[FEAT BC Admin]

In this discussion area, please feel free to share your experience in implementing A.B.A. programs in the school system. We would particularly like to hear from those parents who converted their school teams to A.B.A. We’d like to hear the nightmares as well as the success stories.

Any insight that can be shared by school-based special education assistants to help parents would also be very meaningful.

Topic

[Deleted User]

Just a few quick points.
SEA's can be a difficult choice as therapists for other reasons too.
They cost the District around $26+ per hour to employ. You will lose them on Pro D days (there are many) and holidays. Their scedules are inflexible. In the school setting the SEA is controlled by the teacher not the parent. It is not really their mandate to deliver medically necessary treatment. I would suggest you have your Doctor prescribe an existing trained therapist(with strong interpersonal skills), or better yet a trained parent, to ensure your child receives treatment in an appropriate manner. We found that having an SEA work with our child in our home enviroment a positive experience but with many drawbacks. We would never use one in the school enviroment though because there are so many obstacles and conflicts for an SEA to deal with as a union employee. For example the SEA may be instructed to implement a particular behavioural intervention in a certain situation ,however if the teacher tells the SEA to do something else like remove the child or do some photocopying that is what they have to do.
It would be far better , and more cost effective, to have your District direct the funds to your ABA treatment provider. It is not unheard of for Districts to be able to do things like this. (Heck in my District they spent money in the past on Sensory Integration stuff that was so off the wall you didn't know whether to laugh or cry and those charlatans were contractors not union) Get your Doctor to support you that you need trained, competent therapists with above average skills as the school enviromennt is a busy place where things can get out of control quickly. Remember that bad therapy can be far more damaging than no therapy.

[Deleted User]

Since the school and HR would be aware that your child has autism it isn't necessary to go into the details of it. The letter should be clear and concise. As an example I requested a male ea for my son. He needs personal care and at age 10 he was aware that he shouldn't use a woman's washroom so why was this woman helping in a male washroom. The letter stated that a gender specific ea was required for personal dignity. This request was granted. Interestingly, I asked why it was necessary for the letter as if the roles were reversed we wouldn't allow a male ea in the washroom with a female student. Reverse discrimination! The letter for aba would say that the an aba trained therapist is required to carry on your child's progress at school. Think of the letter more like a prescription rather than a request. They then HAVE to fill it regardless of seniority, etc. This is from someone who is very high up in the CUPE provincial board. I wouldn't hold up hope that they will hire the person you want but I know in our district there are aba trained ea's…. That may not be so in other districts. Another hint, have the person you want put in an application on the day of the receipt of the letter! I know of many ea's who have been hired by such a coincidence!!:-)

[Deleted User]

As an ABA therapist on several teams, and a school teacher, I just wanted to say that I appreciated the poem posted by annon. a few posts back.
Thank you.

[David Chan]

To quote Blanche Dubois in a "Streetcar
Named Desire"—"I have always relied on the
kindness of strangers"; that about says it all.

Everything that Anonymous put in the post is
essentially accurate and possible in a perfect
world.

Even if you do all YOUR part in providing
letters, support etc. that in no way guarantees
what you would expect to be a logical and
reasonable outcome for your child.

It’s about human intransigence and the
inability to see beyond the tip of their nose. It’s
about rigidity, and self-interest. Putting a
human face on any issue doesn’t mean that
the issue will be resolved in your favor. I’m not
anti-anyone, but I’ve had "NO" said to my face
many times, and as an adult, and freelance
photographer, I am quite used to rejection.
When it comes to the welfare of your child it’s
a pretty hard pill to swallow.

And if the answer is "NO", then what? The kid
still has to go to school doesn’t he? The
tension is so thick when he goes to school,
you could cut it with a knife. You have a few
more meetings and presentations, and still
it’s unresolved. Almost three years ago we
made the really painful decision of pulling the
kid out of school for the balance of the school
year; it really boiled own to the bitter truth that
"no school is better than bad school" If I recall
correctly, (I may be off by a few days), we had 7
meetings to keep the kid in school for 22 days.
He stayed out of school for the balance of the
school year. Yes, I’ve been there; and done
that; the only thing I didn’t get was the T-shirt
and Video.

In the end it was "the KINDNESS of strangers"
that got us through, that and the grace of G_d.

Sorry to sound like Eeyore,

Still Grammatically -Challenged
Mr. P’s Dad

[Deleted User]

Dear Peggy;

If it were my letter, I would offer a simple definition of autism as a lifelong neurological condition characterized by a fragmented intellectual and emotive development, of which the symptoms are most noticably "social" deficits (that covers everything from speech to academic competency to appropriate behavioural responses).

I would then explain that the "symptoms" of such are effectively ameliorated via aba, a "treatment" which incidentally was deemed "medically-necessary" in the Auton case, B.C. Supreme Court, 2000.

Perhaps it would then be a good idea to point out that (because school walls are not sound-proof), for the educational benefit of your child, and all of his schoolmates, it is essential that there be consistency between home, community, and school in regard to an already established aba program; that anything less will undermine gains already made, and will be extremely damaging to your child's continued progress and well-being.

Make a point to say that not only is your son deserving of this consideration, but that it is their charge to reconcile what the courts have said in conjunction with their mandate as trustees to achieve active inclusionary policy and practices in their district. After all, the ministry of education does not exist to accomodate the agenda of either BCTF or CUPE, its mandate is to promote the education of all of the province's children in the best possible manner.

This is just bare-bones-ing it off the top of my head, but I think that ought to put you in the right direction.

Perhaps even cite that there is pending legislation (section 6, bill 28) to address these kinds of special needs issues and that it would be to the benefit of the entire district to be proactive on this front.

Good luck to you!

[Peggy Boon]

Dear Anonymous: I guess it's each district union rep's interpretation of the collective agreement that makes for flexibility or lack thereof. At any rate, pardon my ignorance but since I probably have one and only kick at this cat I just want to make sure I include the requisite criteria in my Dr.'s letter. Does one need to be specific about why their child requires an SEA who has Lovaas protocol ABA training or is it sufficient to say that it's a medical necessity? Is the requirement Lovaas protocol education/training/experience or some combination thereof? I'm at a bit of a loss here, so any specifics (or examples) would be much appreciated. And oh, Mr. P's dad – those gramatically correct posts are ok but it's really the snippets of humor that are most enjoyable. Thanks 'anonymous' for your enlightenment.

ourhouse@direct.ca

[Deleted User]

POEM in our local paper a few years back:
"Inclusion of Special Needs Children In The Classroom" by Lisa Graham

As pencil shavings curl and dangle t'ward the floor;
Stars reclaim the summer sky — schools unlock their doors.
In their desks, row by row, as challenge to all 'teacher-kind',
Are freshly sun-tanned faces with willing hearts and lively minds.

September pairs of sneaker laces, sparkling clean and white as snow,
Await their lessons restlessly with bouncing, swinging, tapping toes.
And lunchbags and thermoses and important other stuff
Are packed in sacks and satchels — the school year is again begun.

And so we too, into your care, place our 'special' sons and daughters;
Their needs may differ from the rest but they're here as all the rest are.
And through the next ten months until we close this new school year,
We pray their days are smooth enough that you'll feel glad they're here.

There will be trying moments – we know – we live them everyday …
But sense of purpose and human kindness go such a long, long way.
And the twenty-one other children whose eyes and minds you lead
Learn more than academics — they follow word and deed.

And so it is with gratitude, we place our trust in you …
To work with us and grow with us — to start this year anew.

[Deleted User]

Yes, there are good and bad S.E.A.s out there, as there are good and bad teachers, and good and bad principals, and good and bad dentists, etc.

One problem is that there is no uniform criteria for hiring S.E.A.s, and that betrays the whole notion of consistency re: delivery of 'service' between home, school, and commuity which can be very detrimental to our children.

Alternately, if you have a supportive principal and "flexible" senior admin. in your district, and if you have official letters from everyone who is connected to your child — behavioural therapists, SLPs, OTs, PTs, from your GP, your pediatrician, from FEAT, from ASBC, from family, and friends, etc.,
…and if you enlist the support of the BCTF or even just teachers you know, perhaps even just the teachers from your child's school(after all, every teacher knows and appreciates the value of having a competent S.E.A. on the frontlines);
…and if you make a request to make a presentation to your local CUPE exec.(very much the same way you address schoolboard via the delegation process). By presenting to the CUPE executive, it will force them to recognize the human-ness of this issue. And making this issue "human" will be the cornerstone to proper resolution of this specific "systemic" injustice; it will make it difficult for the CUPE exec. (or anybody else who is made aware) to deny what is educationally-sound/what is best for your child in favour of their own benefit, or in favour of some larger agenda, …at the very least, it will make them have to say "no" to your face.
…And go to your local press, and phone into radio talk shows to raise the topic — let the public know who has supported you and who has denied you what is best for your child, and let them know just how they have done that — especially if CUPE denies you opportunity to even address their exec., and the reason I say this, is that with the political climate being what it is right now, the unions really have their heels dug in deep — they may try and cut you off at the knees in order to avoid confronting the issue with you in a direct manner, … remember, seniority is the "mother" principal of all unions, and we are asking that they put that aside for the benefit of our children.

By doing all of this right now, starting today, you may be successful in appealing to hire a particular S.E.A. by lobbying your schoolboard to implement a "special-skills clause" in their collective agreement with CUPE –and this part is really important to remember, ** THIS IS AN ELECTION YEAR **. If you can "nail-down" those who wish to be re-elected, at the very least, you have a sort of verbal contract with them that they will act to remedy this problem.

At best though, if you are successful, it still is just an interim fix, and will only be specific to your district, or perhaps even just to your own personal situation.

Problem number two, …once a competent S.E.A. is found, section 6 of bill 28, [whereby the better interests of the special needs child will be given priority over the seniority bumping principle (should there be lay-offs,etc.)] has not yet been given royal assent. We need this enshrined in the Act asap. In regard to problem #2, we need to bear some pressure on the Ministry of Education to get this piece of legislation drafted and implemented asap so that once we resolve problem #1, especially if it is only on an individual level, the functional relationship you fought to establish will-not/cannot be sabotaged either by indidividual, union, or other systemic political agendas.

There is no easy fix, but there is hope, opportunity, and logic on our side — this is not about teachers, or CUPE, or the Ministry of Education, … it is about what is best for our children. Unfortunately, in the process of doing what is best for your child, you risk being called anti-union and anti-government, all in the same breath!! Go figure!

Good luck!

[David Chan]

An Addendum to the last post

Providence is one thing, but how do we go
about getting that paradigm shift to happen?

We continue to demonstrate that ABA treated
children can be successful in school settings
and we continue to insist on the appropriate
and necessary supports in school. Just
because it hurts when you bang your head
against a brick wall doesn’t mean you should
stop. So we soldier on. There is no better
argument than success. These children WILL
succeed if they are given the necessary help
and more importantly the opportunity to
succeed.
As for vision, well, FEAT moms and dads have
Vision-a-plenty, or we wouldn’t be on this chat
board. I added this post, because, frankly, I
hate rhetorical questions. Keep up the great
work, all.

Mr. P’s Dad

P.S. Mr. P’s mom is still checking my
grammar and punctuation. But the ESL thing
is a losing battle.

[David Chan]

It’s time for another rant…

Or perhaps more like a ramble.

My take on SEA’s teachers, School districts…

The bottom line is, if you HAVE to do the
"these are rules" dance, the discussion is
over before it’s begun.

They don’t want to play, and you can even
compel them to play, and they may even
pretend to play, but they won’t play. Namely,
you get to hire who you want and train them,
but there is no guarantee that that person that
you have hired will follow the protocol correctly
for the duration of the school year.

It is very difficult to maintain Quality Control
once that person is hired to be your child’s
SEA and in the event that things go awry,
because of the unions it’s also very difficult to
remove them. Especially since you are the
one that tried so hard to hire them in the first
place. Paradoxical isn’t it?

This is a reality, and I really have no hard and
fast answer to this particular conundrum. We
are thinking long and hard about a SEA for our
kid too, but it’s such a delicate balance. On
the one hand, your kid is on ABA so that they
can generalize and work with more people.
On the other hand, a poorly implemented SEA,
can cause the kid’s behavior to "Go South"
really fast. Now you not only have the problem
of how the kid is going to fit in the class, you
are also doing damage control.

Am I saying there are no good SEA’s out
there? No, I am not, Are there no sympathetic
teachers and principals out there? No, I am
not saying that at all.

I have said this many times before. Absolutely
no one is as invested in your child’s well
being and progress as YOU are. For every
one else, no matter how well- intentioned, and
dedicated, it’s a job. And let’s be honest
about this, who needs hassles at work? It’s
only a JOB. You are all starting to see where
this is all going.

What do we really need in the school system?
We need to have a paradigm shift, from "How
do fit these crippled kids into our school?" to
"We need to have these children in our
schools because they are valued part of our
community". What we need is vision. Until
such time, as school districts sees these
children as VALUABLE assets in their school,
and that the presence of these special
children when provided with the necessary aid
is an enrichment in the lives of the students
and staff, just as much as a music program,
or a field trip to the science museum, they will
continue on their path of accommodation and
tolerance. Accommodation is a place you stay
for a little while and leave, and tolerate is what
you do to a bad smell.

The axiom that I have found in these past few
years is—"It’s all great, until it isn’t great any
more", or worse, "It’s all great until it’s all
goes to h___ in a hand basket". School is
such an integral part of every child’s life, and
that’s why I am writing this cautionary note.

I can’t lose faith in people, because I like to
believe that people are fundamentally good
and they have basically good intentions. The
only caveat that I have is – Be careful, be very,
very careful.

May providence be kind to us all.

Mr. P’s Dad

P.S. on a lighter note: Mr. P’s mom, checks my
grammar

[Author]

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