[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

[Mike & Jean]

Just taking a few moments away from our One in 68 campaign to let you all know that the date for our, "You can Hewko, too" advocacy workshop has been changed to Saturday, November 21st. It will be at the Coal Harbour Community Centre in Vancouver from 1:00 pm to 4:30 pm. Circle the date and stay tuned for more details after the election. Almost 3 months into the new school year is more than enough time for parents to experience a dose of "school reality" and be perfectly primed to learn necessary advocacy skills to ensure their child is getting what they need and is their right in school. Advocacy is not complex or mysterious, it requires clarity, focus, persistance and certain skills which you will learn in this highly interactive workshop….so circle November 21st. and stay tuned for details. Spaces will be limited. Check medicareforautismnow.org for details after October 19th…okay…now back to campaigning

[Cathy Fitzhugh]

{Hi FEATers}

How are you all? Hoping you could help-out and give me some transitioning to High School in Vancouver advice. Our daughter is starting at Eric Hamber in the Lifeskills program next week and we haven't gotten ANY information about ANYTHING yet.

I know that the man who has run the program for the past 20 years, Ken Spence, has left the position and I have no idea who is now in charge of it. (I also wasn't thrilled with the attitude of the staff there when we visited last year.) I was told that our daughter could not take French or Drama, and… that there is NO contact, at all with the mainstream population. I find all of these extremely unsettling.

So… I guess I'm wondering if anyone else has dealt with these issues, if you had any success in moving things along, and, in the worst case, if the whole thing stinks, I'm hoping to find out what our other options might be. I know this is a lot of varied issues, but thought it wise to dump it all here in case there were folks who could help.

Please email me at: cathy.fitzhugh@gmail.com

Thanks, so much, in advance.

{Cathy}

[Dione Costanzo]

Registration is open for
ABA in Schools Workshop 2015

When: Saturday September 26th, 2015
Where: Douglas College, NewWestminster Campus, Room 1640
Time: 8:30am-4:pm (2-4pm for parents only)
Cost: $20
Tickets: https://abainschools.eventbrite.ca

Join the Autism Support Network for a day of education, information and networking. The purpose of this workshop is to provide attendees with a solid understanding of how ABA can be and should be included in the classroom.

The morning presentations will be open to families and school professionals. These presentations will look at student success and the logistics and potential of quality ABA in the classroom and successful home/school collaboration.

The afternoon parent advocacy panel will be open to parents only.

More details can be found here: http://autismsupportbc.ca/special-events-2/aba-in-schools-workshop-2015/

[Mike & Jean]

Dr. Sherri Brown is a director of the Medicare for Autism Now! Society and campaign chairman for it’s “One in 68” political campaign. Her accompanying letter, published today in ASAT’s (Association for Science in Autism Treatment) summer newsletter powerfully explains why Canada needs ABA treatment to be covered under Medicare. Watch Medicare for Autism Now’s facebook page and website: http://www.medicareforautismnow.org for campaign information.

A Canadian Love Letter to American Autism Votes Supporters and (Specified) State Legislators: http://www.asatonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/SIAT-Spring-2015.pdf
By Sherri Brown, PhD

Dear Neighbours to the South,

First, an admission. We often walk around up here, north of the 49th parallel, with puffed out chests when comparing our universal and publicly funded health care system to your system. We may even sneer a little, “Can you imagine having to live in the US. where a private health insurance company dictates decisions about your health? Your child’s health?” When I began my postdoctoral fellowship in 2012 in San Francisco I certainly arrived at the airport full of this brand of arrogance. This was before my child’s autism diagnosis. This was before I realized how having a child with a disability could change everything you thought you once knew. Indeed, when we became increasingly concerned about our son’s development my first instinct was to race back home to the supposedly safe haven of Canadian healthcare. My arrogance and ignorance would end up costing us all dearly. Because much to my surprise health insurance in Canada does not cover ABA treatment for children with autism. Despite decades of research that have demonstrated ABA as a highly effective treatment intervention in reducing or eliminating symptoms of autism and yielding improvements in behaviour, communication, and social skills, Canadian governments do not see it as “medically necessary”. Some provinces provide partial coverage, but it varies widely and treatment waitlists can be as long as four years. Now, I know you have serious challenges with HMOs and private health insurance- I do not wish to dispute or minimalize this. However, from one neighbour to another, I want you to take a moment to congratulate yourselves for your hard won successes of having 41 of 50 states who have enacted insurance reform laws to mandate coverage for applied behavior analysis (ABA) treatment for children with autism spectrum disorders. By mandating coverage for ABA, state legislators have recognized and enshrined your children’s rights to medically necessary treatment. These state legislators, however, have largely come to this conclusion through sustained advocacy of parents like yourselves, and in particular through the efforts of Autism Votes. With 1 in 68 children in the US now diagnosed (we suspect autism prevalence is similar in Canada, but we have NO national autism surveillance program so we’re basically guessing), Autism Votes harnesses the power in numbers of voters in states (and Federally) to lobby and advocate for insurance reform, new legislation (the ABLE Act, for example) and other state and federal initiatives benefitting families and individuals with autism. You should be very proud of this, of Autism Votes, and of your state legislators who took seriously the very real threat of a large cohort of voters who presented them with a reform agenda. They listened this time. You have 8 states remaining (as of May 6, Hawaii is poised to become the 42nd state to pass insurance reform), but even when these states sign on, and I hope they will, the one thing I have learned in the short two years since my son’s diagnosis is that advocacy is chronic. None of us live in the kind of society yet that treats our children with the respect, support, and justice to which they are all entitled. A group of parents in Canada took their complaint regarding the absence of insurance coverage for ABA to the Supreme Court of Canada in 2004, and the Court ruled that while ABA was a "medically necessary" treatment, the Court was not in a position to compel the Government to pay for it. So, Canadian parents are now left to learn from and emulate your successful advocacy efforts; we must compel legislators to change the law (the Canada Health Act) to include ABA treatment for individuals with autism. I am a proud Canadian, but this pride will never override my love and concern for my disabled child. I wish we had stayed in California. I wish I didn’t have to fight this fight. I wish I could simply parent my child with the knowledge that his disability is well supported with effective treatment interventions. Raising a disabled child is difficult enough without having to assume another full-time job of chronic advocacy. But you, dear neighbours to the south, have shown me change is possible, and for that I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you for renewing and sustaining my hopes for a better future for our children.

Love,
One Canadian Autism Mom

Dr. Brown is a lecturer at Simon Fraser University with research interests and experience in the politics of access to health care and treatment. She is the mom to five year old Quinn, a nonverbal 5 year old boy with autism spectrum disorder

[Bev Sharpe]

The Association for Science in Autism Treatment is committed to improving the education and treatment for people with Autism.

Sign up now for your free membership which means you will automatically receive their quarterly newsletter. Their latest newletter is a must-read. It is available at this link:

http://www.asatonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Summer2015.pdf

ASAT is a not-for-profit organization of parents and professionals committed to improving the education, treatment, and care of people with autism. Their board of directors and advisory board are comprised of parents of individuals with autism and highly trained professionals and practitioners working in multiple disciplines, such as pediatricians, scientists, academicians, clinicians, educators, speech therapists, and financial experts. ASAT also has dozens of additional volunteers who work tirelessly to support their mission. Collectively, they have hundreds of years of experience and training related to autism treatment. ASAT has the expertise to disseminate sound recommendations, share resources, and make a difference in the lives of individuals with autism and their families.

[Mike & Jean]

Hey Parents! Circle November 14th for Medicare for Autism Now's “You can Hewko, too” Advocacy workshop. Eight weeks into the new school year is more than enough time for parents to experience a dose of school reality and be perfectly primed to learn the necessary skills to ensure their child is getting what they need in school and the community. Advocacy is not a complex or mysterious process. It requires clarity, focus and persistence. It also requires certain skills which you will learn in this highly interactive session. So, circle the date and watch our facebook page and website:http://www.medicareforautismnow.org for location and other details. Stay tuned because spaces will be limited.

[Rebecca Kiesewetter]

Full time ABA SW position available in South Surrey starting September 2015. We are looking for someone interested in filling the position of ABA SW for our son who will be starting Grade 2 in the fall. The position has full time coverage and is in a small school in South Surrey with an excellent supportive team and environment. BCBA support is provided by Michele Shilvock. If you are creative, have strong leadership skills, meet the hiring requirements of the Surrey School District (1000 hours ABA experience) and want to be part of an amazing team with an awesome eager to learn child, please contact us at rebeccakiesewetter@gmail.com.

[Lindsay Parrott]

Posting on Behalf of a Client:

We are looking for someone who is interested in filling a full time ABA-SW position starting in September 2015 in a supportive Cloverdale school. This student is currently in Grade 1 and has full-time coverage. He will be entering Grade 2 in September and will continue to receive full-time coverage. He has been in a home ABA program for almost 5 years, and has an involved and supportive family. BCBA consultant support is provided by Lindsay Parrott, supervised by Liana Maione. Training will begin as soon as possible over the summer in order for both you and the student to get to know one another prior to entering school in the fall. If you have or are nearing 1,000 hours of ABA experience, are collaborative and able to multi-task please contact the family at smsam022@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you.

[Lindsay Parrott]

Introductory and Intermediate ABA Workshops in Nanaimo and Vancouver. Follow the link for more information and to register.

http://www.autismbc.ca/behavioural-interventionist-basics-training-workshops/

[Dione Costanzo]

UPDATE for ABA in Schools – Victoria Presentation
SD36: An Example of Collaboration

Friday, June 5th, 2015, NEW TIME 1:30-4:00pm

[Author]

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