[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

[Barbara Rodrigues]

Mindi:

This is why the 'needs' of the child should be above 'union rules' when it comes to children…

It's not about finding the right 'fit' best person for your child but who has the most seniority and wants the job….it's very sad.

There was a lawsuit regarding getting ABA into the schools but I don't think it helped with the aide situation…it's very sad cause you would have to fight CUPE in order to get her removed,etc.

I hate to say it but I would interview at other schools and see what is out there – sometimes the battle that you might not win anyway isn't worth it and it's best to go elsewhere.

Here's a link that might provide you more help.

Good luck and I am sorry you and your son have to deal with this.

http://www.abasupportnetwork.com/school.php

Barbara

[Deleted User]

Can parents personally interview the support worker for their child in school?

Our experience has been a nightmare at our vancouver catchment school. I am frequently at the point of tears.
The kindergarten support worker has left our son, who has ASD and type 1 diabetes in a medical situation that could have left him in a coma, seizure or worse. All she had to do was give him a glass of juice. In fact, She MISSED THE EMERGENCY AND TOLD MY SON TO WAIT for mom to come.

Had we been able, we would have fired her on the spot. You cannot take chances with type 1 diabetes. I expected that the VSB support worker would have had experience or basic knowledge of type 1 diabetes, at least the biology and care of students with type 1 diabetes before she was hired.
There are any number of college or university students in the area who could learn the material in a week. I AM SO DISAPPOINTED WITH THE CURRENT SUPPORT WORKER THAT I WOULD RATHER LEAVE THE SCHOOL THAN CONTINUE THE NEXT SCHOOL YEAR WITH MY SON IN HER CARE.

In addition to the diabetes low blood sugar disaster, the support worker is chronically ill. She has missed over three weeks of school since September.

The principal prefers to throw his hands in the air. He also sees fit to allow the support worker to act as a "classroom assistant" for all of the students. I was left no choice but to shout at him in the school office just to find a SECONDARY support worker SO I WOULD NOT HAVE TO CONTINUE TO STAY IN THE CLASSROOM MYSELF.

What do we do when the support workers are unreliable or in this case not qualified.?

These last few months have been very difficult.

[Dineesha Suri]

Dear Parents

Our son will be attending Kindergarten this September and we are looking for a school for him. We live in Langley Willoughby area. 2 schools closest to us are R.C.Garnett and Langley Meadows.

If anyone has any experience with these schools regarding how their SEAs are, how flexible they are in accommodating needs of our kids, how open they are to include behaviour consultant's input or anything else that's important for us to know, we would be glad to hear.

Any advice you could give us on how best to deal with the Langley School Board is greatly appreciated.

Please email me at rivineth@gmail.com

Dinesha

[Camila Monzon]

Fellow Parents:

My child is at home right now. I pulled him out from the public school and I am trying to set up Home Program for her. Kindly share your experiences bet. or give me feed backs reg. these companies.

HERITAGE
SELF-DESIGN
KLEOS

How long the application to process since I am worried my child is at home and might be out of school for a longer time.

Any feed backs and advice would be appreciated.
Please e-mail me @smartaba@shaw.ca

Thanks.

[Joanna Ng]

Hi. This is a friendly reminder that a group of Burnaby parents will be meeting up soon. We are a non-membership group of parents who believe in equal rights of every parent to advocate for effective ABA-supports in school for our children.

Below is our meeting details:

First Meeting:
Date: Thursday Jan 6th, 2011
Time: 6:30-8:45pm
Location:
Burnaby Public Library
McGill Branch
4595 Albert Street
Burnaby BC V5C 2G6
[meeting/conference room]

Second Meeting:
Date: Thursday Jan 13th, 2011
Time: 6:30-9:00pm
Location: Bob-Prittie Library [Metrotown]
6100 Willingdon Avenue
Burnaby BC V5H 4N5
[Meeting/Conference Room]

Please be informed that this is a meeting meant only for those residing in Burnaby. Thank you.

hana.takuya@yahoo.com

[Joanna Ng]

Thanks for sharing your views, Dione.

Happy New Year

[Nancy Walton]

I would like to thank my ABA friends who understand who I am and what my family is all about. These friends give me support and advice that I could not get from my own relatives or non-ABA friends.

I would like to encourage more experienced parents to please attend the ABA Support Network small groups meetings and help our newer parents get started.

The more connected our community is, the more we can achieve for our children.

Thanks,
And have a happy New Year, 2011.

[Dione Costanzo]

Hi Joanna,

Thanks for your post on December 22 about the ABA Support Network "Neighborhood Network" groups that have recently started.

The groups were formed to connect families locally that are running home based ABA programs. The groups provide an opportunity for more experienced parents to share their experiences with new parents. Parents may have experiences that they can share with respect to advocating, or, a parent in the group may offer to advocate for another parent, but it is not the mandate of the small groups.

Cheers,
Dione

[Joanna Ng]

Dear FEAT readers,

Happy New Year to all. Hope that every child on the spectrum will continue to improve with effective ABA programs at home as well as appropriate support in school.

A group of parents residing in Burnaby will be meeting up in January. We are a non-membership group of parents who believe in equal rights of every parent to advocate for effective ABA-supports in school for our children.

Below is our meeting details:

First Meeting:
Date: Thursday Jan 6th, 2011
Time: 6:30-8:45pm
Location:
Burnaby Public Library
McGill Branch
4595 Albert Street
Burnaby BC V5C 2G6
[meeting/conference room]

Second Meeting:
Date: Thursday Jan 13th, 2011
Time: 6:30-9:00pm
Location: Bob-Prittie Library [Metrotown]
6100 Willingdon Avenue
Burnaby BC V5H 4N5
[Meeting/Conference Room]

Hope to see you there.

hana.takuya@yahoo.com

[Joanna Ng]

Like many parents, I have a friend who is having problems with school not accomodating to the needs of our children in the spectrum. The parent was asking about the groups/networks posted on ABA Support Network webpage.
http://abasupportnetwork.com/neighborhoodnetworks.php
The parent would like to know if she could get advocacy support from theses groups especially the organizer of the area mentioned. She does not speak English therefore I am translating the quote below for her. But I need to clarify to her if these groups do advocate. Please clarify on Feat as probably many more people would need to know as well.

Quote from ABA Support Network webpage:
[Small groups of ABA parents wanting to connect and network have been established in 9 areas in BC. These groups are being set up by parents who responded to an online survey that was distributed via email and available on our website from June-October of this year. Organizers are volunteers who have offered to set dates and locations for meetings, publicly post meeting dates, and maintain a mailing list of interested parents in their area.

If you are interested in attending a meeting in your area, please contact the organizer of a group to find out more information.

The purpose of these groups is to support each other according to the ABA Support Network mandate. Please read ¡°Why the ABA Support Network Exists¡± on our homepage.]

Thank you.

[Author]

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