[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

[Super Dad]

North Shore ASBC Lecture Series

The North Shore ASBC Support Group proudly presents:

a presentation on
Occupational Therapy and ABA
Incorporating Occupational Therapy into a Behavioural Therapy Program

by
Jessica Fung, OTR/L

at
7:00pm, Tues Oct 19

in the
Cedar Room
in the North Building of the
Delbrook Recreation Centre

GUEST SPEAKER:
Jessica is a highly regarded Occupational Therapist who has previously worked for many years as a behaviour therapist. Due to her exceptional skills in both disciplines, she is considered by many to be the ideal Occupational Therapist for children in ABA programs.

TOPIC:
ABA is a highly effectively method for teaching skills to children with ASD, while Occupational Therapy covers highly important skills to be taught. While behaviour consultants have tried different ways of incorporating various therapies into ABA programs, in theory there is an ideal way. Our presenter will discuss the theory, as well as the realities of cooperation among the professionals and families involved.

The presentation will address the following:
1) What is OT? How can it be relevant to my child's overall development?
2) How is it incorporated into an existing or non-existing ABA, home-based program?
3) What are the key ingredients to successfully incorporating OT and ABA programs?
4) Other questions/comments from the audience!

DATE:
Tuesday, Tues Oct 19, 2010

TIME:
7 – 9 pm

LOCATION:
Cedar Room, in the North Building of the Delbrook Recreation Centre
600 West Queens Road, North Vancouver
http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=600+West+Queens+Road,+North+Vancouver,+British+Columbia

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)

[Super Dad]

Better (very) late than never…

North Shore ASBC Lecture Series

The North Shore ASBC Support Group would like to thank the following people who have so graciously donated presentations for the 2009/2010 series:

Sept 2009:
Mike Hancock and Harmony House – Supporting our children in school: the law, the IEP, and the advocacy

Oct 2009:
Hoa Chan – Joint Attention and Social Stories

Nov 2009:
Jenny Gorton – Social Thinking and Language Issues

Dec 2009:
Dr. Terre J. Glahn – Anxiety In Autism

Jan 2010:
Kathryn Theroux – When to disclose the diagnosis to your child with autism

Feb 2010:
Katie Allen – Functional Analysis for Parents

Mar 2010:
Dr. Sara White – Maltreatment Prevention

Apr 2010:
Dr. Lauren Binnendyk – Food Refusal in Children With Autism

May 2010 (in joint meeting with Burnaby group):
Early Autism Project – Trips without Tears

June 2010:
Nancy Walton and Sharon Baxter – ABA in the Classroom – What it Can Look Like with Support from the School District

We would also like to thank all the parents and professionals who have attended the meetings as the audience.

If there is any specific topic that interests you, please send us an email:
ASBCNorthShore@yahoo.ca

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

[Nancy Walton]

I have a friend who is interested in using Pacific ABA Academy for consultant and therapy services. If anyone has previous experience with them, please e-mail me at wiklo(at) shaw.ca

Thanks

[Mike & Jean]

There are two excellent newspaper articles in today's, Vancouver Province and Victoria's Times Columnist that I recommend everyone read.

The Times Columnist, "Why care about therapy for kids with autism"? written by Chris MacIntosh. He very accurately lists some of the most important and obvious reasons for treatment funding.

The Province, "There's not enough funding for autism treatment" written by our very own Dione Costanzo. This well written and concise essay begins by identifying the biggest problem for people with autism and their families in Canada today…"autism treatment is not covered under Medicare". She goes on to outline how the government's limited funding, (which exists because of the Auton litigation) can be removed with "the stroke of a pen". Well said and how true, Dione! I encourage you to read both articles because they accurately define the most fundamental obstacle to our children's well-being and basic human right – access to healthcare.

Like every other Canadian, our children should have a right to access all the equality provisions including health care, as prescribed in our Charter. Litigation and focused, purposeful, political advocacy have been successful in securing limited funding in BC. However, as Dione accurately points out – it is not protected and is already being eroded by the "invoice payment plan" which many of us "old-timers" warned and railed against when it was devised one year ago. I, along with others predicted the outcome we see today…and…sadly folks, I fear there's more "erosion" on the way. So – Parents, what's the solution? Purposeful and focused political action or more plainly – get active! First and foremost, our children's treatment must be enshrined and protected from the whims of bureaucrats/politicians. It needs to be universally accessible and covered under Medicare. Secondly, we need law/legislation which protects our children's basic human rights, similar to the ADA (Americans with Disabilites Act) in the US. How do we achieve these things? By getting informed and getting active! "Medicare for Autism Now! exists for the sole purpose of securing what the name states. The Civil Rights Now! Society, formerly know as the Paladin Advocacy League was created very recently to advocate for ADA-type law in BC. If you want to take action, rather than wait for the bureaucrats to decide your child is no longer worthy of treatment, education etc., I encourage you to get involved. In BC, parents have won some strategic battles to end the discrimination against our children but, there are more battles for us to win before we are victorius in the war our own government is waging against our children.

[Super Dad]

Reminder…

North Shore ASBC Lecture Series

The North Shore ASBC Support Group proudly presents:

a presentation on
Your Child’s Legal Rights in the BC School System
The School Act and the Hewko Decision

by
Mike Hancock, parent and lawyer

at
7:00pm, Tues Sept 21

in the
Cedar Room
in the North Building of the
Delbrook Recreation Centre

GUEST SPEAKER:
Mike is a parent of a child with autism, and a former in-house counsel for the Vancouver School Board. He has also previously worked in private practice with a focus on education law. He will review our children's right under the School Act.

DATE:
Tuesday, Sept 21, 2010

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)

[Nancy Walton]

Calling all Therapists or Behaviour Interventionists and SEA/Support Workers.

Parents, please pass this on:

The ABA Support Network would like to encourage therapists to become members of our organization, so they can receive specific e-mails about presentations, conferences and current issues in BC.

Membership is free. Go to http://www.abasupportnetwork.com. We will often have e-mails that will go to therapist members only. This is a great way to be involved in your community and in your future.

For example, Deb Antifaev recently asked for feedback from therapists on problems with the Invoice system through Autism Funding. In the future, we would like to e-mail therapists directly about getting such feedback.

Don't let your therapists miss out. Pass this message on to them today.

[Super Dad]

We’re back!

North Shore ASBC Lecture Series

The North Shore ASBC Support Group proudly presents:

a presentation on
Your Child’s Legal Rights in the BC School System
The School Act and the Hewko Decision

by
Mike Hancock, parent and lawyer

at
7:00pm, Tues Sept 21

in the
Cedar Room
in the North Building of the
Delbrook Recreation Centre

GUEST SPEAKER:
Mike is a parent of a child with autism, and a former in-house counsel for the Vancouver School Board. He has also previously worked in private practice with a focus on education law. He will review our children's right under the School Act.

DATE:
Tuesday, Sept 21, 2010

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)

[Super Dad]

The North Shore ASBC Support Group
is taking requests for topics
for the 2010/2011 lecture series.

We will do our best to invite speakers
available to present the information you need.

Thank you for your support

email: tony.tamer@yahoo.com

[Jenn Ralph]

…more good evidence for ABA….good article.
Jenn

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/08/100825174116.htm

[Dione Costanzo]

Celebration of Life for Dr. Ivar Lovaas

Save the Date – September 23, 2010 7-9pm

Lovaas, a distinguished professor of psychology at UCLA, a pioneer in the research and development of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy to treat children with autism, and the founder of the Lovaas Institute (http://www.lovaas.com), died on August 2nd at age 83.

Parents and professionals in BC will gather on this special evening to pay tribute to Dr Lovaas and review the history of his work and ABA as a treatment for autism.

Hear from the parents who founded FEAT of BC, brought ABA treatment into this province and continue to fight for universal access to science based treatment for all individuals who need it. Thanks to litigation by parents in the past we are able to access funding for autism services today.

Share your own story about what Lovaas and ABA has done for you and your family.

Topic: Celebration of Life for Dr. Ivar Lovaas

Guest Speakers:

Dr. Glen Davies, Director of ABLE Developmental Clinic

Dr. Sabrina Freeman, Parent and Founding Director of FEAT-BC

Jean Lewis, Parent and Founding Director of FEAT-BC

Location: Surrey Sport and Leisure Arena – Meeting Room #2

RSVP: dione@abasupportnetwork.com

[Author]

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