National

Surrey’s Sensory Friendly Spaces Program Receives Honours

Darpan News Desk City of Surrey, 24 Jun, 2020 10:06 PM

On June 22, British Columbia Recreation and Parks Association (BCRPA) honoured the City of Surrey with a provincial 2020 Program Excellence Award for its Sensory Friendly Spaces Program.

BCRPA’s annual Awards of Excellence recognize outstanding programs, facilities, parks and dedicated individuals whose ideas, innovation and services make an impact in the recreation and parks sector. “Accessible and inclusive parks, recreation and cultural amenities and services are essential elements to a complete, connected and healthy community,” said Mayor Doug McCallum. “The City of Surrey remains fully committed in improving recreation opportunities and enhancing quality of life for all of our residents of Surrey.

We are honoured to receive this award as it represents the City’s steadfast commitment to accessibility and inclusion.” The City of Surrey has one of the highest rates of Autism in British Columbia. To address this, and guided by the City’s principle of inclusion, Surrey partnered with the Canucks Autism Network (CAN) to create and promote several sensory friendly options for individuals with autism spectrum disorder or who have sensory processing needs.

A sensory friendly space is a calm and quiet area designed to create a supportive environment for individuals who have autism spectrum disorder, anxiety or other sensory-processing needs.

The sensory friendly space allows individuals to feel safe and calm, allowing them to not only attend special events and programs but also feel supported throughout their experience.

In addition to the development of sensory friendly spaces at signature community events and throughout its parks, recreation and culture facilities, City of Surrey also rolled out low-cost sensory kits at its recreation centres.

The kits, which contain noise-cancelling headphones, sensory toys and fidget toys, are supported by frontline staff. The kits were initially launched by Surrey Fire Service to aid anyone with sensory processing needs during first responder or fire calls.

Photo courtesy of City of Surrey

Prev Next

MORE National ARTICLES

Canadians divided over COVID-19 vaccine

While researchers across the planet race to find a vaccine for COVID-19, a new poll suggests Canadians are divided over whether getting it should be mandatory or voluntary — setting up a potentially prickly public health debate if a vaccine becomes available. The federal government has committed tens of millions of dollars to help find or create a vaccine for the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19, the respiratory illness that has infected at least 48,000 Canadians and killed more than 2,700.

Canadians divided over COVID-19 vaccine

RCMP to ramp up online threat monitoring

Canada's national police force wants a digital tool to harvest data from a sweeping variety of online sources, including the darkest reaches of the internet, to provide early information on threats such as disease outbreaks and mass shootings. The software would allow an RCMP officer to quickly mine data about a person's internet activities, from an emoji posting on Facebook to an illicit firearm purchase on the so-called darknet.

RCMP to ramp up online threat monitoring

Canadian MPs meet online in first virtual session of House of Commons

Canada's first-ever virtual House of Commons kicked off this afternoon with almost 90 per cent of MPs dialed in to start. The House of Commons special committee on COVID-19 is meeting via videoconference this afternoon. Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet said in his opening statement that he could see that 297 of the 338 MPs were online at that moment.

Canadian MPs meet online in first virtual session of House of Commons

Justin Trudeau says mom Margaret Trudeau recovering after apartment fire

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his mother was doing fine Tuesday after a fire at her downtown Montreal apartment sent her to hospital. Margaret Trudeau, 71, was transported to hospital after the fire that broke out on the patio of the building just before midnight Monday.

Justin Trudeau says mom Margaret Trudeau recovering after apartment fire

Hundreds more COVID deaths expected but Trudeau says Canada is making progress

Thousands more people are expected to contract COVID-19 and hundreds will likely die in the coming week, according to government projections, despite the progress the country has made in fighting the pandemic. Canada's case rate is now doubling every 16 days rather than three to five days seen about three weeks ago, Dr. Theresa Tam, the country's top public health officer, said on Thursday.

Hundreds more COVID deaths expected but Trudeau says Canada is making progress

HSBC Bank Canada reports Q1 profit down as it expects downturn to hurt loans

HSBC Bank Canada reported a drop in its first-quarter profit compared with a year ago as it took a charge related to bad loans it expects due to the downturn in the economy. The bank says it earned a profit attributable to common shareholders of $54 million or 11 cents per share for the quarter ended March 31. That's compared with a profit of $158 million or 32 cents per share in the first three months of 2019.