[FEAT BC Admin]

This area is for discussions in general topics.

Topic

[Kandi Kilgour]

Hi Tony

I use Dr. Grant Jefferys of Childs Play Dental in Langley. They are on 200th street just off the freeway at 72nd street. There are 3 dentists and it is an awesome place.

Kandi Kilgour
604-607-0701

[Super Dad]

Dear Parents,

Would you please share you experiences, positive or negative, about the following?

1. Oakridge Pediatric Dental Group
2. Monarch Pediatric Dental Centre

Or can you recommend other dentists who are good with autistic kids?

Please send your response to:
tony.tamer@yahoo.com

Thank you very much!

Tony

[J.Graham]

STAFF WRITER
<letters@uniontrib.com>
November 22, 2006
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20061122/news_1m22rimland.html

Bernard Rimland, a psychologist whose unremitting quest for answers to
autism opened a new era of treatment and hope for victims of the brain
disorder, died of cancer yesterday. He was 78.

Dr. Rimland, executive director and founder of the Autism Research
Institute in Kensington, died at Victoria Special Care in El Cajon, said
Jean Walcher, a spokeswoman for the family.

In challenging the once-prevailing theory that the condition stemmed from
a mother's subconscious rejection of her child, Dr. Rimland found that
autism was a biological disorder. His evidence was outlined in his seminal
book, "Infantile Autism: The Syndrome and Its Implications for a Neural
Theory of Behavior," published in 1964.

"Dr. Rimland will go down in history as the person who ended the dark ages
of autism and spearheaded the fight to bring hope and help to autistic
children," said Dr. Stephen M. Edelson, his successor at the helm of the
Autism Research Institute.

As the father of an autistic son, Mark, born in 1956, Dr. Rimland began to
exhaustively research what at the time was a mystery to parents as well as
the medical profession.

In so doing, he once noted, there is "not a shred of evidence" to support
the hypothesis that indifferent parenting caused the disorder.

In 1967, while employed as a Navy psychologist, Dr. Rimland founded his
nonprofit institute a block from his home to create an international
source of research and information for biomedical treatments. When he
retired from his Navy job in 1985, he devoted the rest of his life to
autism research.

"Now I spend 80 hours a week on autism," he told The San Diego
Union-Tribune in 1998.

"He was the pioneer who changed everything about the way autism is viewed;
parents and professionals owe him everything," said Chantal Sicile-Kira,
an autism author and activist who has a 17-year-old son with the disorder.

"Bernie was like a god to parents like me," Sicile-Kira said. "He's
revered all over the world for moving forward biomedical interventions
through research."

Dr. Rimland created the National Society for Autistic Children, now known
as the Autism Society of America, to bring together parents of children
with autism and to promote a treatment known as Applied Behavior Analysis.
The latter, pioneered by psychologist Ivar Lavaas, has proved successful
as the educational treatment of choice for autistic children.

The national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that as
many as one in 166 Americans 21 or younger is afflicted with autism, which
affects children in different ways.

The variety of symptoms include withdrawal from human contact, sensory
confusion, parrotlike speech, a compulsion for sameness and a repetitive
self-stimulating behavior such as tapping teeth.

Sometimes the symptoms are accompanied by extraordinary talents, as in the
case of the autistic savant portrayed by Dustin Hoffman in the 1988
Academy Award-winning movie "Rain Man," for which Dr. Rimland was a
technical adviser.

In the 1990s, Dr. Rimland expanded his influence by co-founding Defeat
Autism Now!, widely known as DAN!, which brought together dozens of the
world's leading researchers in diverse fields to define research goals and
pursue a state-of-the-art treatment plan.

The effort spawned annual conferences on both coasts, major research
projects, a treatment manual and hundreds of DAN!-trained physicians.

Dr. Rimland also reached parents and professionals as editor of a
newsletter, Autism Research Review International, updating readers on
treatments and research.

He was at the forefront of the controversial concept of vitamin therapy to
address autism, particularly high doses of B6. More than 20 studies show
that B6, typically combined with magnesium, benefits a large percentage of
autistic children, according to the Autism Research Institute.

Equally controversial was his suggestion that child vaccines containing
thimerosal, a preservative that is nearly 50 percent mercury, could
promote autism. His suspicions grew when he discovered that symptoms of
autism bear many similarities to the symptoms of mercury poisoning.

"Bernie wasn't afraid to have people say, 'Gosh, this guy's nuts; it's a
crazy idea,' " Sicile-Kira said. "He felt that if it could be validated by
research it's worth trying so long as it's not going to hurt somebody."

Dr. Rimland, a San Diegan since 1940, was born Nov. 15, 1928, in Cleveland.

In the early 1950s, he earned bachelor's and master's degrees in
experimental psychology at San Diego State College. He received a
doctorate in the discipline in 1954 from Pennsylvania State University.

As a research psychologist in the Navy, he designed tests to measure a
recruit's aptitude for various jobs. In 1955, he became an adjunct
professor in psychology at San Diego State.

When he became a first-time father in 1956, he began to seek solutions and
answers to his son's behavior.

"Mark was a screaming, implacable infant who resisted being cuddled and
struggled against being picked up. He also struggled against being put
down," he later wrote.

After finding no psychological basis for the disorder in his research, he
devoted his free time to studying neuropsychology in an effort to
understand the physiological factors. His quest led to the manuscript for
"Infantile Autism," which received the Award for Distinguished
Contribution to Psychology before it was published as a book.

Once the book was published, he was inundated with letters and calls from
parents.

"I will never stop until I have found the answer or die, whichever comes
first," he told The San Diego Union in 1988. "I will find the answer, and
if living to be 150 is what it takes – I'll do that, too."

In recent months, as he fought cancer that originally was diagnosed in the
prostate, Dr. Rimland was forced to reduce his workload. By the end of
July, he was doing what work he could from his home.

Survivors include his wife, Gloria; sons, Mark Rimland and Paul Rimland,
both of San Diego; daughter, Helen Landalf of Seattle; and two
grandchildren.

Services are scheduled for 2 p.m. today at Greenwood Memorial Park, 4300
Imperial Ave., San Diego.

Donations are suggested to The Autism Research Institute, 4182 Adams Ave.,
San Diego, CA 92116.

Jack Williams: (619) 542-4587; jack.williams@uniontrib.com

[Brent Jordan]

I came across this link to a video produced by a mother of an autistic child in the United States. I was so moved by it that I forwarded the link to our family members and friends asking them to watch it for us in the hopes of providing them some insight into what our lives have become.

http://www.autismspeaks.org/sponsoredevents/autism_every_day.php

I would also recommend going on to read the commentary and news articles related to this video by following the links on the same page.

Sincerely,

[Amber Himmelright]

I am looking for an accountant in the Surrey / Delta area? Can anyone recommend one?

[Diane T]

Just a reminder of the

Mid-Island ASBC Community Group Meeting
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
7-9 p.m.
SOS Building, 245 W. Hirst Avenue, Parksville

This month we welcome Gary Ruffle, Chartered Accountant, who will answer questions about medical expenses and other tax issues relating to autism.

Please email diane_t @ shaw.ca (without the spaces) if you plan to attend so that we may arrange for seating and refreshments.

Hope to see you there.

Diane

[FEAT BC Admin]

FYI, Jean will be appearing on the Bill Good Show, with Michael Smith, on radio station CKNW, 980 on the AM dial, at 11:00am on Monday, November 13th.

They will be discussing the important successes achieved for parents with an autistic child[ren] as a result of the recent BC Supreme Court decision in the Hewko case.

Jean will also be discussing her upcoming trip to Ottawa, together with Roxanne and Jenn, to mark the second anniversary of the Supreme Court of Canada's mis-guided and eye-opening decision in the Auton case.

I hope you will be able to tune-in to the program. If not, you can listen to it later by going to the CKNW audio-vault on the InterNet.

Thank you Jean.

[Diane T]

Mid-Island ASBC Community Group Meeting
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
7-9 p.m.
SOS Building, 245 W. Hirst Avenue, Parksville

We are pleased to welcome Gary Ruffle, Chartered Accountant, as our presenter this month.

Gary will answer questions about medical expenses and other tax issues relating to autism.

Please email diane_t @ shaw.ca (without the spaces) if you plan to attend so that we may arrange for seating and refreshments.

Hope to see you there.

Diane

[Janet Lirenman]

> The Autism Society of B.C.'s North Shore Chapter is excited to present a session on "ABA in the School System".

This is a reminder about our meeting next week. It is a must for anyone with a child in the school system or have a child going into the system in the next year or two (never too early to get educated about the system). We will talk about life with IEP's how to keep them ALIVE and working for YOU! This will be a good discussion, as the aftermath of IEP's is just as/if not more important then the IEP itself.

> ** PLEASE NOTE THE CHANGE OF LOCATION BELOW. *
> Bohdanna Popowycz Kvam, well-known local ABA consultant, will discuss the IEP (Individual Education Plan) and review strategies to maintain your home programme goals in school. Mike Hancock, parent and formerly a school board lawyer, will review parents' and students' rights under the School Act, including the section 11 appeal process.
>
> To accommodate our speakers' availability, this session will be held:
>
> Date: Tuesday, Nov. 7th
> Time: 7 pm – 9 pm
> Location: ** Hillside Baptist Church
> 870 Lynn Valley Road, North Van.
>
> The Church is easily accessible from the Upper Levels Highway. Just past the top of "the cut' take the Lynn Valley exit and head north towards Kirkstone Rd, the church is on the left hand side of the road. You will have to go past the church and then turn around at your first opportunity to access the church and its parking lot.
>
> We would like to see a great turnout for these speakers who are giving up limited time. Kindly R.S.V.P. to Andrea at andreafinch@shaw.
> or to Eva at (604) 218-3296.
>
> Looking forward to seeing you there!
> Andrea, Eva, Debra and Janet
> North Shore group co-facilitators
>
>
>

[Dave Collyer]

Hi Medhi,

Yes… there is a video-documentary out (was on TV many mounths ago) that features 4 (I think) young people with ASD who had really interesting abilities. One of the folks featured had what appears to be perfect pitch and could play just about anything on the piano solo or with others simply based on the first few notes or bars of the song but struggled (to an extent) with the day to day activity of social life. The fellow the link you refer to was also part of this documentary.

The occurance of these sorts of abilities is very rare. From what I have read in the research lit. the "cause" is unknown-elusive (by "cause" I am referring to the contributing factors ie genetics, neuro-physiological, education modaility etc). How to support the development of these abilities remains elusive and is the subject of much speculation within and amongst those on the NeuroDiversity BBS/sites (ie it has been suggested that allowing "implicit" learning to occur without interference of "explicit" instruction will serve to set the stage for the person with ASD to "discover" these sorts of abilities). The "science" and research is very young regarding the issue and is pretty sparse in my opinion. We (my wife and I) are not ready to abandon what is working (ie explicit "intruction" via ABA methodology) for the unproven hopeful and apparently overly optimistic alternatives… but we are watching this body of research with interest simply because it is interesting if only from an academic perspective.

All the best.

Dave.

[Author]

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