Coronaviruses
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that can cause illnesses ranging from the common cold to more serious respiratory infections like bronchitis, pneumonia or severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).
Coronaviruses are spread mainly from person to person through close contact, for example, in a household, workplace or health care centre.
Some human coronaviruses spread easily between people, while others do not.
Your risk of severe disease may be higher if you have a weakened immune system. This may be the case for older people, people with chronic disease (for example, diabetes, cancer, heart, renal or chronic lung disease).
How to protect yourself
Coronaviruses are spread mainly from person to person through close contact, for example, in a household, workplace or health care centre.
There is no vaccine available to protect against the 2019 novel coronavirus, but there are actions you can take to help prevent the spread of germs that cause respiratory illnesses.
Everyday actions
Take these everyday steps to reduce exposure to the virus and protect your health:
- wash your hands often with soap and water or alcohol-based hand
- sanitizer
- sneeze and cough into your sleeve
- avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth
- avoid contact with people who are sick
- stay home if you are sick
Poster: What you need to know to help you and your family stay healthy
__________________________________________________________________________________
FOOTPRINTS provides respite services for families with children diagnosed on the Autism Spectrum in Durham Region. With programs located in Pickering and Whitby, FOOTPRINTS strives to provide respite care to as many as possible.
Having a child diagnosed with Autism can be one of the most stressful situations a parent ever faces.
The diagnosis is just the beginning of the journey as both the child and parent must learn together how to identify, prepare for and manage the variety of behaviours that make up the Autism Spectrum.
These might include impaired cognition and communication, social deficits, frequent tantrums and other challenging behaviours that often lead to physical and emotional exhaustion for all involved.
Faced with such overwhelming stress and barriers, many parents of children with Autism find themselves overwhelmed and unable to cope.
Respite care can help ease some of the burden on these families. Respite care ensures that, for a few hours each month, the families can enjoy a short but much needed break from the 24/7 care required by these children.
Respite time allows parents to pay extra attention to their other children, spend some time together, run errands or just have some down-time.
The program at FOOTPRINTS is geared towards recreation, rather than therapy, for children. Many children affected by autism spend several hours a week in therapy classes and often this does not provide a lot of time for social play and to just “be”.
Under the guidance of trained volunteers, who are supervised by a trained Program Consultant, FOOTPRINTS offers participants social interaction with others in a safe and happy environment.
Click for Brochure 2019
__________________________________________________________________________________
Together We ‘Hang’
We’re back through to December 2019!
Program Name: Together We ‘Hang’
Ages: Youth 14 to 21 years
Location: Whitby Public Library – Central
Date: Every Monday
(Excludes holidays/Library closed)
Time: 4:00pm to 6:00pm
Price: FREE
Join us every Monday. Youth on the Autism Spectrum and peer volunteers hang out, for a social gathering fostering inclusion, acceptance and friendship. Play games & music! Learn life skills on special theme days!
Join the fun! Register as a Participant or Apply to be a Volunteer.
For more information or to register for FREE, contact Cheyenne:
Email: Cheyenne@footprints4autism.org Phone: (905) 420-0388 ext. 4
Apply as a Volunteer below:
__________________________________________________________________________________
Since 2015, FOOTPRINTS 4 Autism has been running Together We ‘Hang’, a weekly social program for youth with Autism and their peers. Seasonally, we have two programs in progress (4-6 pm) on Mondays at the Whitby Library and Wednesdays at the Pickering Library. (Check back for dates and times.)
We have had wonderful feedback about Together We ‘Hang’, however we would like to hear from the community on how we can make it better. We appreciate your input – it will assist us with planning and securing funding.
Survey Link: Click for Survey
Estimated time to complete – 3 minutes.