Our staff, researchers, and members of our Board of Directors are in Saskatoon this week for the first Canada FASD Conference. We are so thrilled at the turn out for this event. One day down and we’ve already learned so much and gotten to connect with so many people in the field.
Exciting opening sessions
The conference opened with a dance number from the one and only Myles Himmelriech, who is acting as the Master of Ceremonies for the first Canada FASD Conference. Myles brought the audience lots of laughs, along with hope and optimism for the future.
Our first keynote session yesterday morning featured the CanFASD Board Vice Chair, Darren Joslin; our Family Advisory Committee co-chair, Dorothy Reid; our Intervention Research Lead, Dr. Jacqueline Pei; our Senior Research Lead, Jocelynn Cook; our Diagnostic Research Co-Lead, Dr. Mansfield Mela; and our Managing Director, Kathy Unsworth.
Today’s panel is on prevention and features Dr. Nancy Poole, Lindsay Wolfson, Lisa Lawley, Melanie Muehling, and Mary Motz. It promises to be an outstanding panel!
Incredible presentations
One of the unique features of the Canada FASD Conference is that we are connecting different voices together. Our sessions are structured so that we have research presentations alongside presentations from service providers and those with living experience. This helps to ground and contextualize all the work that is happening in the field of FASD.
There are so many amazing presentations our attendees are having trouble choosing which ones to go to! With topics ranging from diagnosis to corrections to Tik Tok to neurodiversity, there was no shortage of things to learn about. The next two days promise the same amount of excitement and diversity.
Conferences by the numbers
We are so excited to bring this conference to life and the response so far has been outstanding. We have attendees flying in from countries like Australia and New Zealand – as well as from all across Canada. Everyone is excited to connect with one another, especially at this evening’s Mocktail Networking Event.
We think the numbers show how successful this event truly is. The Canada FASD Conference has:
- 590 tickets sold
- 117 presentations
- 169 presenters
- 57 sessions
Bringing awareness and attention
This conference has made quite a splash in the media as well, which helps to raise awareness of FASD in Saskatoon. Check out the following articles to hear more about the event:
- Saskatoon set to host Canada FASD Conference
- First ever national conference on FASD sells out in Saskatoon this week
- Surmonter les préjugés entourant le trouble du spectre de l’alcoolisation fœtale
Stay tuned to our channels this week as we keep you up to date on everything happening at the inaugural Canada FASD Conference!