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[Deleted User]

Greetings —

The ASBC|North Shore Lecture Series is getting ready to roll! Our first Presentation is on Monday September 27, 7-9pm in the Peter J Peters Room at the West Vancouver Memorial Library, 1950 Marine Dr/22nd in West Vancouver.

The first topic is IEPs and Effective School Advocacy. The Agenda is below and the presenter is the savvy Jean Lewis.

We have had a computer crash over the summer and lost our entire email list, so if you would like to receive a personal reminder each and every month please email Anissa at anissalalani@shaw.ca , subject ASBC Lecture Series. We are also interested in hearing presentation and topic ideas that you would like to see covered.

Take Care, And see you on September 27!

_________________

Come One, Come All – School is NOW in Session!

On Monday September 27, 7-9pm at the West Vancouver Memorial Library we are pleased to present School is NOW in Session: A Presentation on Writing Hardcore IEPs and School Treatment Plans; Effectively Managing the Home/School Relationship; How to Take Data/Track ABC Charts at School; and How to Find the Best School Shadow for Your Child.

Entrance is by donation; coffee and treats supplied. All are welcome and we hope that you can join us for this very educational session.

Sharpen your pencils and bring your notebooks – We will help you slay your giant!

Tamara + Anissa
ASBC North Shore Co-Facilitators
_____________________________________

Monday September 22; 7:00-9:00 pm; Peter J. Peters Room
West Vancouver Memorial Library, 1950 Marine Drive/22nd

School is NOW in Session: A Presentation on Writing Hardcore IEPs and School Treatment Plans; Effectively Managing the Home/School Relationship; How to Take Data/Track ABC Charts at School; and How to Find the Best School Shadow for Your Child.

Intro to topics; 10 min 7:05-7:15
Tamara Leger + Anissa Lalani

1. Writing Hardcore IEPs and School Treatment Plans 20 min 7:15-7:45
1.1 What Should Be In Your Child's IEP
– how does this fit with a home based program and how does it differ
– what goals go to school
– who writes the IEP
1.2 What Does a Great IEP Look Like
– show a great IEP and a lousy IEP, explain why they are great/lousy
– setting goals, measuring results
– mastering items and resetting goals
1. 3 How to Take Data/Track ABC Charts at School
– recess/lunch, circle time, academic vs. social skills
– who is responsible for covering the ground (teacher/SEA)
– who evaluates the data
– behaviours vs. learning

2. How to Find a Great School Shadow 20 min 7:45-8:15

2.1 Setting the SEA Criteria:
– SEA + IEP goals
– what is a good SEA, what is not so good
– should they work on the home team + why
2.2 Finding a Good SEA:
– finding someone in the school system
– bringing someone from your home team in
– general "great qualities" of a SEA

3. Effectively Advocating for your child 20 min 8:15-8:45
– communication + meetings
– working with the school resource teacher
– accountability: who is responsible for covering the IEP ground
– testing + SLP services: private or let the school test/provide service
– field trips

4. Conclusion 15 min 8:45-9:00

[Rahgen Small]

My name is Rahgen Small. I am a qualified Pre School teacher, and a graduate from Capilano College. I don't have experience working with Autistic children. I am very interested and eger to learn and gain qualification working in the ABA program. The present staff of Little Ark Pre School and directorship, where I am presently employeed by, believe that I will do very well in this feild.
I am happy to work with famlies with in the Point Grey area to the North Shore. Please contact me through E-mail and I will be very happy to contact you right away.
Thank you for your time.
Rahgen Small
My e-mail is spacychick6@hotmail.com

[Deleted User]

Feat of BC is pleased to announce upcoming dates for two workshops to be held in Victoria.

FEAT of BC will be sponsoring a one day workshop in Victoria on the basics of Lovaas style Applied Behavioral Analysis. This workshop will include gneral information on autism and behavioral theory but will focus on the practical aspets of delivering effective behavioral autism treatment.

This 8 hour workhsop will take place at UVIC on NOVEMBER 6 with a cost of $25 per person. The workshop includes both seminar and hands on practice of concepts. This workshop will be limited to a maximum of 50 people so please reerve early.

Who can benefit from this workshop:
present and potential instructors, parents, Teaching Assistants/Educational Assistants

Registration forms have not yet been posted, the FEAT board will be notified when registration forms have been posted.

******
FEAT of BC will also be sponsoring a one day intermediate workshop. This workshop will build up on the information taught in the Basic workshop. Topics covered will include an indepth look at reinforcement, prompt fading strategies, accurate and effective data collection, team management in addition to expanding upon knowledge of the theory behind ABA treatment.

The workshop will include both seminar instruction as well as extensive hands on practice in small groups with feedback from instructors Michelle Karren and Theresa Tournemille.

Attendance at this workshop is limited to 30 people so please reserve early. Previous intermediate workshops have filled very quickly and it is unlikely that spaces will be available at the door.

This 8 hour workshop will be held on November 7 (follows immediately after the basic workshop) at UVIC. The cost is $35 per person.

Prerequisites include attendance at a basic ABA workshop (through FEAT of BC or reputable consulting group practicing in Lovaas style (DTI) ABA) and a minimum of 3 months of experience working as an instructor or in the classroom using ABA methods. We adhere to these prerequisites to ensure that we are able to teach this workshop at an intermediate level. We will not be taking class time to explain basic concepts.

We would prefer that most if not all participants attend our basic workshop or have attended one of our basic workshops in the past as we will be building directly upon this course content.

Registration forms will be posted in approximately one week and the FEAT board will be notified when these forms have been posted.

Thank you and we look forward to seeing you in Victoria

[Rahgen Small]

My name is Rahgen Small. I am a qualified Pre School teacher, and a graduate from Capilano College. I don't have experience working with Autistic children. I am very interested and eger to learn and gain qualification working in the ABA program. The present staff of Little Ark Pre School and directorship, where I am presently employeed by, believe that I will do very well in this feild.
I am happy to work with famlies with in the Point Grey area to the North Shore. Please contact me through E-mail and I will be very happy to contact you right away.
Thank you for your time.
Rahgen Small
My e-mail is spacychick6@hotmail.com

[Andrew Kavchak]

Hi Folks,
Just to let you know, a wonderful article appeared on the editorial page of the Ottawa Citizen today.

It's crucial for autistic children to get help immediately
The Ottawa Citizen
Sep 7, 2004
Page: A12
Section: News
Edition: Final
Byline: David Ljunggren
At first glance, there seems nothing unusual about the three-year-old boy as he bounces up and down on a small trampoline at home, his eyes glued to the television. But there is something terribly wrong with this picture.
Little Steven Kavchak has autism, a serious mental disorder that affects one in 200 children and locks sufferers into their own worlds, unable to communicate, show emotion or cope with everyday life. Although there is no cure, evidence shows that autistic children can be helped greatly by intense behavioural therapy, especially at the age of two to five, when the brain is still growing and can — putting it simply — be rewired to work better. The therapy costs at least $40,000 a year, but Ontario's funds are limited and the list of those in need is long. Steven has been waiting for treatment for nine months.
"This therapy needs to be administered to a child immediately following a diagnosis. Every week, month and year on a waiting list is a tragic loss," said Steven's father Andrew, appalled the health-care system is letting him down when he needs it most. The good news is that Steven has been getting 30 hours a week of therapy from specialists since January. The bad news is that the Kavchaks are paying and money is running out. If the treatment stops, Steven's chances of attending regular school are remote.
This story could be even gloomier, since Ontario at least provides some funds for therapy. Parents seeking support elsewhere have been forced to sue provincial governments, some of which claim the treatment is educational rather than medical and does not qualify for funding. Others say the therapy is ineffective, an approach that Kavchak dismisses as ludicrous.
"Say hello to our guest," he called out as we entered the room. "Hello," replied Steven cheerfully, continuing to bounce as he watched television. "That's good — he wouldn't have been able to say that a few months ago," beamed Kavchak, citing studies that show 50 per cent of autistic children who undergo early therapy can attend school without needing further help.
Effectively treating children with disabilities so they can go to school and survive without being teased or falling behind is critical, says Pam FitzGerald, chair of the Ottawa-Carleton Assembly of School Councils. "Politics is a short-term game. There is little incentive to put into place expensive programs for children at a young age. But if you spend some money now, you save a lot later," she says, noting that children receiving early help are less likely to end up in jail or on long-term welfare. FitzGerald says everyone benefits because the more help affected children receive, the less likely they are to cause disruptions in class.
There are also financial reasons to do more. A study in 2002 said the cost of providing therapy to all autistic children in Ontario would be $2.8 billion over their lifetimes while giving no therapy and then paying their welfare expenses would total $11.2 billion. "What further arguments does one need to realize that eliminating waiting lists is not only the moral thing to do, but also in our economic interests?" said Kavchak.
Help could be at hand. In March, Ontario's Children and Youth Services Minister Marie Bountrogianni unveiled a plan to help autism sufferers. "We recognize the need to provide more services to more children," said her spokesman, Andrew Weir, adding that Ontario would this year double autism funding to around $80 million and planned to cut waiting lists by hiring more therapists.
This is of little immediate consolation to Kavchak, who spends most lunch hours protesting on Parliament Hill, each time updating his placard with the number of days Steven has spent on the waiting list. Often he walks alone, awash in grim thoughts. "The impact of autism on families is an absolute disaster," he said, adding that up to 70 per cent of families where a child has a disability eventually break up. Kavchak, who worries that he and his wife are not paying enough attention to Steven's five-year-old brother, plans to demonstrate next week outside the Ottawa building where Prime Minister Paul Martin and the provincial premiers will hold their health-care summit.
"I used to be a proud Canadian. I used to believe politicians when they said health care was the No. 1 priority and that our medicare system made us so superior to the United States. My family has now found out the hard way just what a horribly dysfunctional and non-responsive system we have," he said
David Ljunggren is the Reuters national political correspondent in Ottawa.

[Marie and Dwight Anglehart]

New study on Autism published last month

http://www.canfoundation.org/home/article/science/3980.jsp

This part of the report is interesting:

"If underconnectivity is the problem, then a cognitive behavioral therapy might be developed to stimulate the development of connections in these higher order systems, focusing on the
emergence of conceptual connections, interpretive language and so on."

[Marie and Dwight Anglehart]

Simple computer game for teaching ABCs

I've written a very basic game for learning ABCs. Nothing fancy, but my son has always liked it: click a letter and it grows to screen-size, then shrinks back. Or, click a letter, and it jiggles and shoots off the screen. Very simple, but it's FREE. Runs on any IBM computer. Email if you'd like a copy.

Dwight

[Nancy Walton]

Amazing Computer Game

I have discovered a computer game that is very exciting and uses discrete trial presentation of math questions. The game is called M & M's The Lost Formula. It starts with a car manouvering game where you avoid obstacles, moves into a car game where you have to either match numbers, add, subtract, multiply or divide, to drive through the correct answer. If you don't get it right, it asks again. It dummies up and dummies down as the child responds, adjusting the difficulty to the needs of the child.

The game only uses curser keys and the space bar. My son started this when he was 5 and at first just liked watching everyone else in the family play (it's very addicting). It took a few months to get him into using the curser keys and suddenly, voila!, he figured it out and has since been teaching himself all the other levels.

I highly recommend this game for anyone who needs to review math basics (in our case it's just matching numbers). It is also a great reinforcer for after therapy. It is also very handy to help keep an eye on your child while you get something else done.

WATCH OUT though. You may need to get another computer so that you can check out your feat messages

Nancy (Gadget) Walton

[Mike & Jean]

The next F.E.A.T. parent meeting is on Monday, September 20, 2004.

Our topic is: Individual Education Plans, (I.E.P) This discussion is timely for anyone with children starting or returning to school.

The meeting starts at 7:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. It is a St. Francis-in-the-wood Anglican Church in West Vancouver. Download a map off this web-site for directions.

I would also encourage any parents with newly diagnosed children who are planning to start a Lovaas-style A.B.A. program to attend.

Please e-mail me at jean.lewis@telus.net if you have any questions.

See you on the 20th.

Regards,
Jean

[Rachel Russell]

Hi- parents have asked about an alarm to use in crowded public situations to signal that their child has wandered too far away from them. This alarm (as well as door and window alarms for the home) can be found at: http://www.parent-alert.com . There is one alarm that only allows the child a certain distance from the parent before it goes off- and another that the parent can activate if they feel that the child has gone too far or is out of view.
Rachel

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