The TIS Inclusion Academy is proud to support and host the 2nd Conference for Intellectually Disabled People in Asia on April 17-18 in the school’s new North Wing. In order to increase awareness and understanding of intellectual disability, the conference will welcome a number of guest speakers who will share their insights on achieving success despite their disability.

The conference will feature a varied and unique program in which athletes partner and work with Grade 7- 9 students at TIS. Student Services Department Head Rovanna Bawden says the partnership will help students to better understand what it is like to live with a disability.

“We want our students to grow in their understanding and to help breakdown misinformation about disability”. There will be a number of fun, interactive sessions in which athletes and students can participate together, such as Zumba dance, African drumming, Mindfulness, mosaic art installation, golf and basketball.

“We want to embrace this diversity because we know this is something all of our students need to experience,” says Dan d’Entremont, co-organizer of the event, “Our students are the leaders of tomorrow and having greater first hand awareness will give them a more balanced approach to their future roles in society.”

Rovanna Bawden says the conference is an important event for TIS, the inclusive education department and TIS students, “We wholeheartedly support the conference as a community event that challenges perceptions about living with disability in Macau and around the world. As a school, we want to support and change traditional perspectives so that individuals are valued for what they can achieve rather than the disability that they were born with.”