[FEAT BC Admin]

This area is for discussions in general topics.

Topic

[Deleted User]

***********fighting for funding*****************
Could anyone please fill me in on when the auton case, (if that is what it is called….) is going up infront of the judge. I have been told that there is something going on early next year, but am really unsure of exactly what is taking place. Any explination would be wonderful. I am trying to follow all of the stories, but am feeling overwhelmed by everything, and not being able to fully understand the situation. I look forward to any insight.

[Rachel Notley]

The upcoming Feat Workshop for "intermediate therapists" looks like a much needed educational opportunity. There are so few "continuing education opportunities" for line therapists – especially if your consultant is not local. As a FEAT member in Alberta, I would be interested in finding out who is delivering this workshop. Initially, I had been wondering whether we could afford to send one or two of our team members to Vancouver for this but then it occurred to me that I would first like to explore whether an organized group of parents might be able to pool their resources to bring the presenter to Edmonton. SO, this is a long way of asking a short question…who is putting this on and would it be possible to get their contact information? I can also be reached directly at Rachel.Notley@shaw.ca Thanks.

[Deleted User]

Intermediate Behavioural Therapist Training:

FEAT of BC is pleased to annouce that they will be sponsoring a one day workshop with a focus on training for those who have the basics but need to hone and develop their skills.

This workshop will build upon content taught in the FEAT of BC basic workshop therefore participants should have attended a basic workshop by either FEAT of BC or by a recognized Lovaas Consultant.

Topics to be covered include:
-reinforcement – how to deliver effective, high–quality reinforcement
-The art of prompting
-set up, management and practice with trial by trial data collection
-Team Management
-The role of the Senior Therapist/Instructor
-how to make your team meetings effective and purposeful
-Organization, a corner stone to a well run program

Those who will benefit from this workshop include:
-present behavioural instructors and Aides or other individuals who have atteneded a basic workshop through FEAT or their Consultant
-Parents
-Sr. Therapists

DATE: January 17, 2004
TIME: 9:00 – 4:00
Place: SFU, room to be announced
COST: $25.00

Registration form will be posted within the next week.

[Mike & Jean]

F.E.A.T. Meeting reminder

To all parents:

Just a reminder that the F.E.A.T. meeting is tomorrow night, Monday, November 17th at 7:00p.m. at St.Francis-in-the-wood Anglican church, West Vancouver. Executive Director, Sabrina Freeman will be giving a presentation called, "What's Science got to do with it?" or how to evaluate present and future treatments.

Once again, we will start at 7:00p.m. sharp and will conclude at 9:00p.m.

See you on Monday.

Regards,
Jean

[Catherine Cooper]

This is to "anonymous" who was enquiring about Suzanne Jacobson and ABA.
Several years ago Suzanne was employed by the provincial government with Provincial Outreach Program. Our school district was one of the districts she was assigned to. I believe her role was to review the assessments of the kids and ensure that provincial funding given to the schools was being used correctly and that the child to whom the funding was attached was receiving the services he/she required within the school. She reviewed IEP's etc etc. To my knowledge Suzanne is NOT an ABA specialist. In fact, last year she was hired by our school to review my son's case and basically informed the school they were not required to and did not have the funding available to provide ABA intervention to my son within the school setting. Until that point in time, our school had been working towards a collabrative effort between myself and our ABA team and school team. I pushed hard for this and it was a frustrating endeavor for all concerned because of unions, funding, unwilling teachers etc etc. The harder I pushed the more the school retreated and they brought Suzanne in to try to come up with a solution. Her solution was "leave ABA at home. The school is not required to do it!". Since then we have had a new school team in place and are once again working in the right direction.
I believe however, that Suzanne's expertise may be in the area of diagnosis and not in the implementation of Lovaas ABA programs.
If you require additional info please email to ccooper@dccnet.com.
Catherine
(Sam's mom)

[Elaine Gee]

re : "Food Issues" & ABA
Dan or Jennifer Gedes, could I please get your email address or phone contact with regards to the above subject. I need to ask you a few more questions. Thanks.
My email is elainegee@shaw.ca and phone contact is 604-2720078.

[Jenn Biddlecombe]

Hi!

This message is in response to "food issues". Our 6 year old boy also has HUGE eating issues. He has about a dozen foods that he cycles through. However, he generally only eats 1 or 2 of them at any given time. A few months ago all he would eat for days were bananas and grated parmesan cheese. He would eat nothing else. Cheese & bananas all day long – breakfast, lunch & dinner – sometimes 6 to 8 bananas a day or an entire bag of Kraft grated cheese. While you may be thinking there are worse things to eat, we discovered that the human body does not thrive really well on extreme amounts of bananas and parmesan cheese (gastro/intestinal nightmares)! In desparation we talked to our ABA consultant about our son's self-restricted diet.

Our fabulous consultant developed a "food program" for us based on a token economy system. We started with introducing foods that he has eaten before but were not in his current food repertoire. We would have him eat a bite of the non-preferred item and then he would receive a token. Another bite, another token. When the token board was complete (3-4 bites) he would receive his preferred food choice as a reward. If he refused to eat the non-pref item, we would let him leave the table, but he did not get his reward. Usually he wanted the reward enough to eat the non-pref item. The result of this was that Jaiden started to remember that he liked these other items and would request them or eat them when presented outside of therapy time. After a few weeks of this we began to introduce new food items. Nothing crazy like like liver & onions, just kid-typical things that he did not eat. Through this we have been able to broaden his base of what foods he will eat.

We also use the token board outside of therapy. For example, if he wants scrambled eggs ONLY for dinner, we will use the board to get him to eat a few bites of another food (something crazy like a vegetable perhaps?) before getting his precious eggs.

The food program has been an excellent tool for us to use to broaden our son's food choices! His eating is more balanced and he is enjoying more foods. We are hopefull that someday very soon we will be able to all sit down and eat the same thing for dinner!

It is amazing the wide variety of issues that ABA can address! Hope this helps.

Jenn (Jaiden's mom)

[Dorothy Ray]

Hi Everyone. Has anyone had trouble with their child's food fetishes and eating hang-ups? I have a 5 yr old son with ASD who will willingly eat only about a dozen foods, most of which are carbohydrates. As well, he will not eat any of those foods if they don't "look right" – brown spots, slightly over-toasted edges, chicken nuggets with the breading coming off here or there, apples that aren't cut the right way, ….!!! I have allowed him to choose what he will eat for the last two years, as he systematically dropped foods from his diet. Now I'm not sure what to do. I'm concerned for his nutrition and health, and I wonder if this is simply a manipulative behaviour that I should take a firmer stand with. If anyone has any advice or experiences to share, I'd be grateful to hear them! I can be reached at roganddot@shaw.ca and will also watch the discussion board for responses. Thanks everyone!

[Mike & Jean]

FEAT Meeting

Our next FEAT of BC meeting is on Monday, November 17th, 2003 from 7:00 – 9:00pm at St. Francis-in-the-Wood Anglican church in West Vancouver.(map downloadable from the web-page)

FEAT of BC Executive Director, Dr. Sabrina Freeman will be giving a presentation entitled:

"What's Science got to do with it? or "How to protect your child with autism by becoming a savvy consumer".

This is a very in-depth presentation designed for parents who want to understand the scientific method. The lecture will not discuss particular treatments for autism but will provide the tools to evaluate all current and future autism treatments.

The presentation will be approximately 11/2 hours in length plus time for questions.

We will start at 7:00pm rather than our normal 7:30pm.

This presentation is for parents only. Future presentations will include therapists.

Due to enormous interest in this topic we expect a large turnout so please RSVP to me at jean.lewis@telus.net to confirm attendance.

See you on the 17th.

Regards, Jean Lewis

[Cory McLaughlin]

We are looking for "Listening Lotto". Does
anyone know where to buy or order this product?
Contact me directly at
gmclaug@netrover.c
a or
through this board.

Thanks!

Cory McLaughlin
Liam's Mom

[Author]

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