[FEAT BC Admin]

This area is for discussions in general topics.

Topic

[Deleted User]

My two cents, Jack, because you seem to appreciate research and not just parent emotions,(well earned emotions I might add) read the Supreme Court Judgement.
Four Judges, having pondered the evidence for many months, described the BC Government agencies as day care providers for Autistic children. They said that the local service providers do not provide EFFECTIVE TREATMENT.
AUTON mentions them by name: Gateway, Laurel Group, CBI, LEAP (now re-named!)etc. I don't think much has changed.
They have people who claimed less than two years ago to "know nothing about Autism" now selling themselves as "Consultants"
Be very careful, Jack.

[Deleted User]

I agree with the last post…and Kim is great.

[Deleted User]

I wouldn't let Gateway, Laurel Group/House/whatever
they're calling themselves this week, Popard, or CBI within
500 miles of my child. In fact, if one of their staff happened
to accidentally drive into a 500-mile radius from my house,
I would immediately seek a court injunction against them
ever darkening my general vicinity again.

EAP is fine.

[Jack & Cheryl Malli]

Hi. I have posted before re: our 4 yr old daughter Bronte. I have been researching ABA programs in the lower mainland (we live in Ladner, South Delta) and just wanted to ask other parents their opinions on which programs you might recommend. So far I have received info from MAPCL (aka Mainstream or Laurel Group), and CBI (too costly). I have spoken with people at Gateway (not exclusively ABA) and I want more information re: EAP (such as a web address, for one), or Kimberly Wroblewski. If you know of any other good, BACB certified, experienced, effective ABA consultants in my area (preferably South Delta Ladner Tsawwassen, or South Richmond) I would be delighted to hear testimonials, critiques, opinions etc. Because Gateway is located blocks from our home, we have thought of going with them. To be honest, speaking with the Behaviour Consultant, I am not fully satisfied they are rigorous enough in setting specific goals and properly keeping data on progress toward these goals ie how solid is their theoretical model or do they even have one? Of course, I ask these questions directly to Gateway, but I like to get "outside" opinions as well. If anyone wishes to respond and is not comfortable posting his/her opinions on the board, you could email me directly at jackmalli@yahoo.com. Thanks.

[Deleted User]

There is a new interactive computer program available for teaching emotions that is designed for learners with Autism. It is developed by researchers at Cambridge University.
Check it out at –

http://www.human-emotions.com/mindreading

[Nancy Walton]

Hi Jill,

We are always looking for new therapists and we are glad to hear from you.

Therapists are hired by the parents of the autistic child and training is mostly done in the home by the consultant and/or a lead or senior therapist. There are also workshops sponsered by featbc (see feat Events on the home page or keep an eye out for upcoming workshops on the feat chat board) and Early Autism Project (call 604-473-5011). These are good workshops to go to either before you start with a family or after. If you don't have a family yet, the therapists or consultants running the workshop may be able to give you contacts.

To get on with a family you can go ahead and post on the "classifieds" section of this chat board. Make sure you state what area you live in and give your phone number or e-mail address. You may also state any previous experience you have with children. We are NOT really looking for someone with experience with autistic children unless ofcourse you have already worked on a Lovaas style home-based ABA program. It is important that you have experience that demonstrates good play skills with children, ability to multi-task and ability to follow through on expectations.

Parents in your area will probably contact you and you can take it from there. Once you are working for a family, if you are good, it is easy to get on to other teams.

Good luck,

Nancy W.

[Jill Merritt]

I am interested in becoming a therapist, but I'm brand new at this. I was wondering if anyone could give me information about how to get started. Any information regarding what training will be necessary and how I would go about getting in touch with a family would be greatly appreciated. I am very excited about starting and I want to get my foot in the door!
Thanks in advance,
Jill

[Lou Arab]

About 15 months ago, Rachel and I moved from Vancouver to Edmonton. Now that we’ve been here for a while, we’ve learned a few things about how the system works out here. As a result, I’m getting more calls and email from BC parents thinking about making the move to Alberta for their children.

I thought I would post few of the basics, and if anyone wants more info, please feel free to email me at arab@shaw.ca

First the good:

There is a lot more funding for ABA in Alberta than in BC. My son is 4.5 years old, and we have had access to two funds of money adding up to almost $65,000 in the first 11 months we were here. We didn’t even use all the funds available to us.

The budget includes funds for Consultants, Line Therapist wages (including Revenue Canada payments and vacation pay), SLP, OT, PT, payroll/accounting fees, materials, and generous respite.

Second the annoying:

There are a lot of hoops and a lot of paperwork to go through to get funding. If you have an assessment from Sunnyhill that says Autism and/or PDD-NOS, your child will qualify.

The funds don’t quite cover everything. We have to pay a 5% parental share of the therapists, consultant fees, and materials. The budget for materials is frustratingly small, and runs out quickly. The budget for SLPs, PTs and OTs, don’t reflect market rates and we end up paying a little more on top. Things like lunches for workshops are not included and have to be picked up by parents.

Third, the bad:

Funding for children over the age of six exists, but there is no guarantee it will for very long. The government has no policy on this, and continues to extend funding on a temporary basis while court cases wind through the legal system. Some parents of school aged children struggle to get funding for more than a few hours per week because the Ministry of Children Services’ passes the buck to the schools which may/may not be able to integrate an ABA program into the classroom. Schools get funding for special needs kids, but are not very accountable as to how they use it. Add to the fact that due to provincial government budget cuts, Edmonton and Calgary schools are losing over 1,000 teachers this coming school year, and the temptation for principals to dip into special needs funding (which was always supplemented by general funds anyway) is high.

Regional differences: every region has different policies and practices. So what exists in Edmonton may not exist in Calgary. I’ve heard that in some rural areas, there are wait lists to get funding.

Finally, the real bad.

The biggest single problem Rachel and I have discovered since moving to Edmonton is the lack of decent Consultants.

In Vancouver we used EAP. They were not an ‘approved service provider’ here. Because of moving and setting up new lives and new jobs, our lives were too busy at the time, and we took the path of least resistance and moved to Autism Partnership.

What we got was a system where the Consultant would hold workshops in which she gave us general advice and information, and we (parents and line therapists) were left to write and design the programs ourselves. We protested this and were told that was the way AP did things. As a result, workshops were spent going around in circles trying to figure out what elements should go into programs. At most workshops, there was no practice time and our son might as well have not been there.

And AP is the best of the service providers located in Alberta. Others have practices (like bulk workshops for all their families instead of team by team) that make my hair stand on end.

We took the route of asking EAP to apply for status out here and are proud to be the first parents to bring them to Alberta. It took two months to get through the red tape, but I’m sleeping a lot better now. Our first workshop with them is next month.

If you are thinking about making the move to Alberta, check out the approved service providers first. Jean Lewis recently posted some good advice on the ‘Treatment topics’ board on questions to ask.

Lou Arab
(Ethan's Dad)

[Mike & Jean]

FEAT Meeting – July 21st

Hi Everyone:

The next FEAT parent meeting is on Monday, July 21st at St. Francis-in-the-Wood Anglican Church in West Vancouver from 7:30 – 9:00pm.

The Topic: Choosing a Lovaas-style A.B.A. Consultant.

Please e-mail me at jean.lewis@telus.net if you plan to attend.

All parents are welcome.

See you there.

Jean

[Deleted User]

This link is for an article about autism on http://www.cnn.com

http://edition.cnn.com/2003/HEALTH/conditions/07/15/autism.ap/index.html

If it can't be acdessed thru the link go to the web site and look for the article in the Health section. Interesting.

DeeDee

[Author]

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