[FEAT BC Admin]

In this topic area, discussion is on all issues relating to setting up and running a home-based intervention program. Please feel free to bring up any problems or suggestions. Parents can help each other greatly by sharing information and giving suggestions.

In addition to parents helping parents, A.B.A. professionals on in the Discussion Group can also help provide insight and guidance.

Topic

[cathy wang]

Hi does anyone has now or ever had before a Behavior Consultant whose name is Hoa Chan, would you mind sharing some experience working with her?

Many thanks,
scarlet1217@yahoo.com

[Dione Costanzo]

NEW COQUITLAM NETWORK

The ABA Support Network is an organization of families and professionals educating and supporting families about Applied Behavioral Analysis and its’ application as a treatment for autism. The ABA Support Network seeks to strengthen our community across British Columbia by building local networks so that families can connect with other families in their own neighborhoods.

Our Mission: To improve access to quality Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) treatment and support in the home and in the community for children, youth and adults with autism.

ABA SUPPORT NETWORK – New Coquitlam Network

When: Wednesday, March 13th.
Time: 7:00pm-9:00pm
Where: Place Millardville 1200 Cartier
Ave Coquitlam, BC V3K 2C3
R.S.V.P. to Jodie jbtwickens@gmail.com

The first meeting will be a presentation about the history and success of the ABA Support Worker program in the Surrey District (SD36) Nancy Walton (Parent, Teacher) and Leah Mumford, M. Ed. (Behavior Consultant).

Let’s embark on a journey of parents helping parents in our community!

Learn more about us here:

http://www.abasupportnetwork.com

[Dione Costanzo]

ABA SUPPORT NETWORK – Neighborhood Network Update

These "Neighborhood Network" groups have been meeting monthly, providing support to new parents and sharing information and experience on various topics.

Please contact any of these facilitators if you are interested in attending a meeting.

All meetings are open to parents from all locations!

Holly at hkorstad@gmail.com – facilitator of Cloverdale/Langley group which meets every month. They are meeting Wed. Feb 20 at 8pm

Jen at jantic@telus.net – facilitator of Central/North Surrey group which meets every month. They are meeting Thurs Feb 21 at 7:00pm

Roxanne at bradrox@shaw.ca – facilitator of South Surrey/White Rock group which meets every month. Next meeting is Thurs. Feb. 28 at 7:00. Roxanne is coordinating with the ABA Advisory to have Katherine Remidios of SD36 at this meeting to discuss the process of ABA kids transitioning into K.

NEW COQUITLAM GROUP will be launching in March with a presentation about the history and success of ABA in the Surrey School System. Please contact Jodi at jbtwickens@gmail.com if you are interested in this group. Date, time, location yet to be determined.

All meetings are posted on our online calendar here http://abasupportnetwork.com/calendar.php and on our Facebook events page.

We also post ASBC meetings and sponsored events as well as ABA related conferences in BC.

Parents helping parents!!

[David Chan]

Way to go Ali, so proud of you. need to see some pictures now…. so thrilled.

On a similar note, Mr. P has been using his phone to text for some time now. Working on precision and accuracy. In any event, I was out running some errands, and decided to text him to let him know I'm on my way home.

For a twist, I half hearted added, " do you need anything from Save-ON".. expecting a no.

He always answers text, so I wasn't surprised when the text notification rang; but when I read it, it was way too cool

It said," Yes, buy more milk"

That's throwing the old man a bone.

This is where therapy has gotten us. Many thanks to all the folks out there, you know who u r.

All the best everyone, fight the good fight.

Dave
Mr. P's Dad

[Bev Sharpe]

Sharing a proud moment.
My daughter has been in an intensive ABA treatment program for 15 yrs.
Last week, she picked out a pretty dress, enjoyed getting her hair and nails
done, and was accompanied by her therapist to her Pre Grad Dance.
The front-loading for this success was designed specifically by her Behaviour
Consultant. Among other things we had set up many dancing sessions in our home, to teach her appropriate moves on the dance floor.
My daughter danced the entire night.
Consistency between home and school ABA Treatment programming, following strict prompt levels, consequations and reinforcement is the single reason that my
daughter was able to enjoy an event such as this.
ABA Treatment is the only medically-necessary treatment for Autism.
Thank you to Dr. Ivar Lovaas for pioneering this treatment so many years ago, and for Dr. Sabrina Freeman for founding FEATBC.
Our autistic children are Canadian citizens and are worthy of medical treatment.
This treatment is not yet covered by Medicare.
I am inviting you all to a Saturday, March 23rd, event at the downtown Vancouver Public Library . Civil Rights Now! is holding an event. “Decision 2013”

Circle your calendar Saturday, Marsh 23, 1-3pm,at
the Vancouver Public Library.

This event will give you details of how to get publicly engaged as an election is coming up. Please check out http://www.civilrightsnow.ca regularly for updates.

Also please spend the 42 min, and watch the film, “Medicare’s Orphans” at
http://www.medicareforautismnow.org
Parent, educate yourselves and get active.

Beverley Sharpe
Director

[Super Dad]

North Shore ASBC Lecture Series

The North Shore ASBC Support Group proudly presents:

Augmentative Communication in the Classroom Setting
How an iPad Can Promote Classroom Integration

by
Bohdanna Popowycz Kvam, M.Ed., BCBA
Executive Director of Harmony House CARES

at
7:00pm, Tues Feb 19

in
Welsh Hall West
downstairs in the
West Vancouver Memorial Library

TOPIC:

This presentation is about the use of augmentative communication systems to facilitate classroom integration, with focus on the iPad. The strategies covered are useful for teachers, aides and parents.

GUEST SPEAKER:

Bohdanna has been involved with children with autism for the past 2 decades. Bohdanna’s background includes teaching in the public school system in the states as well as working as a Clinical Director at a Lovaas’ replication site. Bohdanna prides herself on working with families to advocate for their children’s individual needs both in the home and school settings. She has travelled around the world opening clinics in the UK, USA and Canada. Bohdanna graduated from UBC with a Masters in Special Education/Counseling and Psychology with emphasis in autism. She is also a board certified behaviour analyst.

Bohdanna is the Executive Director of Harmony House CARES, a facility that serves children with autism in the Vancouver area. She is responsible for overseeing the preschool and day to day running of Harmony House. She continues to hold a small case load of children with autism who seek services from Harmony House and provides monthly supervision to staff. She lives in Surrey with her husband and three children ranging in age from 9-20.

DIRECTIONS:

The West Vancouver Memorial Library is at 1950 Marine Drive:
http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=1950+Marine+Dr,+West+Vancouver,+BC+V7V+1J8

The library is easily accessible via Highway #1 Upper Levels, taking either the 15th Street or 20th St. exits.

Coffee/Tea and snacks provided. Donations are greatly appreciated (but not required).

Please RSVP to <asbcnorthshore@yahoo.ca>.

Carol, Dragos and Tina
(Co-facilitators for ASBC North Shore Group)

[Wendy MacVinnie]

I am wondering if anyone has any tips / experience using an ipad to function as a portable visual schedule tool. Are there apps available that make this useful? I am hoping to create visual schedules and contingency maps for home, school, and outings for my 10 year old.

wmacvinnie@gmail.com

[nmalekpour]

Hi everyone,

our 3 years and 9 months old son has just been diagnosed with Autism. Does anyone have any recommendations for a good Board Certified Behavior Analyst(consultant)in Coquitlam area ? I've checked the ACT BC Website, but really don't know who's the best choice for us. I totally appreciate your help, we really feel devastated

please feel free to email me at : nazanin@mynazanin.com

[Theresa Jouan]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!LAST MINUTE REGISTRATION OPEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The ABLE Developmental Clinic INC
Present a course in:

SAFE MANAGEMENT of DISRUPTIVE AND ASSAULTIVE BEHAVIOR

A Practical Program for Parents and tutors focusing on the Safe Management of Disruptive and Assaultive Behavior. This program is designed for professionals and staff who deal with assaultive and / or crisis situations on a regular basis. It teaches prevention, de-escalation as well as non-violent physical intervention. In this instance, it is being offered for Parents and tutors of students with strong behavior excesses (self injury and aggression) who are associated with FEATBC and ABLE Developmental Clinic. Although the nature of the course is not ABA it is being presented for its value in principles related to non-violent physical intervention and the management of crisis situations. Parents and tutors of students with ASD are often placed in crisis situations as a result of the student’s diagnoses. This program is not a behavior program or behavior reduction intervention, but rather a training process for those instances when students are in crisis, safety is compromised (theirs and/or yours) and safe physical intervention is required. Individuals who attend and successfully complete this course will be receiving acknowledgement from the Crisis Prevention Institute for their completion.

The course will cover the following areas:
1. Crisis Development (Theory)
2. Non-Verbal Behavior (Theory)
3. Paraverbal Communication (Theory)
4. Verbal Intervention (Theory)
5. Precipitating Factors, Rational Detachment, and Integrated Experiences (Theory)
6. Staff Fear and Anxiety(Theory)
7. PERSONAL safety techniques (Practical Application and Training)
8. Non Violent Physical Crisis Intervention (Practical Application and Training)

This course is being presented by Nate Searle, who is not only a qualified behaviour analyst, but also a Certified Non Violent Physical Crisis Intervention Instructor and an associate with ABLE Developmental Clinic.

Nate Searle, M.S. BCBA
Behavior Analyst, Certified CPI Instructor

Mr. Searle is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst, an Associate at the ABLE Developmental Clinic Inc, and a Registered Autism Service Provider in the province of BC. Mr. Searle holds a Masters of Science in Applied Behavior Analysis from St. Cloud State University. Mr. Searle has 12 years of hands on experience, and has worked with a variety of clients who are vocal and non-vocal; beginning, intermediate and advanced learners; and children with various difficult behaviour profiles. Nate has worked in various cities and towns in British Columbia and the Yukon.

Throughout his career Nate has worked in home based, school and residential settings holding the titles of Behavior Analyst, Clinical Supervisor, Supervisor, School based Instructor, and Senior Behavior Instructor. He has had the opportunity to work with more than 50 clients, ranging in age from 2 years to 20 years of age and with a variety of diagnoses. Nate has worked under a dozen different consultants, including Dr. Richard Foxx and Dr. Michael Cataldo. His current areas of interest and research include anxiety, verbal behaviour, behaviour cusps and conditioning.

Details
Venue: St. Patrick’s School Gym
Address: 22561- 121st Ave. Maple Ridge BC V2X 3T5
Date: Saturday, December 1, 2012
Time: 8:30am to 5:30 pm
Registration and payment between 8 and 8:30 am (training starts immediately at 8:30).
Lunch: 1 hour break (on your own)
Seating: Limited to first 40 registrants; you must pre-register to participate
Cost: the workshop itself is free, however, participation and acknowledgement of completion incurs the following costs:
• Workbook required for each participant ($ 16 each) (CPI will provide the workbook; it is yours to keep when the course is complete).
• Facility rental $ 7.50 for us to use to train
• An administrative fee of $ 25.00
• Total: $ 48.50 due at registration.
As attendance is limited to 40 people you must pre-register. You can pre-register by emailing natesearle@gmail.com . You will receive an email back asking you to acknowledge association with FEATBC or ABLE and to acknowledge that 1 of 40 spots is to be held for you. Acknowledging that a spot should be held for you will make you responsible for the incurred expense of registering (as no one else can fill that spot, and I must pre-order all materials). Once you have confirmed participation this fee will be due regardless of your attendance on the day of training.
Subject line of email: CPI class Pre-registration

[Dione Costanzo]

Here is an article highlighting the success of ABA in schools. Edcom is a Surrey district publication. The link to the edition containing this article is here https://www.surreyschools.ca/ParentServices/EdComParentNewspaper/Documents/Edcom_November_2012.pdf

Edcom NOW – Volume 8, Edition 4
November 2012

When Nic Robins was in Grade 5, something happened that would change his life forever. He met applied behaviour analysis (ABA) support worker Craig Rudder. “Craig changed Nic’s life, and ours, too,” says Nic’s mom, Nancy Robins. “If it hadn’t been for ABA, Nic would probably be in an institution.”
A student at North Surrey Secondary, Nic is among a growing population of Canadian children with autism spectrum disorder, a neurological condition resulting in developmental disabilities. Autism affects communication, social understanding and behaviour and is the most common neurological disorder of childhood.

In Nic’s case, he used to scream all the time and spoke only a handful of words. Although he went to school and was cared for, he wasn’t learning anything. Robins believed Nic’s experience at school was the one step back to the two steps forward he was making with the behaviour interventionists Robins had hired to work with Nic at home.

“The last thing a parent of an autistic child wants to do is lose progress,” says Robins.

Applied behaviour analysis is the process of breaking tasks into small teachable parts and then reinforcing the learning and demonstration of those parts. This is done for life skills and academic work.

While Nic’s homebased specialist employed ABA, there were no such specialists working in public education in B.C. The Surrey School District recognized the value of ABA back in 2001 by providing training in applied behaviour analysis to education assistants. But that was only an interim measure as the district soon began working on a specific ABA training and certification program to be delivered by Surrey College. By September 2006 the first 20 dedicated ABA support workers were hired in the district. Today, the district has more than 100 ABA support workers, each working one-on-one with a child who has autism. So sought-after is their expertise that parents from Langley and Delta cross boundaries to send their children here.

“Nic’s not just going to school; he’s actually learning,” says Robins. “I know it sounds odd but because of Craig, he’s actually able to learn at school.”

At North Surrey Secondary, Nic learns functional and daily living skills with Rudder and also participates in the BASES (Building Academic, Social and Employment Skills) program as well as parts of the regular classroom curriculum.

“He’s leaps and bounds different from when fi rst met him,” says Rudder. “Socially is where he’s made some of the highest gains.” ABA is considered one of the most effective evidence based therapeutic approaches to treating children with autism, yet the Surrey School District is the only district in B.C. that has dedicated ABA support workers and offers training certification through its adult education arm, Surrey College.
“ABA is an evidence-based approach to teaching children with autism. The district supports this and parents have the choice of whether or not they wish to ask for this service,” says Cory McLaughlin, District Principal in Education Services.
Autism is on the rise and the Surrey School District is leading the way in accommodating the needs of children with autism spectrum disorders. Students in the ABA support worker program at Surrey College must have 500 documented hours of home-based ABA experience under an ABA consultant prior to entering the program, and another 500 hours before they can achieve their ABA certification to work in the school system.
“It’s a behavioural and academic program based on data collection and the observation of children,” explains McLaughlin.
Robins, who chairs the district ABA Advisory Committee, credits ABA for giving her son his life back and revealing him to be not just a boy with autism, but an artist, a conversationalist and a well-mannered teen who always holds the door for people at the grocery store.
“I can’t imagine what our lives would be like without ABA,” says Robins.
For his part, Rudder’s biggest reward is seeing Nic succeed. “Yes, my job is awesome.”
For more information, contact the District ABA Advisory Committee at ABAAdvisory@gmail.com.

[Author]

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