Pediatric Rehabilitation Caregiver Connection

The warmer summer months in Alberta are a wonderful time to head outside.

We asked about your favourite ways get outdoors with your child. Many families enjoy camping or free play in the yard.

In this month's newsletter, we’ll share more ideas of outdoor activities for children of all ages and of all abilities.

Click here to learn tips for getting outdoors with children of all ages and of all abilities.

Visit Our Top Tips to join the discussion and share your thoughts.

May is Speech & Hearing Month in Alberta!

Parents and caregivers often have questions about children learning more than one language and wonder if it could cause confusion.

In this month's newsletter, we will share tips on supporting children of all ages learning more than one language.

Click here to learn tips for children learning more than one language and to access other resources.

Visit Our Top Tips to join the discussion and share your thoughts.

We're looking for families to take part in a survey to improve the MyHealth.Alberta.ca website for Pediatric Rehabilitation.

We want to make sure the website is easy for families to use and that it gives the information they need to support their child.

The survey will take between 5 to 10 minutes. You’ll be given tasks to match a concern with a topic category. For example, you want to know when your child will walk. You’ll be asked to click the link you think is best matched to help with that concern.

You don't need any special knowledge or experience to take part in the survey.

If you’re interested in helping, please click the link below! We appreciate your time and willingness to help.

To take the survey, click here.

Transition means moving or shifting focus from one activity or setting to another.

In the April edition of our Caregiver Connection newsletter, we explore what transitions could look like for children of different ages as well as for parents and caregivers.

Click here to learn tips to support transitions and access other learning resources.

Visit Our Top Tips to join the discussion and share your thoughts.

We offer free webinars for parents, caregivers, and those who work with children birth to 18 years. Webinars are online sessions that provide information and resources to help you learn about your child and youth's development and needs. Webinars are live and hosted by AHS health professionals on Zoom. Participants must register and be physically in Alberta during live sessions.

Click here to view our webinar descriptions and register.

The AHS Rehabilitation Advice Line (RAL) is pleased to announce the launch of a new service for parents, guardians, and caregivers who have concerns about their child’s development and well-being. They can now receive free advice and guidance through a new phone service.

The Pediatric Rehabilitation Line provides advice to parents and caregivers of infants, children, and youth (birth to 18 years) who have concerns about developmental milestones in areas such as:

• Moving and playing (e.g., crawling, walking, coordination, playing with toys, using utensils).
• Talking and listening (e.g., babbling, using words and sentences, speech sounds, understanding directions, stuttering, voice quality).
• Taking care of self (e.g., dressing, toileting, sleeping).
• Managing emotions (e.g., calming self, becoming overwhelmed or overstimulated).
• Difficulty eating or swallowing (e.g., coughing, gagging).
• Hearing (e.g., responding to sounds, noise, voices, words).

The Pediatric Rehabilitation Line can also help callers who are looking for local services and/or current rehabilitation resources (e.g., links to information or webinars), or need support to help a child or youth recover from COVID-19.

The Pediatric Rehabilitation Line is integrated into Health Link’s Rehabilitation Advice Line, which is staffed by Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists, and Therapy Assistants and was launched in 2020. The Rehabilitation Advice Line (1-833-379-0563 or 811) operating hours are Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.