[FEAT BC Admin]

This area is for discussions in general topics.

Topic

[Cathy Fitzhugh]

Hi Everyone,

Unfortunately, my husband and I are in the beginning stages of a separation.

I was hoping there might me other couples or parents who have gone through this and might have some information or ideas.

We are planning to have joint custody of our daughter, and what I'm really concerned about is how to successfully run an aba program in TWO households?

You can e-mail me at: scissorhappy@shaw.ca

Thanks very much-

Cathy*

[Deleted User]

I do think you raise a good point Dave, some private schools are very expensive, but some are not. The amazing prep school variety is pricey, but there are other schools out there that are more affordable (never cheap, but $1800 tuition vs. 10,000 a year tution is a big difference). And with the funding inequality righted, some religious private schools may be able to allow for tuition remission. I know that some schools allow some children in on "scholarship" or other such decreased tuition situations. This has not often been the case in the past though for chidren with autism because they are a financial burden for private schools.

I also agree that there will likely be some costs that will not be covered by this funding, just as not all of the costs involved in the public system are truly covered by the money allotted to a child with autism (i.e. the school's slp salary does not come from the child's funding).

But this announcement does right a great inequality for our children. Now as parents we have the option to choose an education that will focus on their child's needs. Some of the power that the public system has held over our children has been weakened. Instead of parents being forced to have to deal with the system because they have no options, now there are some options, although not perfect, and sometimes difficult to achieve, nonetheless an option.

We chose private school for our child after meeting with our school district and recognizing that our child's tremendous gains could potentially be lost if we tried out their way. Our child's therapy began in a time when there was no funding and most of his years under 6 had been paid for by our pockets and that of our familes. We weighed the costs and decided that the tuition and the extra costs were cheaper than what we had paid for home therapy and jumped in hoping for the best.

The result? Our behavior consultant is welcomed and highly respected by our teachers and other staff at the school. Additional overlaps by qualified personnel to take data and provide supplementary info has been no problem. We chose,hired and trained our school support staff (Aides). The school pays them, we have in the past had to pay part of the costs. Our IEP's are written by our behavioral consultant. Our IEP meetings are friendly, cooperative with the school asking our consultant and our staff to teach and inform them. All of our IEP goals are accepted and unlike many families in the public system there is no arguing or "modifying" of IEP goals to weaken or change them. (I know that some families have had positive pubic system experiences, but I also know that many of my clients and many of the families I know have faced IEP meetings that are filled with angry words, arguing and disrespectful treatment of qualified experts).

Judging from the large number of families who chose to go private at the end of last school year, some parents will leave the public system now, others will leave when the school becomes unbearable and some will stay. But those parents who do leave will communicate a message to the system. The system may not listen at first but as they begin to lose the money, our children's money, which is not always utilized as it should be, they will HOPEFULLY listen.

Perhaps in an effort to keep this funding (and believe me, they do want it, they just want the money and for the parents to be quiet and obedient) they will provide families with more choice and pay attention to our demands for qualified staff.

I would say that this funding may put a few jobs at risk… and rightly so.

[Deleted User]

I do think you raise a good point Dave, some private schools are very expensive, but some are not. The amazing prep school variety is pricey, but there are other schools out there that are more affordable (never cheap, but $1800 tuition vs. 10,000 a year tution is a big difference). And with the funding inequality righted, some religious private schools may be able to allow for tuition remission. I know that some schools allow some children in on "scholarship" or other such decreased tuition situations. This has not often been the case in the past though for chidren with autism because they are a financial burden for private schools.

I also agree that there will likely be some costs that will not be covered by this funding, just as not all of the costs involved in the public system are truly covered by the money allotted to a child with autism (i.e. the school's slp salary does not come from the child's funding).

But this announcement does right a great inequality for our children. Now as parents we have the option to choose an education that will focus on their child's needs. Some of the power that the public system has held over our children has been weakened. Instead of parents being forced to have to deal with the system because they have no options, now there are some options, although not perfect, and sometimes difficult to achieve, nonetheless an option.

We chose private school for our child after meeting with our school district and recognizing that our child's tremendous gains could potentially be lost if we tried out their way. Our child's therapy began in a time when there was no funding and most of his years under 6 had been paid for by our pockets and that of our familes. We weighed the costs and decided that the tuition and the extra costs were cheaper than what we had paid for home therapy and jumped in hoping for the best.

The result? Our behavior consultant is welcomed and highly respected by our teachers and other staff at the school. Additional overlaps by qualified personnel to take data and provide supplementary info has been no problem. We chose,hired and trained our school support staff (Aides). The school pays them, we have in the past had to pay part of the costs. Our IEP's are written by our behavioral consultant. Our IEP meetings are friendly, cooperative with the school asking our consultant and our staff to teach and inform them. All of our IEP goals are accepted and unlike many families in the public system there is no arguing or "modifying" of IEP goals to weaken or change them. (I know that some families have had positive pubic system experiences, but I also know that many of my clients and many of the families I know have faced IEP meetings that are filled with angry words, arguing and disrespectful treatment of qualified experts).

Judging from the large number of families who chose to go private at the end of last school year, some parents will leave the public system now, others will leave when the school becomes unbearable and some will stay. But those parents who do leave will communicate a message to the system. The system may not listen at first but as they begin to lose the money, our children's money, which is not always utilized as it should be, they will HOPEFULLY listen.

Perhaps in an effort to keep this funding (and believe me, they do want it, they just want the money and for the parents to be quiet and obedient) they will provide families with more choice and pay attention to our demands for qualified staff.

I would say that this funding may put a few jobs at risk… and rightly so.

[Dave Collyer]

Althought there are some positive aspects to the announcment to fund the private inst. there are also issues..

The immmediate issue that first struck me was centered on equity of access. Simply put many people will not be able to take advantage of this situation as private schools frequently require large tuition payments and other fees. Beyond that, support from the related fields (such SLP, OT, Psych, and PT) are not fully funded. You might find that you would need to pay out of pocket for these additional supports and assessments. A psych ed assessment might run into the thousands of dollar range. SLPs routinely charge more then I can afford. So this seems to be a good thing IF you can afford it.

I am not certain the good Minister enacted these changes due to some sort of desire to provide choice for our children. Although altruism was likely part of the equation for the Minister I think there is a budgetary management issue at the heart of the decision. By provideing the same grant levels to the private school "system" it is possible that some of our children will be withdrawn from the public system. As costs involved in provideing an educational program for our children can at times exceed the budgeted grant the public system shifts the cost to the private sector (when you factor in related serivces the grant rally does not fully cover the cost). This equates to cost savings for the local district and shifts the cost to the local private school and the parent.

Again, if you can afford it… this is a good option. It does little to address QUALITY of service in the public system. It IS partially motivated by budgetary management needs. It does NOT address equity of access issues.

[Michelle Weis]

Hi Justin

Can you email me again. I lost your address. THanks..lots to tell ya!!

Michelle

[FEAT BC Admin]

I'm posting on behalf of a FEAT Chat Board Member who must remain anonymous.

Board Admin

Hello feat chat members,

Here is the story behind the governments recent decision to provide full special needs funding for private schools. I remain anonymous to protect my child.

Last spring, I was very worried about the upcoming year and years to come, in terms of getting an ABA trained aide and getting support to do ABA in the classroom. I was very seriously considering private schools, in hopes of getting one of our team therapists in the school. However, I could not afford to cover the remaining cost of the aide. So, I went to MLA, Gordon Hogg, and told him we needed options for our children, instead of being forced to accept what the public school system has to offer. I suggested that private schools be fully funded for aides. I was armed with a document from the Fraser Institute ("Let the Funding Follow the Children", April 2004) that explained exactly why special education money should follow special children. Simply put, the private schools are better at meeting the needs of our kids. This is because they are more flexible, in our case, to hire qualified ABA aides.

Gordon Hogg took my recommendation, and perhaps there were other parents who saw their MLA's, and discussed this with his government. We have him ( and perhaps others) to thank for this change. While all other special education children benefit from this, it was designed to give us autism people a choice for our children. Remember, even if you are not IN a private school, the option to move to one is all that much more attainable.

THIS LEGISLATION IS A GOOD THING!!!! Please e-mail Gordon Hogg (gordon.hogg@leg.bc.ca) , Premier Gordon Campbell (gordon.campbell@leg.bc.ca) and your own MLA (regardless of party…we simply need to positively reinforce this behavior) and thank them for this move. I will find out if which other MLA's were involved and we can thank them too. Perhaps this will encourage them to keep going….who knows what else they can do for us. Remember, it was the Liberals who brought in Individualized Funding, where there was no funding before. And now we are one step closer to having choices for ABA in the schools.

Also, another lesson learned in this: It is not a waste of time to visit your MLA and tell them your problems. It might not be just because I went to mine, it might be because several people went to their MLA's. They can't make changes for us, if we don't let them know there is a problem.

Signed, an ABA parent

[Alexei Trebounskikh]

Hello!
Thanks to everyone who responded to our posting on Sept 08. Your suggestions were of great help!
I am wondering if anyone can recommend a good SLP not too far from Burnaby to complete assessment and meet requirements for funding?
I will be very grateful for any information. Please e-mail Alexandra at rhinocerus@praisemail.com or call 604-527-8045.
Have a great day!
Alexandra

[Sabrina Freeman]

Dear FEAT-BC Chat Board members:

Thanks to the great work of a FEAT dad, Mr. Dave Chan, we now have a fantastic, new autism wristband for our cause. The wristband says, "Medicare for Autism Now!" and is available from FEAT-BC. Here is a photograph of the item:

https://featbc.org/Medicare_for_Autism_Now.jpg

If you believe that children with autism deserve to be in Medicare for their core health need, then I encourage you to purchase a wristband. If you want everyone you meet to know that you support the cause of making publicly funded autism treatment for our children a reality, then I encourage you to purchase a wristband. If you want a way to involve others and have them say, "How can I help?" and YOU also want to help FEAT-BC's important lobbying work in Ottawa — intended to change laws and also create new ones to end the horrible injustice — then I encourage you to purchase a wristband.

Now that the Supreme Court of Canada has forsaken our children by overturning two key B.C. rulings in favour of publicly funded autism treatment, the only way to make this goal a reality is to lobby federally so that our children get "Medicare for Autism Now!"

As I mentioned, the proceeds from the bands will help support our lobbying effort. Canada is geographically a huge country; unfortunately, that means that our current lobbying project, with its hundreds of packages to ALL Members of Parliament and Senators in Ottawa, will be costly. Although letters mailed in number10 envelopes are postage free, everything else we send them is not. Therefore, in order to keep pressing our message with the federal government, we need to sell lots of "Medicare for Autism Now!" wristbands. This will help cover the cost of lobbying the federal decision makers and lawmakers, with the goal of having them take autism treatment seriously and fix the glaring health care neglect of our children.

Also, it's important to recall that the numerous benefits of the FEAT-BC discussion board to our community are brought to everyone free of charge (and will continue to be free). Yet the many New Parent information packets and videos we send out weekly free of charge to families with newly diagnosed children cost us $10/each to produce and ship. Therefore, this fundraiser will also let you help many new parents make informed decisions about how to help their children, as well as enable you to publicly "own" the issue of the urgent need for autism to be in the healthcare system.

The cost of the wristband is $5 plus $2 shipping and handling. Regardless of how many wristbands you choose to buy — whether one or one hundred — the shipping charge will still be only $2 per order. If everyone in this discussion group were to purchase only one wristband, we'd be well on our way to paying the postage for the current FEAT project to lobby ALL of the lawmakers in Ottawa. If everyone bought two wristbands, well, we'd be that much farther ahead in funding the effort to win powerful support in Ottawa to make the important changes necessary.

If you'd like order the "Medicare for Autism Now!" wristbands, an order form can be downloaded from FEAT-BC at this address:

https://featbc.org/downloads/wristband_order.pdf

Simply print out the order form and fax it back (or mail it) to FEAT-BC. You can also order by phone.

Just so everyone knows, I'm wearing two!

Sabrina

[Nancy Walton]

Due to illness, the September 15th, South Fraser ASBC meeting is cancelled. Our next meeting will be October 20, where Margo Squire from the Early Autism Project will do a presentation on Peer Play. Details will be posted in October.

Sorry for any inconvenience.

Nancy Walton

[Alexei Trebounskikh]

Hello, everyone!
Our younger son was assessed by private registered psychologist, who is confident that he is at least PDD-NOS. His older brother has been in the program for 3 years very successfully.
What are current requirements for providing complete diagnosis and securing funding?
Could you please recommend a good pediatrician with a short waiting list?
Is it an absolute requirement right now to go through
Sunny Hill?
Things seem to change all the time, so I would really appreciate any information.
Please contact Alexandra at rhinocerus@praisemail.com or at 604-527-8045.

[Author]

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