ABC Ontario

Welcome to ABC Ontario! 

The Association for Bright Children of Ontario / Société pour enfants doués et surdoués de l'Ontario is an all-volunteer, provincially incorporated registered charity, with many chapters across Ontario. It is dedicated to providing information, advocacy and support to parents of bright and gifted children and adolescents through networking, an annual conference and local workshops.  It offers the parents' voice to local school boards, educators, professional groups and the Ontario Ministry of Education.

The term twice exceptional, often abbreviated as 2e, is used to identify a group of students who are exceptional both because they may have one or more learning disabilities, attention deficit, autism spectrum disorder, emotional or behaviour problems, or other types of learning challenges in addition to being gifted.  

Often overlooked, misclassified, neglected, or receiving inadequate interventions because the characteristics of one exceptionality will mask those of the other and appear as average school achievement. 

Twice exceptional students often require additional supports, enrichment and educational programming to reach their academic and social-emotional potential.

 

If you have any questions, comments, suggestions or stories that you would like to share then please send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ABC Ontario Policies on Special Education

Parents as Partners

ABC Ontario's Policies on Special Education are outlined in the document

Parents as Partners: An Investment in Tomorrow

which was developed in 2004.

Click on the link above to view this PDF document.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF ONTARIO ABC

The Association for Bright Children began in Toronto in 1974 with a few people who believed that bright and gifted children needed an advocacy group. The original members were both educators and parents who shared concerns, information, ideas and disappointments.

PROVINCIAL PRESIDENTS

1974-1978 Sandra Shiner, Ph.D., Toronto

1978-1981 Linda Tu, Ph.D., North York

1981-1984 Hilda Carmichael, Kingston

1984-1986 Barbara Anglin, Ottawa

1986-1990 Margaret Walker, Toronto

1990-1992 Margaret Carter, Guelph

1992-1996 Margaret Tofflemire, Waterloo

1996-2000 Joanne Lee, Mississauga

2000-2002 Michelle Worley, Scarborough

2002-2004 Carol Ann Sloat, Brantford

2004-2006 Elizabeth Buckingham, Ottawa

2006-2008 Christine Thammavongsa, London

2008-April 2010 Dennis Ensing, London (acting)

April 2010 - June 2010 Dennis Ensing, London

2010 - January 2013    Rosanna DelGrosso, Toronto 

2013 - 2014       David Croome, Peel

IMPORTANT DATES IN ABC HISTORY

1977- A constitution was adopted and ABC was incorporated

1976-1980 ABC co-sponsored with the Ministry of Education, four conferences on Gifted Education.

1980 ABC was incorporated as a registered charity

1981 A revised constitution was drafted and ratified at the 1982 AGM

1985 Ontario ABC established a permanent mailing address and phone number in Toronto.

1990 By-Laws revised and ratified by AGM to reflect the move to Central Membership

1990 By-Laws revised and ratified by AGM to adopt style names for ABC: "Association for Bright Children"; and "Société pour enfants doués et Sourdoués"

1990 ABC Advisory Committee established

1991 ABC Policy Document "Parents As Partners" published

2004 ABC Policy Document "Parents As Partners" updated and revised

2006-2008 ABC expanded its annual conferences to include an additional full day of programming geared to educator professional development featuring James Delisle, PhD, Karen Rogers, PhD and Susan Winebrenner respectively

2006 ABC Resource Guide on IEP's published

2008 ABC Resource Guide Revised and Translated

2008 By-laws revised and ratified by AGM to implement trial of free membership model

2009 ABC appointed its first part-time Executive Director, Claire Collins, Mississauga

SOME PAST ABC FAMILY CONFERENCES, LOCATIONS AND THEMES

1986 Ottawa Creative Learning 1987 Scarborough Exploring New Horizons

1988 Waterloo Learning and Growing Together

1989 Halton Our Children, Ourselves

1990 Ottawa Roots and Wings

1991 North York Heart.Head.Hands

1992 Scarborough Building the Future

1993 Cambridge What If?

1994 Kingston Reach for the Stars

2004 London Alan Edmunds, PhD on Meeting the Needs of Exceptionally Gifted Children

2005 Toronto Joanne Foster, PhD on Being Smart About Gifted Children

2006 Toronto Jame Delisle PhD on addressing the Social Emotional Needs of Gifted Learners 

2007 Toronto Karen Rogers, PhD on Re-forming Gifted Education

2008 Toronto Susan Winebrenner on Differentiating Curriculum for Gifted Learners

LETTERS PATENT

Action for Bright Children was registered as a non-profit corporation in the Province of Ontario in 1977. The constitution states that Action for Bright Children is also known as, and activities are carried on under, the name The Association for Bright Children of Ontario and La Société pour enfants doués et sourdoués de l'Ontario. This incorporation embraces the activities of the Provincial organization and its  chapters.  

REGISTRATION AS A NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION

ABC was registered with Revenue Canada on September 1, 1980 and assigned Number 0597252-21-13

 

ABC Ontario Board of Directors

The Board of Directors may be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Please contact us if you are interested in serving on our Board of Directors or participating as and ad-hoc member of one of the following committees.

ABC Ontario Committees:

Advocacy Committee - Responsible for advocating for educational excellence on behalf of bright and gifted learners through written briefs, presentations, conferences and provincial committees.

  • SEAC Coordinator - Chair
  • Education Liaison Director
  • Legislative Liaison Director
  • Director of Resource
  • President
  • Vice President
  • Past President

Outreach & Support Committee - Responsible for coordinating events, web presence, publications, publicity and volunteers

  • Director of Public Relations - Chair
  • Director of Resource
  • Director of Volunteer Development
  • President

Finance Committee - Responsible for ABC operations, accounting and budgets

  • Treasurer - Chair
  • Director of Business Development
  • Executive Director
  • President
  • Vice President
  • Past President

Business Development Committee - Responsible for strategic planning including initiatives to promote ABC's mission and objectives as well as revenue, member and volunteer generation.

  • Director of Business Development - Chair
  • Treasurer
  • Director of Public Relations
  • Executive Director
  • President
  • Vice President
  • Past President 
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