[FEAT BC Admin]

This area is for discussions in general topics.

Topic

[Barbara Rodrigues]

Selena:

You didn't say where you are? Are you in Canada, B.C. or the States?

Is your daughter in an ABA program?

Our kids can be extremely hyper (well some of them anyway). I said my son is a like a bee and buzz…he's moving and fast. Luckily he's not a runner but I know people whose kids are.

Email my privately if you want to talk off list. I can maybe give you some pointers on where to find help, etc.

Barbara email joe_rodrigues@telus.net

Hang in there, Selena.

[Stephen Paperman]

Posting this for a friend, but I agree with the sentiments…

——-

The Autism Society of BC is having their annual general meeting this Saturday, September 18th, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon, at the Charles Rummel Community Centre at 3630 Lozells Avenue in Burnaby.

The current board of directors has done a lot of hard work in the last few years on behalf of all people with autism in the province, and towards making sure ASBC and FEAT work together for all our kids' sakes, young and old. If you are not yet an ASBC member, please become one. If you are already a member, please join us for the AGM this Saturday and show your much-needed support for the board and staff.

If you need a map to locate the Charles Rummel Community Center, please visit

http://www.autismbc.ca/2004%20AGM.html

Thanks very much, and we look forward to seeing you all on Saturday.

[Stephen Paperman]

To Simpson…as me sainted mother used to say, "Right church, wrong pew." We do science-based treatment here. Until Hudolpho's Instant Autism Oil has some data backing, I think you want to take that kind of discussion offline. I understand you really think it has helped, and there is always the chance it has, but until we have the science I think I'll stick to the Lovaas-ABA and forego the "alternative medicine."

Just my two cents, as David Chan would say…

[Debbie]

hi there,a message to selena,,,,my name is debbie and my autistic son d.j. who will be 4 in 2 weeks,who i also beileve is adhd but at this age they will not diagnose that,kids are kids they say, was the same way, the doors are d.j. proof, everything in our house is dj proof, i call him our million dollar kid he has broken one of everything,or gotten into everything,and we have a 22 month old also, i have tried a naturopath oil that is working like a charm, he is able now to sit at 3 circles at preschool,participate with the other children, and play for a much longer sitting, pay attention long enough to be able to focus on an activity for more than 20 seconds,,,,, anyway i could go on forever about my luck,thanx to this oil,i also beileve it has helped his speech, what may work for some may not work for others, my theory is that i will try anything once, if it doesnt work i wont do it again,and if it does well i then did the right thing, for dj, please call me if you would like to give it a try,,,,,,,
all the best,talk to you soon,
debbie 604-514-9555

[David Chan]

just a quick note to Tony,
Don't forget to approach guys too. Since there are four times as
many boys as girls. Boys need model behaviours from guys.

We've been fortunate to have a guy on our team for the last few
years. It's a really good thing

Girl therapists are cool don't get me wrong, but as the boys get
older, the gender thing does come into play

just my 2 cents

Mr. P's Dad
Dave

[Selena Symes]

I have a 5 year old child who had autism. She has been a nightmare since she started to walk at the age of 8 months. she had climbed a 4 foot chain link fence at 18 months . figured out who to unlock all the doors in the house at 2 years old. Does any one have any idea when she is going to calm down? she is extremely hiperactive and always want to be running. She can never be trusted to play outside becuase she would run away in a second if ginven the chance. I have had to call 911 four times since July cause she has escaped through our house. She has jumped out our living room window and ran away while i took a secon d to use the washroom. For kids that have learning problems she is amazingly smart at problem solving to try and "get away" as she says.
My husband is military and i have 2 other kids and no support here. Some days i feel like im going to lose my mind cause no one seems to understand the life that i live. Just need to find someone out there who can listen to me for a change and understand what i live through.

[Deleted User]

Thanks Justin. I followed your lead and sent the following reply to Translink.

To whom it may concern:

As a mother of an autistic child, I am outraged that one of your drivers made the most heartless (unconcerned with the plight of autism) decision to leave a mother with her special needs child on the side of the road. Do you suppose that someone could just change the fact that they had cancer and the effects that it would have on their body? How do you expect a child with a neurological brain disorder to just "get it together" and control their behaviour? These children are receiving as much intervention as the government will allow at this time which is next to none! I suggest that this rude and intolerant bus driver be relieved of his duties of dealing with the public if he himself does not seem to possess the ability to handle a child who needs our understanding. There are many of us with autistic children out there, so perhaps you may want to educate your drivers as to how to handle special needs persons appropriately.

Sincerely,
Natasha Schmidt

[Justin Himmelright]

An article that recently appeared in the Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows News

Mother and autistic child ejected from bus

TransLink has apologized for kicking a woman and her four-year-old autistic son off a bus in Aldergrove after he became disruptive.
A bus driver left Cristina Olson and Ethan standing at the corner of Fraser Highway and 264 Street on Aug. 27 after the boy became excited and disrupted the loaded bus.
"Cristina is beside herself, she feels ashamed," angry grandmother Debbie Olson said after the incident. "People were clapping when she got off."
Ethan has a neurological brain disorder that was diagnosed as autism when he was two-and-a-half years old. He is unable to communicate, other than with involuntary noises, and this communication disorder also shows itself in behaviour problems.
Ethan is receiving assistance from Pivot Point and Langley Child Development Centre, with speech pathologists and other help, and is showing some improvement. Autism Spectrum Disorder has no known causes or cures but there are treatments.
"Ethan thinks it's painful to talk, at best he can get one word out," Debbie said. "But it's probably going to be a lifelong disability. Autism affects one in 125 children in B.C. It's an epidemic."
Cristina and Ethan had boarded the bus shortly after 1 p.m. that day, headed into Langley City. However, when Ethan saw a McDonald's sign, he unbuckled himself from his stroller and began a tirade Cristina recognized was his reaction to the fast food sign.
"Ethan memorizes signs, like 'Transformers' on TV, and McDonald's is one sign that he knows," said Debbie.
The bus driver told Cristina that if she couldn't keep Ethan quiet he would turn them out at the next stop. And to compound the problem, that bus stop was directly in front of the McDonald's.
"The tantrum would probably have been over in no time – Cristina has gone to classes to learn how to calm him down and she told the driver that Ethan is autistic.
"(The bus driver) should have had a little compassion – he didn't even refund her. I don't think they do that even when teenagers are screaming on the bus," Debbie said. "How could he leave a woman on a busy corner, and at that point she couldn't even touch Ethan, he was in such a state? They had to hope they could make it across the street to see me at work (in Save-on Foods), and I helped calm him down and took them home."
Debbie complained to TransLink and was told a supervisor would get back to her.
Since then, TransLink has apologized to the family. A spokesperson asaid the agency will be "speaking to" the driver concerned, as "there is no way any child should be turned out of a bus."
Debbit also expressed her outrage to the Autism Society.
The society has issued a standard business card for caregivers to hand out to persons in the public who complain or express concern about the behaviour. It states, "Thank you for your concern. The individual who has caught your attention has autism. Autism is a communication disorder which can cause behaviour problems. Interference by a stranger can create confusion and worsen the situation. The individual cannot help this behaviour and I am dealing with this person in the most appropriate way. I am sorry I cannot answer your questions at this time. If I ask you to would you please call (phone number)."

By Kurt Langmann
MetroValley News

If you feel like contacting Translink with your opinion on this incident, the contact information is below.

custrel@translink.bc.ca

Translink Customer Relations representatives are available to speak with you from 8:00am to 4:00pm, Monday to Friday at 604-953-3040. You may also reach us by e-mail or by fax at 604-953-3663.

[Andrew Kavchak]

Hello Everybody,
Please see the article at page A4 of today's National Post about autism.
Thanks
Andrew Kavchak (Ottawa)

System frustrates father of autistic boy
National Post
Sep 13, 2004
Page: A4
Section: Canada
Edition: All but Toronto & Ottawa
Dateline: OTTAWA
Byline: John Ivison
OTTAWA – The federal and provincial politicians gathering in Ottawa this week — the collective noun for which should perhaps be "a disputation of…" — would be well served by taking some air to talk to one of the protesters staking out their televised reality show.
Andrew Kavchak, an Ottawa bureaucrat by profession, is also the father of an autistic three-year-old, Steven, and perhaps embodies what this health care summit should really be about — efficiencies, structural reform and creative thinking.
On Friday, I attended two consecutive "technical briefings" –one by the provinces; the other by the feds — which were primarily concerned with escalator clauses, fiscal imbalances and equalization payments. The subtext of the provincial briefing, was, if Ottawa will just meet the "Romanow gap" of 25% of total health care funding, we will have created a new hale and hearty Jerusalem.
However, a chat with Kavchak — who was making his daily vigil on Parliament Hill while brandishing a sign that reads Kids with Autism need Health care not Waiting Lists — quickly disabuses one of that notion. His son is one of 1,100 children in Ontario on a waiting list for government-funded therapy. In the meantime, Kavchak is having to fund the $50,000 annual treatment for 40 hours a week of applied behaviour analysis therapy from his own pocket — a financial burden he says is bankrupting him.
Around 500 children in the province are lucky enough to be receiving financial assistance from the province, at an average cost of $78,000 per child for 20 hours of therapy. Kavchak's frustration is that he says parents like him can provide twice the number of hours of treatment for around two-thirds of the cost — if only the province would hand over a cheque and let him seek out the therapy.
"If you give the money to the parents, that will go a long way to getting the job done," he said. "If the government can't provide the medically necessary treatment promptly upon a child's diagnosis, they should at least provide us with the funds to seek the treatment in the private sector.
"Until such time as the public sector can eliminate the waiting lists and ensure that autistic children get the treatment they need without undue delay, the government should allow and encourage the private sector to flourish."
Satan will, of course, be skating to work before that happens. An Ontario government spokesman gamely tried to defend the indefensible by saying the private therapy market is highly variable in terms of quality and that even simply handing over cheques to parents would require some level of bureaucracy to administer. The province is, he said, spending more money on autism and is in the process of hiring new therapists and psychologists.
Unfortunately, none of this is likely to be of much use to Steven Kavchak, who is 3 1/2 and will likely be brushing up against his sixth birthday by the time the system comes to his aid. At this point, despite another undelivered Dalton McGuinty election pledge to change the rules, he will automatically be cut off from the pre-school autism program (for reasons too Byzantine to go into, autism is handled by the Children and Youth Services, not the Department of Health).
The case study offers up the human face of this health care summit and the importance of getting it right. Perhaps the premiers should be less concerned about unfeasible pharmacare plans and more attentive to the question of how many other Steven Kavchaks are there in their jurisdictions being failed by a system wearing philosophical blinkers?
Undoubtedly there is a major fiscal component to the health care debate — senior federal officials admitted on Friday that there is a need to inject the bulk of its new cash into base (or continuing) funding, rather than into one-off payments earmarked for specific purposes.
But there is scant discussion about making sure that any new funds poured into the system are not wasted. Vested interests, which appreciate that every dollar saved by using more cost-effective procedures is probably a dollar of their income, have successfully transduced provincial and federal governments into a Wahibbist-like attachment to state-run health care.
In such an atmosphere, who really believes that medicare will be fixed for a generation by week's end?
jivison@nationalpost.com

[Nancy Walton]

My son has a Leap phonics board (where you push the "a" and is say the letter, etc) which has been a great learning tool and something to keep him busy when travelling.

I am now wondering about the Leap Pad and Writing Center, where you use the pen to not only point to words and they are read, but to also write out letters. I am wondering if anyone has used this and does it work well? They are $79 for the book-board and $21 for each book that goes in the board. Don't want to spend the money on more useless games.

Give me an e-mail or call 604-538-8021

Nancy Walton
wiklo@shaw.ca

[Author]

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