By Desiree Kaur
Kiwanis Malaysia Academy (KMA) Special Education Needs (SEN) Symposium is back this year for its fourth installation on 16 Nov 2024 at the Royale Chulan Damansara Hotel! This time, it is being held back-to-back with a training and workshop for stakeholders, on 17 November 2024 at Segi College Kota Damansara. The theme in 2024 is Enriching the Lives of The Neurodivergent Community with a focus on meaningful employment for the neurodivergent community.
KMA SEN Symposium 2024 – 16 Nov 2024 at the Royale Chulan Damansara Hotel
The symposium consists of keynote speeches, plenary sessions and forums. Dr Choy Sook Kuen, Founder of Oasis Place will be speaking on Building Inclusive Communities for Neurodivergent Individuals. The first forum titled Championing Neurodiversity – Employers’ Perspective and Case Studies will be moderated by Datuk Dr Ras Adiba Radzi, for Senator of the Upper House of Parliament; whilst the second forum titled The Role of Education in Preparing Neurodivergents Towards Meaningful Employment will be moderated by Pn Nori Abdullah Badawi, We Rock the Spectrum Kids Gym for All and founding member of Kita Family podcast, respectively. Speakers for the forums include representatives from PriceweaterhouseCoopers (PWC), Gamuda Enabling Academy, International Labour Organization (ILO), International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) and the Ministry of Education Malaysia. Representative from EmployAble in Malaysia will also speak on A collaborative approach between stakeholders leads to meaningful employment for the neurodivergent community. Additionally, Singaporean based ExtraOrdinary People will also be part of the symposium and workshop. At the symposium, they will be conducting a plenary session titled Skills Leading Towards Employment.
The SEN Symposium is also providing a platform for neurodivergent entrepreneurs and anyone selling products and services, to set up booths to display and sell item, product and / or services. Those who are interested to be a vendor, kindly click here to register yourself. There will also be a booth set up for free screenings of neurodivergent conditions for adults.
KMA Stakeholder Workshop – 17 Nov 2024 at Segi College Kota Damansara
The stakeholder workshop will be collaboratively conducted by EmployAble, ExtraOrdinary People and Oasis Place. The first half of the session will consists of presentations on Implementation of successful transition programs for neurodivergent individuals by EmployAble and Journeying with post 18 neurodivergent by ExtraOrdinary People. Following this, there will be 3 breakout sessions for in depths discussions on the following topics:
Breakout 1 : Preparing for employment and options for employment – enhancing self worth – EmployAble
Breakout 2 : Monetizing talents – The “how to”? – Extra.Ordinary People
Breakout 3 : Support for Caregivers & teachers in the journey of the neurodivergent – Oasis Place
These breakout sessions aim to provide an avenue for sharing and discussion on the topics. KMA is also collaborating with academics to have rapporteurs compile the discussion output into reports which can be used to further discussions with relevant stakeholders.
How to participate?
The full agenda and registration links are available at the website here. Ticket prices are available in the poster below. Early bird pricing is available till 16 September. For queries, kindly email sen@kkjf.org or drop the organizers a text message at +6012-283 5104.
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