The Problem
Raising a child with a disability or developmental concern can be complex and challenging. While we strive to improve our services to see families as quickly as possible, families need better access to resources, advice, and peer support early in their journey so they can take care of themselves and their child.
The Solution
In collaboration with CanChild, KidsAbility will be the first organization in Canada to implement ENVISAGE (ENabling Visions and Growing Expectations) within our Early Engagement Strategy. ENVISAGE-Families and ENVISAGE- Service Providers are validated, evidence-informed programs co-created by family caregivers, service providers, and researchers in Canada and Australia. ENVISAGE-Families is a five-week online program that empowers, connects, and supports caregivers of children with developmental concerns by providing early exposure to best practices in childhood development and disability. The program encourages information-sharing and connection among caregivers, significantly enhancing their sense of empowerment, parenting confidence, and wellbeing. By integrating ENVISAGE-Families, we seek to transform the early journey at KidsAbility, offering meaningful support to families from the very beginning.
KidsAbility will work with McMaster/CanChild researchers to evaluate how ENVISAGE-Families helps families by looking at who participates, how well it works, and how easy it is to use. We’ll also check how well it fits into KidsAbility’s services and how we can sustain it going forward. These insights will help us spread the program to other institutions like KidsAbility across the province and the country.
Updates
August 2024
We are excited to announce a published article by our partners on the ENVISAGE team at CanChild. This article presents a fresh perspective on childhood disability in the 21st century.
March 2025
We are thrilled to share the progress of our collaboration with McMaster University and CanChild in implementing ENVISAGE at KidsAbility.
Since officially launching the program in November 2024, we have completed two cohorts of ENVISAGE –SP, with 16 Service Providers in total, and one cohort of ENVISAGE-F with 6 families all together. The program involves five weeks of online training, delivered by our own dedicated KidsAbility Facilitator team. We started by reaching out to families on the Early Years waitlist, providing them with timely access to KidsAbility. This allowed us to offer tools and resources sooner, supporting their child’s development more effectively
The rollout of Envisage has demonstrated its success in the following ways: , allowing families to access support sooner, feeling more connected, and gaining the confidence they need to help navigate their child’s journey.
The service provider program has also helped therapists to refine and enhance their approach to treatment. One Occupational Therapist shared, “Envisage has allowed me to reflect on my care and ensure that families and children are always at the centre.” Another participant highlighted the practical impact, noting the program “has allowed [them] to maintain a strengths-based approach and keep the conversation client-centred.”
This successful start wouldn’t have been possible without the dedication, quick call to actions, hard work and contributions of our entire team: Sue Gibson (Associate Director of Client Access), Cynthia Lennon (Clinical Innovation Specialist), Dr. Samantha Noyek (Post Doctorate Researcher, Implementation Lead), the CanCild team and our KidsAbility Facilitators (service providers and parent partners). We deeply appreciate the commitment and flexibility of our facilitators: Allison Gaudet (Physiotherapist), Maria Hamilton (Occupational Therapist), and Daniella Bossence (Occupational Therapist), as well as our parent partners: Alison Schmalz, Leslie Brown, and Lorissa VanVeen, whose support has been essential in guiding our service providers and families through this journey.
We are actively recruiting for our next two cohorts of families in the upcoming months and are preparing to launch our third cohort of ENVISAGE-SP in the Fall of 2025. We are also excited to share that the ENVISAGE team will be presenting at the 2025 Empower Kids Ontario (EKO) Spring Symposium on April 16, 2025.
The McMaster/CanChild Research Crew
Principle Investigator
Principal Investigator
Post Doctoral Researcher
The KidsAbility Crew
Cynthia Lennon
Sue Gibson
Associate Director Client Access
Allison Gaudet
KidsAbility Lead Facilitator
