Let's Talk about Mental Health

We all hear about it during our life, but what surprises me is that not everyone realizes that having mental illness can be classified as a disability. At the Mount, we are able to accommodate for such problems, just like how we would with other disabilities. This is something that I find to be awesome about this campus.

Last week, we at the Inclusion Advancement team asked students, faculty and staff what mental health meant to them and recorded the responses on video. We have premiered the video earlier this afternoon as part of our mental health campaign. Since today is Bell Let's Talk Day for 2014, we decided to take part in our own way without making official ties with Bell Canada (perhaps another year, maybe?). Below, you can find the video we produced on campus.

In order to end the stigma surrounding mental illness, we need to reach out and help those who are suffering from it. We hope that this video helps to inspire people and spark up conversations about mental health at the Mount campus. The campus also offers counselling services inside Evaristus Hall. For more information, please check out:

Counselling Services: msvu.ca/counselling | (902) 457-6567
Disability Services: msvu.ca/disabilityservices | (902) 457-6323
Bell Let's Talk: bell.ca/letstalk

October = Autism Awareness Month

Hello Mount students!

         I want to let you all know today that this month (October) is Autism Awareness Month here at the Mount. It's going to be a rather fun month to get to learn about a permanent disability that affects many people in Canada (1 in 88, to be exact). So to help put on awareness, I  thought I write a little bit about what Autism is.

         Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD, or simply Autism) is a neural developmental disorder, meaning that it affects the development of the brain, though you mainly see it from a psychological perspective. Symptoms can vary from person to person, hence why it is called a spectrum disorder. Therefore, if you have met one autistic person, that's just it: one autistic person. The old adage of "you see one thing, you've seen them all" does not really apply in this case.

         I also live with Autism. For me, it's not really the easiest to live with something that can restrict you full potential to do things. But I have had help over the years through early intervention, speech language pathologists, etc. One of the main way that Autism acts as a disability for me is that I cannot fully pick up on some social cues that many people take for granted. Yes, it's frustrating, but I do have a habit of going through learning curves, so maybe I'll get through it someday.

         So if you want to get a better understanding of Autism, my advice is to go and meet an autistic person. Get to know them, their interests, their dreams, their story. I can't emphasize more on how important it is to really know a person, except that knowing a person with a disability, or even being friends with one, is a great start to helping them out later in life.

         In other news, to celebrate Autism Awareness Month, we will be hosting a poetry slam/talent night in Vinnie's Pub in the middle-end of October. it will be a fun and free event that will be open to Mount students and faculty, and i will be around to answer questions that you may have about what my life is like with Autism. If you want to be involved with this event, you can email me here. Stay tuned on Facebook for more information on the event. If you want more information about Autism, you can check out Autism Nova Scotia.

Have a fun-filled month!

Alex Sweeney
Inclusion Advancement Liaison, MSVU