FREE GUIDES & TEMPLATES
The documents you need. Already written.
Every guide here was built from real situations Candice has navigated alongside Alberta families. They are practical, Alberta-specific, and designed to be used immediately at your next school meeting, in your next email, or on your next FSCD form.
More resources are added regularly. Community members get early access to new releases.
IPP Meeting Preparation Checklist
A step-by-step checklist to walk into your child's Individualized Program Plan meeting prepared, confident, and clear on what to ask for.
PDF · Alberta Education · Free
FSCD Inquiry Letter Template
A ready-to-adapt letter to request FSCD funding review, service expansion, or caseworker meetings in language caseworkers recognize.
Word / PDF · FSCD Alberta · Free
Specialist Appointment Question Bank
60 questions across 8 appointment types including paediatric neurology, occupational therapy, psychology, and school meetings.
PDF · Multi-use · Free
Family Documentation Organiser
A structured template for keeping diagnoses, assessments, contacts, and funding agreements in one shareable document.
Word / PDF · General · Free
GET YOUR FREE FIRST STEPS GUIDE PDF
For Families Navigating Adaptive Needs in Alberta
~ a practical starting point
Join the Free Bridging Barriers Community to get many more PDF Templates that will help support you along your journey.
ARTICLES & BLOGS
Practical writing from people who know.
Articles, blogs and no-think pieces by Candice, Chris, Susan, and occasionally
guest clinicians and community members, about real situations families
face in Alberta.
The IPP Meeting
The IPP Meeting. How to Walk In Prepared and Leave With Something Useful ...more
Blog
April 10, 2026•2 min read
FSCD ALBERTA
What Your FSCD Caseworker Wishes You Knew Before Your First Meeting ...more
Blog
April 10, 2026•2 min read
RESPITE CARE
Finding the Right Caregiver. What Actually Matters (and What Doesn’t) ...more
Blog
April 25, 2025•2 min read
Are you a clinician, educator, or experienced caregiver?
We accept guest articles from people with direct experience supporting Alberta
families navigating adaptive needs.
BRIDGING BARRIERS CONNECT
BRIDGING BARRIERS CONNECT
Bridging Barriers Connect brings families, respite care providers and other support providers into one place so they can create profiles, discover one another and decide whether they want to connect.
Connect. Match. Care.
Learn More & Create Your Profile Today
Families can use Connect for free.
Provider listing options are available for participating businesses and service providers.
Podcast
Bridging Barriers Podcast
~This is the heart of our community~
Real talk, Real stories, and Real solutions for families raising children with complex or adaptive needs. Each episode of the Bridging Barriers Podcast brings you honest conversations with parents, professionals, and advocates who get it.
Watch some Bridging Barriers Podcast Highlights below
Guest: Candice Janzen
Why she started Janzen Consulting Group and the Bridging Barriers Community & What You Can find here. She gets it!
Guest: Zachery Weeks
Accessibility isn’t a buzzword—it’s a commitment to action.
Guest: Wilma Grobbelaar
Nurturing The Nurturer
Guest: Linda Smith
Why Self-Care Matters
Guest: Janet Schultz
Breaking down employment barriers
Guest: Jesse Schewchuk
Parenting a Neurodivergent child as a neurodivergent Parent
Guest: Anna Vincent
Raising a neurodivergent child while trying to succeed at work can push even the strongest parents to burnout.
Guest: Dr. Shaniff Esmail
disability And Sexuality
THE BOOK
The guide Candice wished someone had handed her at the first appointment.
Why Didn’t Anyone Tell Me?
An honest, relatable guide for parents raising children with adaptive needs.
This book shares the real side of parenting through therapy appointments, school meetings, paperwork, and the moments no one prepares you for. It is not a clinical manual. It is lived experience, practical insight, and the kind of advice parents wish they had from the beginning.
Inside, you will find:
~ Real talk about advocacy, accessibility, and navigating systems
~ Honest reflections on the emotional weight families carry
~ Humour that helps you get through the hard days
~ Reassurance that you are not alone in this
Whether you are new to this journey or years into it, this book helps you feel more prepared, more supported, and more understood.
Ready to stop navigating alone?
Join Alberta families who've found their
footing - with real support, a trusted community, and someone who already knows the terrain.
Bridging Barriers FAMILY NAVIGATION
Family navigation, community, connection and professional support for families caring for children with adaptive needs.
Operated through Janzen Consulting Group
No family should have to struggle alone simply because they don't know where to start.
FOR FAMILIES
FOR PROFESSIONALS
CONNECT
Bridging Barriers is a program of I Can Play 2 Foundation Nonprofit organization. | Charitable registration in progress. | Based in Edmonton, Alberta. Serving families across Alberta virtually.
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