Volunteer Application

I am a speech-language pathologist who has been working in Nanaimo since 2004, and I have been supporting students at NUKO for the past 6 years. I really enjoy working with students at NUKO because:
• The staff are open and willing to collaborate.
*The staff work well as a team to develop goals for the students alongside professionals.
*The staff take my suggestions and incorporate them, and then provide me helpful feedback to continue advancing that goal or skill in our mutual work with the students.
*The staff at NUKO are just the right amount of supportive; they have expectations for their students and they support the students to be as independent as they can.
*The staff at NUKO have a good mix of skills and work well together to meet the needs of all the students, even those that are no in their own classroom.
*The learning team from NIDES has a very structured, yet flexible, learning plan for each student and really puts effort, care and attention into the learning goals for each student, and making sure the plan is working.
I see the students at NUKO learning that they can advocate for themselves; can ask for a break and ask for help; and I see the students at NUKO having so much fun! " - Tracy Simonar - Registered Speech-Language Pathologist

Since 2002, I have been working with children of all ages and abilities in Nanaimo and the surrounding area on Vancouver Island. I work directly with families and often in conjunction with various therapists and organizations to facilitate programming and therapy with the goal of improving the health, activities or daily living, motor skills, and learning of the children that I work with on an ongoing basis. For the last few years I have had the privilege of working alongside the Nanaimo Unique Kids Organization in addition to working closely with many of the staff members who work there. During this time working with NUKO, I have met some of the most genuine and ethical people whose first priority is always the children's best interests. Other then ethical practices, one of the objective things that I respect the most about NUKO is their individualized approach to education and learning; we all learn differently, and NUKO does its best to accommodate every child's individual needs - educational or otherwise.

We have an 8 year old grandson who has autism and is none verbal. We checked the public school where he would be going for grade 1. After having an interview with the Principal, we knew that public school system would not be a good fit for our grandson. We then had an interview with NUKO and we were very impressed and felt that NUKO would be a good fit for our grandson. Our Grandson has now been going to NUKO for 3 years and we are very impressed with the staff and the caring attitude they have with him. Our minds are at ease when our grandson is at NUKO as we know he is in a safe and caring environment. He is non verbal but we can tell he is happy to be going to NUKO everyday.

I felt in my heart that public school would not be a good fit for my daughter for a variety of reasons, so when she reached school age, I was afraid. My daughter suffered from a genetic condition, severe ADHD, and Autism. I began searching in our community for an option. That's how I came upon NUKO. NUKO has my eternal gratitude. We are appreciative of the compassionate staff members who have given our daughter a chance to develop and grow. They have never given up on her, even during her hardest days. My daughter has received wrap-around supports.

I cannot express in words the difference NUKO has made for my son. His learning, cognitive abilities, social skills, self awareness, self confidence, mindfulness, and overall joy has improved significantly since he has attended NUKO. He laughs, shares stories about his day, he talks about his friends at school, and he is learning! His printing has improved and I have noticed a significant increase in his vocabulary, sentence structure, and expressing himself.

NUKO's fantastic.  Every since I came here I've been much better with reading, writing, and everything.