Families raising children with autism experience a high level of satisfaction with their quality of life, say parents in a study by UWindsor researchers.

For the small-scale pilot study, doctoral student Jenna Jones (MA 2014) interviewed 11 parents of children with autism, ranging in age from two to 10 years old. She recruited them from the Summit Centre for Preschool Children with Autism, where her supervisor Marcia Gragg, a professor in clinical child psychology, serves as clinical director.

The questionnaire covered family well-being, professional support, negative or lack of support and challenges, with the overall perception of quality of family life dependant on whether members enjoy their lives together and get a chance to do things they love.

“Despite the challenges associated with raising a child with autism, overall, parents said they were satisfied with many areas, like spending time together as a family,” says Jones. “They also talked about positive sources of support and shared stories of people who helped babysit or offered a shoulder to cry on.”

Jones said the results identified issues for further study, including the importance of family interaction, formal and informal supports, the benefits of taking a family-centred approach, and some of the challenges and growth that come from raising a child with autism.

One emotional hurdle identified by more than half of the respondents is unsupportive family and friends.

“Without prompting, many parents talked about how harmful it is to get negative feedback from friends and family members,” said Jones.

They cited such unintentional criticisms as telling parents to look on the bright side, or blaming early parenting techniques for a child’s eventual autism diagnosis.

“Even if critical comments are not intentionally negative they tend to be more influential than positive comments,” Jones said.

“Negative messages are far more salient and those few comments tend to really eat away at you and affect you more than multiple positive ones.”

Some interviewees said these misunderstandings have caused them to reduce contact with particular individuals. Jones says she intends to focus more on such issues in the next stages of her research. She is planning for online interviews and will continue to work with parent advisor Jessica Szucki, a mother of three who has two children diagnosed with autism.

“Her input is invaluable as a representative of the community,” says Jones. “This pilot study was just the start but I want to learn more, and as we go along Jessica will continue to help make sure the research is accessible and reasonable to the population we are studying.”

The University of Windsor honoured four outstanding supporters during the 21st annual Clark Awards ceremony, Tuesday in the CAW Centre’s Ambassador Auditorium.

This year’s recipients are:

• Broadcaster Tony Doucette, who has raised the local profile of Lancer athletics and issues affecting the campus;
• Lawyer Tom Porter, former Windsor city councillor and a past president of the University of Windsor Alumni Association;
• Master’s student of history Carol Reader, a volunteer and activist with the Friends of Women’s Studies;
• Aboriginal elder Mona Stonefish, an advocate focused on the role of human rights, restorative justice and education.

The Clark Award was established in 1994 in honour of the late Charles J. Clark Sr., former chancellor of the University of Windsor, to recognize outstanding service to the University and the community.


A free workshop Saturday at the School of Creative Arts will offer high school students practice in drawing.

Instructors Lisa Baggio and Victor Romao will lead the workshop, entitled Monster Draw, May 14 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the LeBel Building. Students will receive all materials needed for a productive session, as well as a light lunch.

“Students will move from room to room in three modules, where they will work on the human form and object-based drawing,” Baggio says. “They will work in a variety of media and utilize techniques that they may not have used before.”

Find more information on the event website.

Proceeds of a piano sale this weekend in the Music Building will help to fund the purchase and maintenance of instruments for students in the School of Creative Arts.

Retailer D&S Pianos will display acoustic, hybrid and digital models of Yamaha pianos and make them available for purchase. The company will donate portion of any sale to the school’s piano fund.

The event will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday, May 13 and 14, in room 126, Music Building.

An open house Wednesday will discuss the results of the campus-wide mental health survey and next steps to be taken in the development of a strategic mental health framework for the University.

Members of Student Counselling Services and the Office of Human Rights, Equity and Accessibility will be on hand May 18 from 10:30 a.m. to noon in the Ambassador Auditorium, CAW Student Centre.

The survey results are also available online at: http://www.uwindsor.ca/ohrea/85/mental-health-survey.

Organizers ask those who plan on attending the open house or are interested in participating in the development of the mental health framework to complete the following questionnaire by Monday, May 16: http://uwindsor.fluidsurveys.com/s/open-house-rsvp/.

Nihar Biswas’s dedication to the University of Windsor extends well beyond the classroom walls. When Dr. Biswas isn’t lecturing on water quality and waste management, the civil engineering professor is helping attract top student athletes to UWindsor.

“While many of our students and staff may recognize Nihar as a frequent visitor to the St. Denis Centre and a regular exerciser on our track, what many probably don’t know is all the work he is doing behind the scenes to help our Lancer teams,” athletic director Mike Havey said April 6 at the Lancer Evening of Excellence.

Havey presented Biswas with the Richard Peddie Leadership Award to recognize his dedication to Lancer athletics. For the past 25 years, Biswas has augmented UWindsor’s recruitment efforts by calling and meeting Lancer recruits and their parents to discuss academic programs, assisting with scholarship growth and endowments that help benefit all students, and providing academic advice to student-athletes on campus.

“That’s the main objective,” Biswas said. “We try to support the students as much as we can.”

When he’s not working with students on the sidelines, Biswas regularly attends Lancer games. The former senior associate dean of engineering joined the University of Windsor faculty in 1981.

“It is safe to say that Dr. Biswas has as much interest in the success of the Lancers as any person that I know,” Havey said. “He is a very deserving recipient of the Richard Peddie Leadership Award.”

The award, in its eighth year, is named in honour of University of Windsor alumnus and loyal Lancer supporter, Richard Peddie, retired president of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment. It is presented annually to an individual who has made valuable contributions to the success of Lancer athletics.

In addition to the recognition, Biswas received a cash award from Dr. Peddie to be directed to the Lancer varsity team of his choice. Biswas chose to split the award between women’s and men’s teams in basketball, volleyball, and track and field.

For the first time in program history, Lancer football saw three players selected in the Canadian Football League entry draft. Tuesday, teams drafted offensive lineman Randy Beardy, fullback Nate O’Halloran and linebacker Frank Renaud.

The Ottawa Redblacks took Beardy 43rd overall; the BC Lions selected O’Halloran 57th and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers chose Renaud with the 63rd pick of the night. Read more at goLancers.ca.

Windsor football well-represented in CIS prospects game

A trio of Lancer football players will take to the field at McGill University on Saturday for the 14th annual East-West Bowl. The prospects game showcases Canadian Interuniversity Sport athletes heading into eligibility for the CFL draft.

The Lancer contingent features all-star defensive back Matt Gayer, linebacker Marcel Ugoh and offensive lineman Brett Boersma. The three will play on the West team led by Blake Nill, head coach of the reigning Vanier Cup champion UBC Thunderbirds.

The game kicks off May 14 at 1 p.m. and will be webcast live on CIS-SIC.tv. Find more info at goLancers.ca.

First-time all-star to suit up for women’s basketball showcase

Lancer centre Emily Prevost will represent Windsor in the ninth annual Ontario University Athletics women’s basketball all-star game, Saturday at Queen’s University in Kingston.

A third-year kinesiology student, Prevost received her first provincial all-star berth this past season after averaging 14.3 points and 9.1 rebounds in 20 games.

Saturday’s game will tip off at 7:30 p.m. All the action is available online at OUA.tv. Read the full story, Prevost to represent Lancers in all-star game, at goLancers.ca.

Lancer baseball sweeps to division II World Series

The Windsor Lancers swept a three-game qualifier last weekend to earn a berth in the National Club Baseball Association Division II World Series, May 20 to 24 in Pittsburg, Kansas.

In the District 5 regional, the Lancers defeated the University of Minnesota 11-1, followed that with a 6-0 shutout of the University of Illinois, and in the championship game, topped Illinois 2-1 in extra innings. Read a full recap at goLancers.ca.

The Windsor club team is ranked fourth entering the eight-team championship tournament and will meet the University of Maryland in the opening contest.

Ambiguity, teamwork tussles, time constraints, and the added pressure of real-world clients combined for a gruelling and educational challenge for master’s students of business last week.

The Odette MBA Class of 2017 spent five days presenting to five clients on five topics, May 4 to 8. Neither the clients nor the topic is known in advance to the participants, who must consider consumer behaviour issues across a broad spectrum of industries during Clinic Week, the brainchild of MBA program director Vincent Georgie.

It proved a tremendous learning experience, the students said afterward.

“Over the course of the five clinic days, it was amazing to see how much everyone improved in terms of both presentation skills and time management skills,” said Jelena Dereta.

Her classmate Vito Giovannetti said students learned about quality management and the power of team cohesion.

“Each of the five engagements brought different strategies,” Giovannetti said. “MBA Clinic Week was an experience that enabled students to learn about themselves and the art of leveraging skill sets to recognize each client’s need and work together to develop creative solutions.”

This year’s clients included Windsor Regional Hospital, furniture retailer Tepperman’s, major junior ice hockey team Saint John Sea Dogs, online insurance broker Easy Insure, and the Toronto International Film Festival.

An art exhibition opening this weekend at Museum London will feature works by a UWindsor photography professor.

Cyndra MacDowall is among the artists participating in Chronologues, which runs until August 21 in the Ivey Galleries, 421 Ridout Street North, London. The group exhibition of contemporary art examines issues of memory and time, through personal narratives and larger, shared histories.

A public reception celebrating the opening is set for 8 p.m. Friday, May 13.

The Centre for Research in Reasoning, Argumentation and Rhetoric (CRRAR) will host the Ontario Society for Studies in Argumentation’s international conference on the topic Argumentation, Objectivity and Bias, from May 18 to 21, bringing together 150 of the world’s top experts in philosophy, rhetoric, and communication.

The events begin with a series of free public workshops at 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Wednesday, May 18, in Vanier Hall. Visiting researchers will present on the following topics:

• Introduction to Bayesian Argumentation, organized by Frank Zenker of Lund University, will examine Thomas Bayes’ theorem of probability as a way of evaluating the strength of an argument. Participants will learn to apply the theorem as a formal measure of argument strength and weakness and discuss the implications for research. 9 a.m. to noon.
• Addressing Bias, organized by Moira Howes of Trent University, will address practical methods for reducing social and cognitive biases in thinking and interaction with others. Participants will explore ways to decrease biased reasoning in the workplace, particularly in cases where biases are motivated by strong emotion, entrenched assumptions, or failures in communication. Strategies for decision-making and communication in cases where pronounced biases persist despite skilled intervention will be discussed. 9 a.m. to noon.
• Objective Agreement: the Voyages of Treaty Canoe, organized by Catherine Hundleby and presented by Tory James and Alex McKay, all of the University of Windsor, will discuss the dilemma and responsibilities inherent in occupying other nations’ sovereign territory. Treaty Canoe is a 1999 artwork created by McKay that is built of red and white cedar and covered in paper copies of transcribed treaties. Participants will transcribe treaties themselves and contribute directly to the project while engaging in open-ended discussion on the relationship between Indigenous peoples and settler/immigrants. 1 to 3 p.m.
• Using Classroom Debates for De-biasing in Critical Thinking Instruction, presented by Jean Goodwin of Iowa State University and Steven Patterson of Marygrove College, will help critical thinking and ethics instructors incorporate debates and similar exercises into their courses. The workshop will briefly highlight scholarship on learning outcomes of debate exercises, with a primary focus on practical questions of the ‘why-what-how’ of teaching critical thinking through debate. 1 to 3 p.m.

More information is available on the conference website, http://www1.uwindsor.ca/ossa/.