[FEAT BC Admin]

In this topic area, discussion is about the fight to secure Government funding for your A.B.A. treatment program. It is also the place to talk about your thoughts and ideas about how to establish new Government programs specifically designed for autism treatment.

This is the place to hear input from parents who have fought for funding and won, as well as those who have fought for funding and would like to share their horror stories. There is a tendency to not share success stories once funding is secured. Please fight that tendency. By sharing our experience, we all become stronger.

 

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—-By FEAT BC (Freeman) on Saturday, January 3, 1998 – 03:16 pm:

-Hi everyone!

These are some things to think about in your dealings with government to help you to obtain support for your child’s Autism Treatment Program. These are my personal opinions and do not represent those of FEAT of BC or any other organization.

Many of these observations are based on my personal experiences (and I believe it poetic justice to help every parent avoid being systematically abused by their social worker the way I was).

Good luck to everyone! (Let’s all pull back the curtain on the Wizard of OZ).

Sabrina

 

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How To Fight for Funding for Autism Treatment and Appropriate School Placement

1. Establish a Paper Trail

Always take notes, documenting major points of all conversations with government and school officials.

This includes casual, in person conversations with social workers as well as ALL telephone conversations. All key points of discussion must be written down in your notes including the date and time of the discussion. This includes what was agreed upon, as well as what was not agreed upon.

Then the notes should be used to write a letter recapping the substance and content of the conversation. This letter must then be mailed or faxed to the person with whom you had the conversation. In addition, a copy must be kept in your file (see section on the icci game).

Why?

It is important to formalize the interaction between you and Government officials. In addition, everyone is put on notice that they must closely adhere to their responsibilities, regulations and laws., Furthermore, they must then consider the paper trail you have created. This lets everyone know that the interaction can become public and that any abuses of power and authority can be formally appealed and/or publicized.

In other words, they canit use discretion unfairly under the cloak of secrecy.

2. Submit all Requests in Writing

All your requests for your child must be submitted formally in writing with a copy included in your file and a copy, if necessary, sent to their immediate superiors.

3. Set Deadlines for Action

All formal requests for action must have a reasonable deadline set for that action. If no action or response is received by the deadline you have set (two weeks for example), then you will interpret the lack of response as a formal declination (a formal NO) of your requests.

Why Set Deadlines?

When bureaucrats do not want to do something, they will stall by ignoring you and your request. (As an aside, in the study of the bureaucracy, this is known as ithe power to do nothingi). They can string you along for years. When you have determined that the person you are interacting with is not inclined to help you or is not dealing in good faith, then you must take the initiative and formally label his/her behavior as obstructionist and de facto as a declination (a NO to your requests). This allows you to move to the next level of authority on your timetable to present your case. This takes the power to do nothing away from the bureaucrat with whom you are dealing. Simple stated, a bureaucrat who stalls and does nothing becomes irrelevant (use your invisible spray) and you move on to the next level of authority.

How to icci?

A cc. is a copy of your letter sent to someone other than the person you are writing. You put the cc. at the bottom left-hand corner of your letter followed by 2 spaces and the name of the person or people to whom you want to send a copy of the letter.

Who to icci to?

Sometimes it is best not to icci at all, especially in the early stages of the relationship (for example, your first letter to a social worker requesting assistance). This gives them the opportunity to do the right thing and does not present you as an overly combative person. When you start to run into problems, it is a good idea to send the icci to the 2 immediate superiors of the person you are having problems with. We do not recommend icciing all the way up the chain of command, since you want to give them a chance to solve the problem at the local level.

Why send a icci copy?

The reason for playing the icci game is that you want your interactions with the official to be known to his superior and possibly to other organizations so that 1) their action or inaction becomes a matter of record and 2) the individual knows he is being monitored. This helps minimize abuses of power and authority and helps encourage the official to meet their obligations and do the right thing.

What is the sequence of letters?

Find out the chain of command of the particular bureaucracy you are battling.

TOP

Minister
Deputy Minister
Children’s Ministry’s local region chain of command, all the way down to the District Supervisor
and Social Worker
Contacts can be found at the government directory: http://www.dir.gov.bc.ca/

BOTTOM

Start at the bottom and climb. At the Regional Operating Officer (ROO) level (once you have been declined) you have to decide whether to jump up to the top, threaten and then go to the media, or both. A word of wisdom: DO NOT BLUFF. If you are not willing to go all the way, they will ‘smell’ this. You must be prepared to take it right up to the Minister and beyond.

Documentation from Experts:

In your arsenal to fight for your child, it is wise to get his/her pediatrician and/or psychiatrist to write a letter on your childis behalf. In addition, any other experts who know your child and are sympathetic to what you are trying to do should become involved.

When to hire a lawyer?

If money is not an issue, you can hire a lawyer when you get to the area manager level. Make sure that you have a paper trail so the lawyer has something to work with. Also, have the lawyer give F.E.A.T. of B.C. a call, and we will send him/her information that will help.

If money is an issue (as it is for most of us running autism treatment programs), you might want to hire a lawyer once you have been turned down by the Minister.

How to hire a lawyer?

The type of lawyer needed is a litigator, or trial lawyer. S/he does not need to be an expert in autism, or special needs; s/he needs to be experienced in suing governments, and enjoys being in court. Word of mouth is a good way to find a lawyer.

Topic

[Jim Young]

I saw the note from Carla in Nova Scotia and thought I might elaborate a bit more…
A small group of parents have registered a decent hit against the Dept of Health down here. We met over a year ago with the Minister and got the usual doublespeak and backpedalling. However, we wouldn't let him off the hook and have been lobbying hard for funded ABA. (As Carla indicated there is no funded ABA whatsoever here.)

In June 2004 the Minister indicated that "treatment for autistic children would be a top prioity once federal funds were secured for healthcare." We challenged him in front of the media this past Friday. The waffling was amazing. He babbled a bit and said his Dept was evaluating and prioritizing, etc. We had already provided the local CBC TV reporter with a letter promising funding. He pulled it out and waved it in the Minister's face. Very tense moment, caught on camera and played at suppertime.
The petition, organized by Tracey and Gerard Avery, parents of 4 year old twins with autism, was tabled by the Leader of the Official Opposition. Well over 12,000 names shows really well on tv.We got lucky and had a lot of media interest this time. (It hasn't always been a media favorite down here).
Dan and Niloo Mahar, other parents working with our core FEAT of NS group down here, have organized a March this Thursday. The Leader of the Opposition and the Mahar's local MLA have said they would march with us.
We are working on a push to hold the Minister to his promise of funding ABA. It is a long, long way off but we are energized and getting the attention of the Premier. The Liberal leader,who has stepped down due to some serious health issues with his wife, has a child with autistic tendancies. I spoke privately with him at the Legislature. We have his support. He spoke quite strongly to the press about the fact that the government "obviously doesn't consider autism to be a priority". He is very young (30's) with a seriously ill wife and a child with issues similiar to ours. I have been respecting his situation and generally strategizing, politically, with the NDP, who are the official opposition at present.
NS is the bottom of the barrel for sure. My wife and I are on our 3rd year of financing about 20 hours of ABA per week. Therapists are next to impossible to find. I have been implementing an ABA based reading program myself, and bringing therapists into the home and daycare all along.
We have kept out daughter out of school this year and kept her in ABA treatment, hoping to better prepare her for the inadequecies of the school system. The province seems to be doing it's best to ruin her chances but as parents we are trying to reverse their damage as best we can.
I have to say thanks to Sabrina. I contacted her about a year ago and have learned alot by reviewing dialogue here.
Best of luck to Andrew. His petition, on a national stage, is great. It's wonderful to see so much activity. We owe FEAT BC a huge debt of gratitude down here. We developed a pamphlet and included your website as link. We get lots of comments from people and everyone loves the information you provide.

Jim Young

[Isaac]

The former BC Premier who blocked the autism health care ruling in Auton 2000 becomes Canada's Minister of Health

Commentary
Isaac (Miki's dad), FEAT of BC
__________________________________________________

Andrew Kavchak in Ottawa recently managed to confront the Federal Minister of Health, Ujjal Dosanjh, on Parliament Hill. Of course Ujjal represents many memories in BC for those of us fighting the autism wars since the late 90's.

Ujjal Dosanjh was the Attorney General in BC when the RCMP obtained an unprecedented search warrant to go into the home of then BC Premier, Glen Clarke, who subsequently resigned under a cloud of suspicion. Years later Clarke was fully exonerated but in the short run Minister Dosanjh rose to become Premier of British Columbia.

Premier Dosanjh took the highly controversial step of appealing the landmark Auton 2000 ruling, instead of enacting the visionary recommendations of Justice Allan, who ruled that there are systemic flaws in BC autism policy. Based on her court's enquiry, Justice Allan recommended that the responsibility for autism's treatment be transferred away from social services into to the Ministry of Health. Regrettably, Dosanjh — himself a lawyer — rejected the BC Supreme Court's health care recommendations for children suffering from autism, even though he publicly stated the opposite, that he supports the notion of autism's transfer to MOH (CKNW, Rafe Mair Show, October 2000).

Other memories: Premier Dosanjh closed down parliament for about a year (democracy in action), then went ahead and lost the 2001 provincial election for the NDP, in what turned out to be the most colossal electoral defeat in BC history.

Undeterred by BC's overwhelming repudiation of Premier Dosanjh's leadership, Prime Minister Paul Martin appointed Dosanjh to run as a Liberal in the 2004 Federal election. This needs additional emphasis: Ottawa APPOINTED a failed BC Premier as the BC candidate for MP, who in turn was appointed to the Prime Minister's Inner Cabinet. Is this Paul Martin's idea of real democracy? Realpolitik is more the first thought that comes to mind in perennially disenfranchised British Columbia.

At any rate, to help BC feel more cherished by the rest of Canada's confederation, Prime Minister Martin awarded the prized Health Ministry portfolio to our former Premier, who is the same guy who rejected a superior court's ruling on medically necessary health care for autism, closed down BC's Parliament for a year and had his policies resoundingly rejected in the most massive electoral defeat imaginable.

For a sense of what Dosanjh thinks about the struggle for our children, there is a transcript excerpt below from his CKNW radio interview in 2000. Note where Rafe Mair says, "it [autism treatment] should be in Health," Dosanjh replies, "I … concur." Well, we're four years down the road and autism treatment is still wrongfully under responsibility of the Ministry of Poverty, politicians and bureaucrats are still dithering, and Dosanjh has become ensconced as the man in charge of everyone's health policy. If Dosanjh really meant what he said in 2000 — "I … concur [that autism should be in health]" — then meaningful autism health policy reforms across Canada should now logically follow. The operative phrase is, "if he meant what he said."

The man who appealed the landmark Auton ruling now has significant power over Canada's health policy. Will he use it to finally include children with autism in the social contract that is Canada's Medicare system? Will he use it to bring Canada into compliance with it's own constitution? Will he use it to correct his own historic error as Premier of BC? The odds are long — extremely long.

Isaac (Miki's Dad)

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October, 2000, CKNW Radio, Rafe Mair Show

Rafe Mair:

Premier, ah… a number of people have been writing me over the ah.. last few weeks about the Auton decision about autism and they're wondering why you're appealing that, they're wondering why you sim… won't simply allow parents to take their children outside the system and a… and get treatment for them. They're wondering why this is not in the Ministry of Health, not the Ministry of Fa… Children and Families.

Ujjal Dosanjh:

Well, I, …ah…, (cough), have spoken to both the Minister of Health and the Minister for Children and Families and …ah… I am told it is in the Ministry for Children and Families and a….

Rafe Mair:

It should be in Health, they say, the parents say ….

Ujjal Dosanjh:

No, I actually ..ah.. concur with that. And I ah…, hope, I'm hoping that in the next shuffle I may be able to pay some attention to that. I also know the appeal is for some legal reasons. And I don't have all of the legal answers here but I also spoke to the Minister for Children and Families who tells me that we will not be running a pilot as I was advised before. The pilot has a… has already been run in Alberta and a.. she tells me that ..a.. she's making arrangements to ensure that the treatment is underway in British Columbia sooner rather than later.

Rafe Mair:

For all children, all autism children.

Ujjal Dosanjh:

I don't have those details but I ..ah.. I didn't speak to her in detail ..um.. I think that ..um.. after the shuffle whoever the minister is a… should be a… in this ..ah.. chair talking to you and giving the details.

Rafe Mair:

Mr. Campbell as you know is committed to coverage for early intervention from autism treatment for all kids.

Ujjal Dosanjh:

No, I appreciate that, I… you know… I don't make promises ah.. the cost of which I don't know. The cause is very important. It's important that children be looked after. Whether or not we can do that for all children, ah… in terms of early intervention, what the bill is and how it can be done I'd like to know from the Minister, but I if I could do it, I would want to do it.
********************************************************

[Andrew Kavchak]

Hi Folks,
Just an update from Ottawa…
Please check out the article on this webpage about the autism petition for Parliament:
http://www.oacrs.com/
Also, please see below an email I received from Nova Scotia. It turns out that today a petition with 12,000 signatures was tabled in the Nova Scotia legislatures demanding ABA treatment for autism. FEAT NS reps also met with the provincial healt minister.
Cheers!
Andrew

Subject: ABA in Nova Scotia
Hi Andrew –

On a recent trip to Ottawa my husband ran into you on your lunch-hour lobby. He brought me home a few articles you had given him and I was so pleased!

Our son is 4 and has Aspergers. He is still on the waiting list for an "official diagnosis" but we went ahead privately so that we would know what we were dealing with – I'm glad we did. Unfortunately – there is NO funding for ABA here (I noticed your post on the FEAT BC website about the 20 hours in PEI – too bad they didn't mention that there is NONE for my little one in the province just next door!).

I am on my way to Parliment house tomorrow to watch the tabling of a petition for publically funded ABA for these kids. Too bad it is the parents of these kids who have the least amount of time (and money) who seem to be doing all the fighting…

Anyway – I just wanted to introduce myself – and thank you for doing more than your part!

Carla Grant
in Halifax
carlagrant@canada.com

[Deleted User]

This newspaper flash came out yesterday. Once again the Government promotes fraudulent services for children with Autism over six. It would seem their "working group" agenda is becoming more clear. FEAT of Ontario fyi was barred from the table while another stakeholder group pulled up a chair. Interesting that they didn't want a non government funded respresentative at the table.

From today's London Free Press:

Autism services to be boosted

HANK DANISZEWSKI, Free Press Reporter
2004-09-27 02:04:33

The province is about to boost services for autistic children in schools, says a London advocate for children with the disorder.

Patricia Gallin, president of the London and District chapter of the Autism Society of Ontario, said the province will soon announce the hiring of consultants on autism spectrum disorders who will work with school boards.

Nineteen consultants have been hired for Southwestern Ontario, Gallin said.

"They will work with teachers who support the kids and we can only build from that," she said yesterday at the chapter's Cycle for Autism event.

********************
(I wonder how this person got that information since there has been no public announcements like this of any kind)

With regards to the piece run about "education" by the London Free Press in Ontario:

The supports the Province of Ontario is proposing for school age children with Autism will not allow them to access education. Not only are the supports anti-ethical they were not even considered by the renowned and un-biased New York State Report for best practice in Autism treatment. This "consultative" and "support" model was already tried in one province and under exhaustive evidence before the courts was found to be ineffective and did not allow children to access education. Testimony from the now landmark Auton case stated "“Providing a number of supportive services to a disorder that with treatment we know that half could recover, is tantamount to withholding treatment and continuing with support and respite services for AIDS patients after a treatment that can cure half of them has been discovered.”
It is abominably negligent to repeat such a blunder and use Ontario children as lab rats knowing that aba supports are non-efficacious and are not tantamount to court ordered medically necessary TREATMENT. Children with Autism have a right to their medically necessary autism treatment. Other children who require treatment during school hours are accommodated. Not only are they accommodated, their specialized medical needs are met with qualified highly trained professionals under the child's doctors supervision, a model that is consistent with all other health delivery in Ontario.
Furthermore there is no basis for the assumption that a medical condition magically transforms into a learning disability while in the purview of the Ministry of Education when the autistic person is of school age. There is no basis for the assumption an academic curriculum ameliorates autism. Rather, the evidence before the courts demonstrated that children in “special education” classes cannot access an education and may regress as compared to children receiving IBI treatment.
Children over the age of six have the same right to treatment (IBI) during school hours as a child who is pre-school age. To say otherwise is to say the child over six is less worthy.
This proposed consultation and support program does not embody the principles or policies set forth by the Human Rights Commission. It rejects findings of both Superior Court and Appellate Courts. It subsequently violates the Human Rights Code, The Charter of Rights and Freedoms, The Convention on the Rights of the Child, The Ontarians with Disabilities Act and specifically contravenes Policy and Guidelines on Accommodation for People with Disabilities 2002 H.R.C.
Larger agenda intentioned to establish legitimacy and lend credibility to patently ineffective support programs, should not to be sanctioned by any party including the ASO for convenience at the expense and rights of an individual and in particular when it is a vulnerable disabled child.

[Andrew Kavchak]

Hi Folks,
Well, if there was ever any doubt about the importance of the Auton case and the impact it will have on families across this country, please see the article in today's paper from the other coast.
Andrew (Ottawa)

Families piling up debt to help autistic children; Treatment costs 'catastrophic' and province income-tests families before aid offered: Autism Society leader.
The Guardian(Charlottetown)
Sep 28, 2004
Page: A3
Byline: Stewart, Dave
The president of the P.E.I. Autism Society says families in the province are going into debt trying to pay for their child's treatment.
Vic Douse was the keynote speaker at Monday's Charlottetown Rotary Club luncheon.
Douse said many have re-mortgaged their homes to pay for the "catastrophic costs (of medication), including myself.''
Douse and his wife have two daughters, Ashley and Jewel. Jewel, 11, was diagnosed with autism and a seizure disorder at the age of five, a diagnosis Douse says changed the course of the family's lives.
In hopes of achieving the best possible outcome for his daughter, Douse researched medical and educational therapies.
He said Jewel has been receiving Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) therapy since 1998. She is being treated by medical specialists from the Pfeiffer Treatment Centre in Chicago and has made tremendous gains.
While once rare, autism now affects one in 200 children. During the early 1990s, it was one in 10,000. On P.E.I. the number is even more sobering, one in 133 births.
Douse said currently ABA is the only recognized treatment that has been scientifically proven to work. Under the treatment, a child requires an average of 40 hours a week of therapy.
"The province funds 20 hours, maximum,'' Douse said. "Studies have shown that 48 per cent of children with autism receiving this level of intervention from age three to six will attend school indistinctable from their peers.''
However, he said the cost to families for ABA treatment is $60,000 per year.
"These costs are catastrophic to most families on P.E.I. and unattainable. This treatment is not covered under Medicare . . . but under the social programs such as our provincial disability support program.''
Under the provincial program, families are income-tested before they can receive a penny.
"Before we receive any funding we must turn over our federal income tax records. Personal tax information should not be used as a measure of how much or little health-care moneys sick children will be receiving. Under the disability support program, children with autism are not entitled to health care.
"It is needs-based and government employees, not your doctor, decide your child's needs. The disability support program ended universal access to health in this province.''
He said average-income families see their benefits clawed back by 50 per cent of the cost of their child's medically necessary ABA treatment.
Families feel it is unjust to income-test the families of children who have autism while children of other diseases are given full support under Medicare.
The Supreme Court of Canada will rule next month whether children with autism are being discriminated by provincial governments not funding their health care.
Douse said the high court's ruling will determine "if our children are equal members of Canadian society."
Carolyn Bateman, chair of the Stars for Life Foundation, also addressed Rotary. Bateman helped create the Autism Society of P.E.I. Her son, Adam, has autism.
The foundation is an organization dedicated to the fostering of productive, meaningful lives for people with autism.
Bateman said they need the support of government, education, communities and the public to break down barriers blocking the development of fulfilling lives as well as trying to keep adults with autism out of institutions.

[Andrew Kavchak]

Hi Folks,

For those of you who are interested, below is the text of a petition that I propose to start asking people to sign during my Parliament Hill daily protests.

As was the case with the Health Accord conference, I hope that some parents will be able to join me on the Hill next week when the House of Commons resumes (Monday Oct. 4 & Tuesday Oct. 5 from 12 noon to 1pm). I hope that by next week we should have enough signatures on the petition so that we may present it to an M.P. for tabling in the House of Commons. Formal petitions that are tabled require the government to respond within 45 days. I know of one M.P. who has indicated a willingness to table the petition and who may come out and talk with us during the protest next week (if his schedule during the anticipated chaos permits).

For those who agree with the contents of the petition and would like to contribute to the petition campaign, feel free to copy the text and circulate it to your friends and persons you may think are interested. Once you have a minimum of 25 signatures please send it in to your M.P.

Thank you.
Andrew

PETITION
TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS IN PARLIAMENT ASSEMBLED

We, the undersigned citizens of Canada, draw the attention of the House to the following:

Whereas children suffering from an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are among the weakest and most vulnerable sector of Canadian society;

and whereas, in Canada the rate of children being diagnosed with ASD is high and increasing at an alarming rate (currently approximately 1 child in 195);

and whereas, until the cause and cure of autism are found, children suffering from autism can benefit from the provision of Intensive Behavioural Intervention (IBI) therapy treatment based on the principles of Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA);

and whereas, for a variety of reasons including lack of assigned resources, unconscionable waiting lists, and delegation to Ministries with little or no expertise, the provision of IBI/ABA therapy treatment to children with
autism is woefully inadequate;

Therefore, your petitioners call upon Parliament

1) to amend the Canada Health Act and corresponding Regulations to include IBI/ABA therapy for children with autism as a medically necessary treatment and require that all Provinces provide or fund this essential treatment for autism; and

2) contribute to the creation of academic chairs at a university in each province to teach IBI/ABA treatment at the undergraduate and doctoral level so that Canadians professionals will no longer be forced to leave the
country to receive academic training in this field and so that Canada will be able to develop the capacity to provide every Canadian with autism with the best IBI/ABA treatment available.

Signature
(Sign your own name. Do not Print)
Addresses
(Give your full home address including city and province.)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.

Note: Minimum 25 signatures required. Signatures and addresses must be inlcuded and must be handwritten and originals – no erasures. The subject matter must be shown on each attached sheet of signatures and addresses.
Return (postage free) to: Your M.P., House of Commons, Parliament Buildings, Ottawa ON K1A 0A6.

[FEAT BC Admin]

Autism in the news … Globe & Mail:

Andrew Kavchak, the dad who walks an autism protest picket line daily on Parliament Hill, speaks out on how Canada treats children with autism.

https://featbc.org/downloads/Globe&Mail040916.pdf

[Monika Lange]

Great job Andrew. Thanks for keeping this issue in the press. It’s good that those less like-minded are helping us to do the same. Those who write contrary articles give us the opportunity to further air our excellent case even more. All press is good, but I must say, yours has been super! Keep up the good work. I appreciate it.

[Andrew Kavchak]

Hi Folks,
It me, that protesting guy in Ottawa. Just an update for those of you who are interested…last week a number of parents joined me in front of the Conference Centre when the Premiers and the PM negotiated their health accord. I still cannot believe how many billions are being given for reducing waiting lists for diagnostic stuff, etc…but that the list does not include autism. However we did get quite a bit of press coverage, and the misguided letter of Michelle Dawson in the Globe last Friday just served to show that we are getting somewhere. Thank you to all those who wrote to the Globe in response. The letter in Saturday's paper was great. On a related note, the coverage in Ottawa continues. "The Hill Times" is a weekly magazine in Ottawa that is very popular with politicians, their staffers, journalists, lobbyists, and bureaucrats. This week's edition that just came out today has two pictures of me with my sign that "Kids With Autism Need Healthcare Not Waiting Lists". One shot is in front of Parliament and the other in front of the Conference Centre. There is no article, but the three lines in the caption and the pictures say it all. I know people are looking at it because today while protesting a member of the Speaker's staff indicated to me that she and several of her office colleagues were talking about it. I hope the Supreme Court of Canada has a subscription!
I am next hoping to galvanize some parents to come out and join me in front of Parliament when the House resumes sitting on October 4.
Cheers!
Andrew

[Isaac]

Autism is in the news again this week on the Bill Good program, Sept. 14, '04, CKNW radio. Please visit this address to hear the program: http://www.featbc.org/the_media/

As happened in the landmark Auton case on medically necessary autism treatment, once again B.C.'s government is in the legal hot-seat regarding autism policy (or lack thereof) and will need to repackage senior bureaucrat spin and tap into corrupt academe to defend itself in court and before the public.

It's way overdue, but at long last the education bureaucracy in BC will soon be forced to "tell it to the judge," their best case vs. ours. What's nice in all this is that facts are a very stubborn thing – they simply don't go away because government has a bevy of lawyers and a bottomless legal defense budget.

There's a new autism lawsuit in town, wherein your B.C. government's education system is on trial for autism discrimination and will be compelled to tell all, show all and make their best arguments. This legal action essentially amounts to a privately funded commission of enquiry examining appalling school district and Ministry of Education autism policy negligence and discrimination.

There are very deep structural flaws in B.C.'s public education policy where autism is concerned, but our "friends" in government just don't get it yet. The policy deficiencies are profoundly harmful and BC's bloated education bureaucracy will need to explain all this in a court of law.

Short strokes on the lawsuit: BC's Government will be held to account for discrimination, incompetence and/or malfeasance vis a vis the education rights of children with autism who have physician-prescribed, medically necessary treatment programs in place.

The harmful incompetence of government bureaucrats and special-ed contractors will necessarily be on the stand, in defense of the indefensible (… you special-ed Brahmins know who you are.)

Isaac
Miki's Dad

Bill Good program: http://www.featbc.org/the_media/

[Author]

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