About ACENA
photo courtesy of Center for Independence through Conductive Education
|
The Association for Conductive Education in North America (ACENA) is the representative of the programs and professionals providing conductive education services within the North American continent. ACENA acknowledges and promotes the practice of conductive education. This is accomplished through:
|
Dear Members and Friends of ACENA,
It’s a great honor to be writing to you today as your newly elected ACENA President. As I sat down to formulate this message, I couldn’t help but reflect on our rich history as a professional body and the incredible shoes that I have to fill by taking on this responsibility. Throughout the last fifteen years, ACENA has had tremendous leadership. I’m thankful for these strong shoulders to stand on and hope to be able to honor this heritage as we work together to shape the future of CE in North America.
I was first introduced to ACENA in its early days when I was a student in the Aquinas College POHI/conductive education teacher training program. At that point in time, the formation of ACENA and its subsequent workshops and events, opened my eyes to the broader world of conductive education within our continent and fostered a fierce sense of connectiveness to others working in the field here in the United States, Canada and Mexico. As you all know, conductive education professionals create a small, but mighty family. Thanks to you all for being a part of this rich and vibrant group of mentors and CE compatriots - and an especial thanks to Brent Page, our ACENA Past President, for his guidance throughout this transition and for his unshakable commitment to supporting and advocating for those with disabilities throughout his career.
As we look to the year ahead together, know that your Board of Directors is committed to the mission of ACENA and is in the process of assembling and approving our Plan of Work for the upcoming year. I hope you will stop by our website to take a look in the coming weeks, but in the meantime, here’s a sneak peek of some of our areas of focus:
As we all know, our strength as a CE family comes from our collective willingness to stay involved and lend a hand. I hope each and every one of you will seek out new ways to participate in ACENA in the coming year. Just as in any family, we’re all different and are coming from different settings and circumstances. But because of these differences, together we are able to weave the rich tapestry that is conductive education in North America. We value your voice, your perspective and your experience – I hope you’ll continue to share them.
All the best,
Elizabeth Filkins, CET ACENA President
It’s a great honor to be writing to you today as your newly elected ACENA President. As I sat down to formulate this message, I couldn’t help but reflect on our rich history as a professional body and the incredible shoes that I have to fill by taking on this responsibility. Throughout the last fifteen years, ACENA has had tremendous leadership. I’m thankful for these strong shoulders to stand on and hope to be able to honor this heritage as we work together to shape the future of CE in North America.
I was first introduced to ACENA in its early days when I was a student in the Aquinas College POHI/conductive education teacher training program. At that point in time, the formation of ACENA and its subsequent workshops and events, opened my eyes to the broader world of conductive education within our continent and fostered a fierce sense of connectiveness to others working in the field here in the United States, Canada and Mexico. As you all know, conductive education professionals create a small, but mighty family. Thanks to you all for being a part of this rich and vibrant group of mentors and CE compatriots - and an especial thanks to Brent Page, our ACENA Past President, for his guidance throughout this transition and for his unshakable commitment to supporting and advocating for those with disabilities throughout his career.
As we look to the year ahead together, know that your Board of Directors is committed to the mission of ACENA and is in the process of assembling and approving our Plan of Work for the upcoming year. I hope you will stop by our website to take a look in the coming weeks, but in the meantime, here’s a sneak peek of some of our areas of focus:
- Providing our members with robust professional development opportunities utilizing various remote formats
- Connecting conductive education programs and professionals in new and exciting ways
- Revitalizing ACENA member engagement and participation
- Supporting programs through the uncharted waters related to our new collective - “normal” due to the COVID-19 pandemic
- Fostering a North American presence at the World Congress on Conductive Education later this year
- Promoting and supporting various CE related research projects
As we all know, our strength as a CE family comes from our collective willingness to stay involved and lend a hand. I hope each and every one of you will seek out new ways to participate in ACENA in the coming year. Just as in any family, we’re all different and are coming from different settings and circumstances. But because of these differences, together we are able to weave the rich tapestry that is conductive education in North America. We value your voice, your perspective and your experience – I hope you’ll continue to share them.
All the best,
Elizabeth Filkins, CET ACENA President
ACENA Honorary Members
Erzsébet Balogh, MD
David Dvorak, PhD
Margy Nelson
James Garofalo, Ph.D.
Harry Knopke, Ph.D.
Roberta O'Shea, DPT, Ph.D.
Brent Page
**Honorary members are given a lifetime membership. Honorary membership is conferred upon an individual who has performed distinguished service in the field of CE, to be determined by the Executive Committee.**
David Dvorak, PhD
Margy Nelson
James Garofalo, Ph.D.
Harry Knopke, Ph.D.
Roberta O'Shea, DPT, Ph.D.
Brent Page
**Honorary members are given a lifetime membership. Honorary membership is conferred upon an individual who has performed distinguished service in the field of CE, to be determined by the Executive Committee.**