimmer), and Natascha Wesch (a Special Olympics Canada Mental Performance Lead). They discuss the importance of mindfulness for Special Olympics athletes (and all of us!) and share tips for those just starting out in their mindfulness journey.

To learn more about this topic, see our other materials below:

Easy-Read for Athletes:

English - https://www.camh.ca/-/media/professionals-files/hcardd/special-olympics-2025/special-olympics2025-mindfulness-easy-read-pdf.pdf

French - https://www.camh.ca/-/media/professionals-files/hcardd/special-olympics-2025/special-olympics2025-health-mindfulness-easy-readfr-pdf.pdf

Tip Sheet for Family Caregivers:

English - https://www.camh.ca/-/media/professionals-files/hcardd/special-olympics-2025/special-olympics2025-mindfulness-family-snapshot-pdf.pdf

French - https://www.camh.ca/-/media/professionals-files/hcardd/special-olympics-2025/special-olympics2025-health-mindfulness-family-snapshotfr-pdf.pdf

Tip Sheet for Coaches:

English - https://www.camh.ca/-/media/professionals-files/hcardd/special-olympics-2025/special-olympics2025-mindfulness-coachs-corner-pdf.pdf

French - https://www.camh.ca/-/media/professionals-files/hcardd/special-olympics-2025/special-olympics2025-health-mindfulness-coachs-cornerfr-pdf.pdf

Animated Video:

English - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXwTcYxj12g

French - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxoGM8Ir1u4

Resources mentioned in the episode:

- Lotus Breath: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgcbIGVCK8g

- River Meditation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViOT9kUShzM

- Annaka Harris Website: https://annakaharris.com/mindfulness-for-children/

Learn more about other important health topics such as Health Check-in, Mindfulness, Women’s Health, and Sleep on our HCARDD webpage: https://www.camh.ca/en/professionals/professionals--projects/hcardd/projects/special-olympics

Email us at hcardd@camh.ca if you want to get involved with projects at the Azrieli Adult Neurodevelopmental Centre!

To learn more about this topic, see our other material below:

Easy-Read for Athletes:

English - https://www.camh.ca/-/media/professionals-files/hcardd/easy-reads/hcardd-easy-read-health-check-in-research-pdf.pdf

French - https://www.camh.ca/-/media/professionals-files/hcardd/special-olympics-2025/special-olympics2025-health-checkin-easyreadfr-pdf.pdf

Tip sheet for Family Caregivers:

English - https://www.camh.ca/-/media/professionals-files/hcardd/special-olympics-2025/special-olympics2025-health-checkin-family-snapshot-pdf.pdf

French - https://www.camh.ca/-/media/professionals-files/hcardd/special-olympics-2025/special-olympics2025-health-checkin-family-snapshotfr-pdf.pdf

Tip sheet for Coaches:

English - https://www.camh.ca/-/media/professionals-files/hcardd/special-olympics-2025/special-olympics2025-health-checkin-coachs-corner-pdf.pdf

French - https://www.camh.ca/-/media/professionals-files/hcardd/special-olympics-2025/special-olympics2025-health-checkin-coachs-cornerfr-pdf.pdf

Animated Video:

English - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHS-qFd1WO0

Resources mentioned in the episode:

1. My Health Care Visit: https://ddprimarycare.surreyplace.ca/tools-2/general-health/todays-visit/
2. About My Health: https://ddprimarycare.surreyplace.ca/tools-2/general-health/about-my-health/
3. Nuts and Bolts Page: https://nutsandbolts.ddtoolkits.com/

Learn more about other important health topics such as Men’s Health, Mindfulness, Women’s Health, and Sleep on our HCARDD webpage: https://www.camh.ca/en/professionals/professionals--projects/hcardd/projects/special-olympics

Email us at hcardd@camh.ca if you want to get involved with projects at the Azrieli Adult Neurodevelopmental Centre!

In this first episode, co-host Victor interviews Dr. Jonathan Weiss (a researcher and clinical psychologist), Duncan Leblanc (a coach and family member), Kyle Shewfelt (a Canadian Olympic gymnast), and Matthew Fields (a Special Olympics athlete). They discuss men’s health, the stigma around men’s mental health and how to balance physical and mental well-being as athletes.

To learn more about this topic, see our other materials below:

Easy-Read for Athletes:

English - https://www.camh.ca/-/media/professionals-files/hcardd/special-olympics-2025/special-olympics2025-mens-health-easy-read-pdf.pdf

French - https://www.camh.ca/-/media/professionals-files/hcardd/special-olympics-2025/special-olympics2025-mens-health-easy-readfr-pdf.pdf

Tip sheet for Family Caregivers:

English - https://www.camh.ca/-/media/professionals-files/hcardd/special-olympics-2025/special-olympics2025-mens-health-family-snapshot-pdf.pdf

French - https://www.camh.ca/-/media/professionals-files/hcardd/special-olympics-2025/special-olympics2025-mens-health-family-snapshotfr-pdf.pdf

Tip sheet for Coaches:

English - https://www.camh.ca/-/media/professionals-files/hcardd/special-olympics-2025/special-olympics2025-mens-health-coaches-corner-pdf.pdf

French - https://www.camh.ca/-/media/professionals-files/hcardd/special-olympics-2025/special-olympics2025-mens-health-coaches-cornerfr-pdf.pdf

Animated Video:

English - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eq5el0Zt0ig

French - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTYg4nPNxXQ

Learn more about other important health topics such as Health Check-in, Mindfulness, Women’s Health, and Sleep on our HCARDD webpage: https://www.camh.ca/en/professionals/professionals--projects/hcardd/projects/special-olympics

Email us at hcardd@camh.ca if you want to get involved with projects at the Azrieli Adult Neurodevelopmental Centre!

Podcast hosts Daniel and Victor interview Dr. Meghann Lloyd from Ontario Tech University. They talk about her journey with getting involved in Special Olympics and her exciting research about the benefits of participating in Special Olympics.

Meghann Lloyd, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Ontario Tech University, and a Senior Research Associate at Grandview Children’s Centre. Her field of research is Adapted Physical Activity; she studies motor development, physical activity, and health promotion for people with disabilities.

Heidi joins us to discuss her various leadership roles and how she became the strong leader that she is today. Heidi also shares the importance of Special Olympics. Special Olympics provides programs for people with disabilities over the age of two and has many sports programs including both individual and team sports. Some of Heidi’s personal favourite sports include bowling, golf, and snowshoeing. 

https://archdisabilitylaw.ca/

Dr. Martino’s website: https://alanmartino.com/

Dr. Martino’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/AlanSMartino?s=20&t=DiV4e_kzatEjIgxrD2UqSw

Dr. Martino's Recent Publications:

Santinele Martino, A. (2022). Ethically important moments: Researching the intimate lives of adults labeled/with intellectual disabilities. Qualitative Research.

Santinele Martino, A. & Kinitz, D. J. (2022). “It’s Just More Complicated”: The Experiences of Adults with Intellectual Disabilities When Navigating Digital Sexual Fields. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace. https://cyberpsychology.eu/article/view/15180/16710

Brennand, E. & Santinele Martino, A. (2022). Disability is Associated with Sexually Transmitted Infection: Female Sex, Severity and Disability Domain are Important Risk Factors. Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality. https://doi.org/10.3138/cjhs.2021-0053

Yona shares what motivated her to get involved and continue working in this field for over 20 years. She also discusses the importance of including self-advocates in her work. Yona shares some tips on how she makes positions accessible to self-advocates and what we can do to create accessible and inclusive work environments.

Want to get involved with projects at the Azrieli Adult Neurodevelopmental Centre? Email us at hcardd@camh.ca

Lee Steel is a Family Advisor at the Azrieli Adult Neurodevelopmental Centre, where she brings the parent perspective to all of our research endeavours. Lee has been involved in the development and facilitation of the Azrieli Mindfulness and Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) Groups for Caregivers. Amy Baskin is a freelance writer and educator who has supported the creation of the Azrieli Centre’s mindfulness workbook and facilitated our most recent COVID-19 virtual course for family caregivers Course targeted at improving the mental health of caregivers during the pandemic.

To view the video recordings from our course, Mental health for adults with developmental disabilities during COVID: A virtual course for family caregivers visit the course webpage and our YouTube channel.

You can also visit our H-CARDD COVID page for up-to-date vaccine information and other resources.

The Family Matters Toolkit includes tools and resources specifically for family caregivers, to help you and your loved one prepare and participate in health care visits:

Alex and Courtney share their experience of working over the past two years with over 20 Autistic Advisors from across the country and researchers to help develop this guide.

Tune in to hear directly from Alex and Courtney why this guide is so important and how they hope it will be used. You will also hear a fun fact you may not know about Alex, Courtney and our hosts!

The Mental Health Literacy Guide for Autism was created by York University’s Dr. Jonathon Weiss and CAMH’s Dr. Yona Lunsky, as well as research staff and Autistic advisors.

For more information and to download a copy of the guide, visit https://www.yorku.ca/health/lab/ddmh/am-help/

The Sibling Collaborative is a national organization that supports people who are siblings to someone with a disability, engaging with over 500 siblings from across Canada. The idea for the Collaborative emerged from Helen’s experience of becoming a caregiver for her sibling and the lack of support and information available to her. The Sibling Collaborative strives to support siblings who are going through similar experiences by providing connection, resources and research. Most recently, it has started to host virtual meetups to support siblings during the COVID pandemic.

The Sibling Collaborative has worked with the Azrieli Adult Neurodevelopmental Centre at CAMH to study these special relationships. Recently the Azrieli Centre published a report The Experiences of Siblings of People with IDD during the COVID-19 Pandemic with support from The Sibling Collaborative.

In this episode you will hear whether Helen would rather be the smartest or funniest person in the room (spoiler alert: she says neither!), her experiences as a sibling to someone with a disability, and what led her to start The Sibling Collaborative.

To learn more about The Sibling Collaborative and how to get involved, visit their website or join their mailing list. You can also follow The Sibling Collaborative on Twitter and Facebook @SibCollab!

Like what you heard this week? Don’t forget to subscribe and review our podcast wherever you are listening; this will help us grow our audience.

Have topic ideas or feedback you’d like us to hear? Send us an email at Katie.Cardiff@camh.ca.

Victoria is a fourth year psychology student at the University of Toronto. She has worked at the Azrieli Adult Neurodevelopmental Centre at CAMH in various roles over the past two years, supporting self-advocates involved in research. Victoria has also been a basketball coach with Special Olympics Ontario for five years. Most importantly, Victoria is a sister to Vanessa, who has Down syndrome. Victoria and Vanessa live together along with their brother and parents at their family home in Toronto, Ontario.

Nicole Bobbette is an occupational therapist who has been working with people with IDD for the past 13 years. Nicole just completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Azrieli Adult Neurodevelopmental Centre and is now an assistant professor at Queen's University where she teaches in the occupational therapy program. Nicole is passionate about collaborating with people with IDD in research to promote health and improve health services. Nicole’s primary and most important role is being an older sister to Allison, who has an IDD and lives semi-independently in Barrie, Ontario.

Tune in next time when we speak with Helen Reise from the Sibling Collaborative. 

You can follow Nicole on Twitter (https://twitter.com/nicole_bobbette).

Like what you hear, don't forget to rate and review us wherever you get your podcasts! 

Victor takes us back to his high school experiences, when teachers really made a difference—and how they did that. Daniel reflects on his experience of completing his degree in communications at University, and his struggles for acceptance and accommodation. Victor and Daniel highlight the challenges of adapting to new social environments and how neurotypical people can better support those with IDD in the classroom.

Join Victor and Daniel as they share a conversation about their experiences in the classroom, navigating the education system, and fighting for their right to tailored supports and transition services.

Stay tuned for our upcoming episode on the sibling perspective with Nicole Bobbette and Victoria Cusumano.

He discusses what it's like to support people with IDD during the COVID-19 pandemic and what drove him to join this line of work during the pandemic.

Kory Earle works as a screener at a Long Term Care home in Ontario. In this episode Kory shares what being a frontline worker in a pandemic is like, and what he has found most rewarding. Kory is also the President of People First of Canada (https://www.peoplefirstofcanada.ca/), a national self-advocacy organization that empowers and prioritizes the voices of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Paraphrasing Kory’s words: People with IDD have always had these issues; the pandemic has made these issues more visible and apparent to others. He is also very passionate about mental health, and has spoken to this in policy forums as well as during a course for self-advocates on Mental Health during COVID-19.

Once you've had a listen, watch out for Episode 4, where Daniel and Victor discuss their experiences growing up in Ontario's education system as people with IDD.

Kory and Victor spoke at a Federal Policy Forum on International Day of People with Disabilities, where they shared the importance of mental health support for this population and how our course "Mental health for adults with developmental disabilities during COVID: A virtual course for self-advocates" offered much needed support and resources. You can read what they said here: https://www.porticonetwork.ca/web/hcardd/news/-/blogs/-idpwd-blog-12?_33

You can keep up with People First of Canada on Facebook (@PeopleFirstOfCanada) and Twitter (@PeopleFirstCA)

Kory shared his story of getting the vaccine in a blog post and easy-read format, which you can find here along with our vaccine easy-read: https://www.hcarddcovid.com/info#vaccine

Sue Hutton has worked in developmental services for 30 years. After working at Community Living Toronto in direct service, rights training and advocacy, Sue moved to ARCH disability law center where she coordinates Respecting Rights, a legal rights education project led by persons with disabilities. Sue recently joined the Azrieli Adult Neurodevelopmental Centre at CAMH as a social worker and leads several mindfulness research groups.

In this episode, Sue shares her experience working with Respecting Rights at ARCH Disability Law Centre ( https://archdisabilitylaw.ca/initiatives/respecting-rights/). Sue also shares insights from an article coming soon (Feb/Mar 2021) to the Journal of Qualitative Social Work (https://journals.sagepub.com/home/qsw).

If this conversation piqued your interest, check back in two weeks for Episode 3, where we interview People First of Canada President Kory Earle on what it’s like to be someone with IDD who’s also working on the frontlines of the pandemic.

Follow Sue on Twitter @suehutton_msw and Facebook @suehuttonmindfulness

Follow Respecting Rights on Facebook: @respectingrights

Check out Sue's website: https://www.suehuttonmindfulness.com/