Over the past three months, Unitopia has been facilitating arts and crafts sessions with neurodiverse children, providing free materials, delivered to various houses in order to provide an accommodating environment and inclusive activities during times of social distancing, which have been extremely difficult for children with neurodiverse conditions. With more than 10 sessions in the books, we are expanding more than ever, with 95 families and still counting!
However, since the distance learning curriculum has been implemented by various school districts, they have brought extensive hardship for children to sit in front of the screen for even longer periods during our activities. Multiple families have voiced concerns about the potential detriments to eyes and general body function due to screen time, and are looking for ways to reduce the required time on electronic devices.
Due to these concerns, we will be closing our synchronous arts and crafts activities until hybrid learning opportunities open up and more parents are comfortable with the activities. We will still be providing materials to families so that they can do these sessions asynchronously with a printed instruction sheet that children can use to participate in the activities with their families. On top of that, our individual interaction sessions will still provide the opportunity for inclusive communication from our dedicated volunteers. We hope that our materials will allow for more familial bonding as the holidays approach.
Let us know if you have any questions or concerns! Thank you for your support in the Unitopia community, and we look forward to January or February, when our programs can open up again synchronously!