[FEAT BC Admin]

This area is for discussions in general topics.

Topic

[Louise Taylor]

Please tune in to The Bill Good Show on CKNW radio (980 on the AM dial) on Thursday, Nov 12th at 9:00 AM.

Louise Witt, FEAT Spokesperson, and Jean Lewis of Medicare for Autism Now! will be discussing the upcoming rally at the Premier’s office. This rally is about providing necessary healthcare and its purpose is to keep pressure on Government for full science-based autism treatment, thereby ending discrimination against people with autism

[Louise Taylor]

November 11, 2009

For Immediate Release:

Parents of autistic children and their supporters will rally outside Premier Gordon Campbell’s constituency office this Friday, November the 13th at noon to protest the provincial government’s attempt to begin to dismantle individualized treatment funding and to mark the 5th anniversary of the Supreme Court of Canada’s Auton decision.

FEAT of BC (Families for Early Autism Treatment of BC) is a not-for-profit volunteer organization of parents and professionals working towards universal access to effective, science-based treatment for all Canadians diagnosed with autism.

Louise Witt, board member and spokesperson for FEAT of BC states that “The recent tragic deaths of two Canadian children with autism, killed at the hands of their own parents, are a wake up call. The status quo is putting the health of children and their very lives in jeopardy. At present, no mandate exists to deliver healthcare to children with autism or to enshrine their right to this medically necessary treatment.”

“It’s been five years since the Auton decision was overturned by the Supreme Court of Canada and kids with autism are still being denied their treatment” says Bev Sharpe, one of the founding members of FEAT of BC. “How many more children have to die? It’s long past time for the government to do the morally right and economically sensible thing, which is to provide treatment to these vulnerable children.”

For more information, contact Louise Witt at 778-999-0971 or http://www.featbc.org

[Stella Li]

North Shore ASBC Lecture Series

The North Shore ASBC Support Group proudly presents:

a presentation on
Social Thinking and Language Issues

by
Jenny Gorton, SLP
ABLE Development Clinic

at
7:00pm, Tues Nov 17

in the
Delbrook Recreation Centre

GUEST SPEAKER:
Before returning to Vancouver to join the ABLE Development Clinic, Jenny was an integral member of Teach Social Silicon Valley, previously known as the Centre for Social Thinking. Working closely with Michelle Garcia-Winner, Jenny provided treatment for social and language deficits in clients with Asperger’s Syndrome and other Autism Spectrum Disorders.

DATE:
Tuesday, November 17, 2009

TIME:
7 – 9 pm

LOCATION:
Cedar Room, in the North Building of the Delbrook Recreation Centre
(600 West Queens Road, North Vancouver)

For those going north/west on Highway #1: take exit 17 for Westview Dr, turn right at Westview Dr, and then turn right at Queens Rd. For those going east on Highway #1: take exit 17 for Westview Dr, turn left at Westview Dr, and then turn right at Queens Rd.

Coffee/Tea and snacks provided. Donations are greatly appreciated.

Please RSVP to Carol at colemanmoser@hotmail.com

Carol and Tony
(Co-facilitators for ASBC North Shore Group)

[Louise Taylor]

FEAT Rally

Friday, November 13th, 2009
12:00 Noon
Premier Gordon Campbell’s Constituency Office
3615 West 4th Ave
Vancouver, BC

Why should you attend?

• The recent tragic deaths of two Canadian children with autism, killed at the hands of their own parents, is a wake up call! The status quo is putting the health of children and their very lives in jeopardy.

• September’s announcement by the Ministry of Children and Family Development has shown that our government is not concerned about the rights and needs of some of its most vulnerable citizens.

• No legislation or mandate exists to deliver health care to children with autism or to protect and enshrine their right to their medically necessary treatment. What little individualized funding being provided now is in jeopardy of being taken away.

• Autism is an epidemic! According to the Center for Disease Control, it now affects one in every 100 children in North America.

• It is time for our provincial government to recognize its responsibility to act and to demonstrate leadership for the rest of Canada!

Who should attend?

-parents, grandparents, friends, consultants, therapists, anyone who is concerned about this injustice to our children. We urge you all to attend this rally!

Featured Speakers will include:
Jean Lewis – Vancouver parent, board member, Medicare for Autism Now!
Bev Sharpe – Vancouver parent, board member, Families for Early Autism Treatment
Louise Witt – Surrey parent, spokesperson, Families for Early Autism Treatment

(To RSVP or for more information email abarocks@gmail.com )

[Louise Taylor]

FEAT Rally

Friday, November 13th, 2009
12:00 Noon
Premier Gordon Campbell’s Constituency Office
3615 West 4th Ave
Vancouver, BC

Why should you attend?

• The recent tragic deaths of two Canadian children with autism, killed at the hands of their own parents, is a wake up call! The status quo is putting the health of children and their very lives in jeopardy.

• September’s announcement by the Ministry of Children and Family Development has shown that our government is not concerned about the rights and needs of some of its most vulnerable citizens.

• No legislation or mandate exists to deliver health care to children with autism or to protect and enshrine their right to their medically necessary treatment. What little individualized funding being provided now is in jeopardy of being taken away.

• Autism is an epidemic! According to the Center for Disease Control, it now affects one in every 100 children in North America.

• It is time for our provincial government to recognize its responsibility to act and to demonstrate leadership for the rest of Canada!

Who should attend?

-parents, grandparents, friends, consultants, therapists, anyone who is concerned about this injustice to our children. We urge you all to attend this rally!

(For more information email abarocks@gmail.com )

[Dione Costanzo]

The ABA Support Network
Presents

“When a Brother or Sister has ASD – Sibling Issues”

Special Guest – Kathryn Theroux, MS, RCC
Behavior Consultant and Counselor at ABLE Developmental Clinic

Learn about important research into the sibling experience when a child in the family has an autism spectrum disorder. Explore causes and solutions of sibling problems common to families coping with ASD.

This will be an interactive presentation with many opportunities for discussion and questions. Learn more about this familiar parental worry and how you can prevent or reduce the impact of social deficits and problem behavior on the sibling relationship.

Date: Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Time: 7-9pm
Location: Surrey Sport and Leisure Complex, 16555 Fraser Hwy
Use Arena entrance and go up stairs to MP Room #3
RSVP: dione@abasupportnetwork.com

Following this special presentation, there will be experienced parents available to answer questions about home based ABA programs.

Join now!! http://www.abasupportnetwork.com

We are a membership based, non-profit society. Our mission is to improve access to Applied Behavioral Analysis support and treatment in the home and community for children, youth and adults who need it.

Donations can be made online through our secure website
or send checks to:
ABA Support Network
1176 Keil Crescent
White Rock, BC, V4B 4W1

Thank you for your support!

[Mike & Jean]

I have been asked to comment on and offer my opinion regarding the provincial government’s recent decision to discontinue the “direct payment” option in favour of “invoice payments”. I have delayed responding for three reasons: 1.) I’ve been waiting to see what others have to say, particularly parents of newly diagnosed children, which so far is not much, and, 2.) I was waiting to see if someone else would deliver the inconvenient truth, and, 3.) I wanted to digest the enormous emotional impact of the most recent tragic incidents in each of Edmonton and Toronto.

My opinions are based largely but not solely on experience gained over the last 12 years – advocating for ABA to be included, provided and paid for by our health care system. That is why FEAT of BC existed and why The Medicare for Autism Now Society was created.

By way of background, I am one of the founding directors of FEAT of BC and more recently The Medicare for Autism Now Society. I was also one of the Auton and Hewko litigants and was on the legal steering committees for both cases. In FEAT’s early years, along with Sabrina Freeman, FEAT’s founding executive director, I helped countless families set-up home-based ABA programs. Together, we organized ABA conferences, workshops, seminars, and facilitated parent discussion groups. FEAT of BC created the treatment movement in BC which eventually provided the impetus for the rest of Canada. Recently, as a director of Medicare for Autism Now, I’ve travelled across Canada on three occasions working specifically on initiatives to have legislation passed which would enshrine all our childrens’ treatment under Medicare. I know I have used the word “I” a lot, but, clearly, I have had the “benefit” of an extensive array of experience in the autism advocacy business. I’ve met with bureaucrats at every level, provincial and federal politicians from every political party….I’ve heard all their spin. I’ve learned valuable and sometimes extremely painful lessons. They form the basis for my opinion.

The province’s decision to discontinue the direct funding option is completely unacceptable. It is definitely not in the best interests of our children and their families. If passed, it will be a retrograde step, taking us back to the situation that existed in BC before the Auton decision. I believe it is the first step in dismantling autism treatment funding. Why? ….Because they can. There is NO law which protects this funding. In fact, this funding ONLY exists because of the Auton decision. And it continues to exist solely at the discretion of the faceless, nameless bureaucrats. The fact of the matter is: autism funding can be taken away tomorrow with the stroke of a pen. The government’s preferred “invoice payment option” effectively takes parents and, therefore, children out of the equation. With you out of the loop, others will decide what is best for your child and, eventually, might decide whether your child is making enough “progress” to keep funding treatment..(see what’s happening in Ontario)

Lesson #1 – Never, ever abdicate your parental choice and control to a bureaucrat. Your child’s best interest is never their first priority.

Pre-Auton, there was NO treatment funding at all. Any funding came packaged as: respite, daycare, or babysitting, all of which were wait-listed and means-tested. Some parents did receive substantial amounts of money, if they kept quiet about it, and collaborated with bureaucrats. So – if you “made nice”, didn’t rock the boat, and didn’t talk about treatment – you got money.

Lesson#2 – Never collaborate with bureaucrats. “Collaborate” is bureaucrat-speak for “Do what I say”. It might work for a while for those engaged in it, but it doesn’t last. Eventually, the collaborators are cut off. In the last 12 years of being in this fight up close and personal, the only two things that have made measurable, sustained gains for all have been litigation and focused political action…not making nice. In fact, in my experience making nice actually makes the situation worse.

FEAT of BC was created in 1996 for the single purpose of making science-based autism treatment (ABA) universally available and funded by government. Auton created some treatment funding, but as we see by the provincial government’s recent decision, it’s not protected. Today, lack of complete treatment funding remains the biggest obstacle to meeting the needs of people with autism in Canada. The solution lies in law that ensures our childrens’right to health care. That is why we need Medicare for Autism Now!

The Hewko decision created a precedent for all school districts to do the right thing. Sadly, most are not, but the ones that are demonstrating good faith are only doing so because they don’t want to be the next Hewko. I encourage more parents to read and understand how to use the gains made in the Hewko decision when dealing with difficult school districts.

Lesson #3 -Law can only be useful when enforced.

How should parents respond to the provincial government’s decision?
If our child was much younger and his $20k of treatment funding was in jeopardy; this is what I’d do:
I would begin by organizing a MASSIVE rally at the Premier’s constituency office. I would make sure there were hundreds of parents, family members, friends, colleagues and supporters there…all carrying placards which would say a variety of things, such as: How many more Canadian children need to die before the government acts? In Canada – health care is a right! I would have as many media attend as possible. I would have lots of parents “tell their story”. I would arrange media interviews focusing on the recent deaths in Edmonton, Toronto and Montreal – each a result of government failure to take the morally right and economically sensible action. I would park myself at my MLAs office until they helped. I’d contact my local community newspapers and invite them to join me at the MLAs office for an interview…. and I’d keep doing it for as long as necessary….but that’s just me….

Now is the time to act. Parents must decide if you are going to continue being a supplicant – risking your child’s future to the whims of government bureaucracy, or will you stand-up and, as a citizen and tax payer, demand better?

In Canada, fully-funded, science-based treatment for autism is a reasonable expectation – our children deserve no less. It is their right and should be our solemn obligation.

Lesson#4 – “Those who will not learn history are destined to repeat it.” – Edmund Burke

Time to wake-up, get organized and and get it done!

Jean Lewis,
Medicare for Autism Now!
mfanow@gmail.com

[Tina]

Dentist…
Hi All,
I always find here the great place to ask for advice and information that helps my child. I very appreciate all of you who read and responded to my post almost right away every time I struggle with question.
I just realized after getting some of the responses today in regard to my previous post, that there are dentist that were willing to do dental treatment for ASD kids without the general anesthetic. If you don't mind I ask you, who know of any dentist that is willing to do dental work without pushing for general anesthetic at the hospital, to share with me either privately or here.
I really hope that my son will not have to go through this proceedure since I know doing GA will not be good for his body. He has some teeth that needed to be filled (no major problem)and he is anxious when getting dental work done. At home, he will let me brush and touch his teeth without problem, just the matter of trust that he had for the people at the dental office.
I hope to hear from you.Any input is very appreciated.

I can be reached at tnkaccount@gmail.com

Thanks again and have a safe and happy Halloween.

Tina

[Tina]

Hi All,
I am wondering if your child have experienced anesthetic for dental treatment and I would like to have your in put in that. My child was scheduled for one but due to illness, it got canceled and another one was then scheduled two days before our trip (on an airplane). I wonder if that would be a fine for that? When speaking to the dentist's receptionist, she found it should not be a problem since they only did teeth filling. If you don't mind sharing your experience, it will be very appreciated.
I can be reached at tnkaccount@gmail.com

Thank you very much in advance,

Tina

[Peter Wong]

Dear All,

Here are 2 general questions regarding to autism and employment.

Autism/Employment Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erFrIz9HNMg

In BC, I am sure there are some agencies helping "special needs" people for employment opportunities. If you know any, I really appreciate your sharing.

Also, in BC, can a "special needs" kid study in college (given the kid is capable in certain areas, but not all the areas like typical developed kids)? If so, what kind of the special arrangements or preparations need to be done?

Many thanks for the sharing.

Cheers.

Peter
"v>a>n>c>o>u>v>e>r>p>e>t>e>r AT GMAIL.COM" (Please remove "<")

[Author]

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