[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

[Adrienne Muller]

Hi.
I am very new to all of this, just trying to research information and get my son diagnosed! It is ridiculous how long it takes through the public system. I am looking into having him assessed privately.

One psychologist I am considering is Dr. Suzanne Jacobsen of the ABA centre. Does anyone have any experience with her? I would really appreciate some insight. Also, I understand she practices the "verbal behavioural" approach. Anyone have any experience with this?

Secondly, I am considering the ABLE clinic.. Dr. Ron Schmidt. Any experience??

I really appreciate some info. You can email me at jamuller@telus.net

Thanks

[Dione Costanzo]

Hello everyone,

I am the parent of a 4 year old boy, recently diagnosed as autistic.

I am looking for several line therapists to build our ABA team. Must be bright and energetic and available to work 3 or 4 2-hours shifts per week in the Surrey/Newton area. I am looking for commitment to attend monthly workshops/meetings and work with us for 1 year.

Please contact me if you are interested.

Also, if anyone has any comments/experience/advice regarding 1) Pivot Point agency in White Rock and/or 2) the Early Autism Project I would really appreciate any feedback from you.

Thank you and best wishes to all.

Dione mom to Christopher

dionec@shaw.ca

[Rosario Schrempp]

Hi
I am the aunt of a 6 year old diagnosed with autism. I have seen his parents go through great difficulties trying to get help as their son was finally diagnosed at approximate age 4.
I would like to find a parent support group in Richmond amd Langley (parent's home).

Rosario

[Eva Zhou]

Hi everyone, my son (2 years and 2 mons) has been diagnosed as Autism recently. I am looking for Behavior Interventionists to build our ABA team. We want the BI who has experience with young children with Autism, and is able to work 4 x 2 hour shifts (morning time preferred) each week, and attend monthly team meetings.We live in the Burnaby Edmonds area.

Qualifications are:

1. Patient, enthusiastic, energetic, and having experience to play with young children

2. Having ABA training experience with autism young children

3. Familiar with Verbal Behavior is preferred

4. Living near South Burnaby is preferred

5. Morning time available is preferred

6. Speaking both English and Chinese (Mandarin) would be an asset

7. Commit for a minimum of one year.

please contact evajzhou@hotmail.com

Thanks very much
Eva

[Alexei Trebounskikh]

Hello everyone!
We are looking for 2-3 line therapists to join a team working with cute 6-year-old boy with a potential for one of the therapists in the future to take over senior therapist's position.There is also a potential for one of them to work for in the school as a SEA
We are located in Burnaby, near Edmonds skytrain station and are working under supervision of the amazing consultant Rachel Russell.
We have morning and afternon shifts available.
Please e-mail Alexandra at alexsamofalova@gmail.com or call at 604-527-8045.
Thank you.
Alexandra
(Andrew's and Anthony's mom)

[Kam Sanghera]

Hi everyone, how are you? My name is Kam and
I am new to this discussion board, and in the last few weeks have become very interested in the process of behavior intervention. I have been working with a young boy for the last few years who has just recently been diagnosed with autism. I was just wondering if anyone could provide me with some detailed information about intervention therapies for non verbal children over the age of 6. I am particulary interested in feedback regarding pivot point, and also behavioral solutions inc located in vancouver bc. It's interesting because I have been a part of two different types of intervention therapies and have seen a drastic difference between the two therapies. Therefore I was just wondering if there are any families who could provide me with some of their experiences. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely
Kam
Kamlee1@Hotmail.com

[Nicole Harvey]

I am just wondering if anyone has compared the different Provinces programs and funding and if so what Province supplies the best services for their Autistic children?

[Jenn Ralph]

From today's National Post, Page A6…
Jenn

Autism program makes 'huge' difference
study: First major research finds nearly half became non-autistic
Article Tools
Printer friendly
E-mail
Font: * * * * Joseph Brean, National Post
Published: Saturday, November 11, 2006
MARKHAM – Ontario's program of intensive behavioural intervention for young autistic children is so effective that nearly half — 41%– of the mild to moderate autistics left the program as non-autistics, according to a new analysis.

It is the first accounting of success rates for the provincially funded program, which seeks to improve the social and cognitive functioning of autistic children by breaking down skills into discrete steps, and then teaching those through repetitive reinforcement.

Among severe autistics, 59% left the IBI program in the mild/moderate category, and 15% were classified as non-autistic. In all, three out of four children showed some measurable improvement, while a small but significant number, 7%, got worse, and 19% showed no change.

"Children are clearly having a lot more skills after the program than when they came," said Adrienne Perry, a York University psychologist who prepared the review independently with funding from the province. She presented the results yesterday to a conference in Markham, calling the success rates "a huge, huge effect size."

Children who started the IBI program at a younger age tended to do better, as did those who stayed in it for longer.

The results, compiled from the case files of 332 autistic children between the ages of two and seven (with five times as many boys as girls) showed that, across the board, their rates of development — as measured by a psychological test — roughly doubled during the treatment.

In her report to the province, Prof. Perry described it as "the largest (and one of the only) studies which demonstrates the effectiveness of IBI in a large and diverse community sample [as opposed to in ideal conditions with ideal candidates]."

Intensive Behavioural Intervention is a type of autism treatment specifically for young children, based on the wider practice of Applied Behavioural Analysis. It aims to track the behaviour of autistics, observe how changes to their environment change their behaviour, and then use those trends to teach practical skills by breaking them down into simple, repeatable steps.

It has been criticized for creating "robot-like" behaviour, and because it typically involves 20-40 hours of therapy per week, it is also very expensive.

It is also the only autism treatment that is experimentally proven to be effective, as opposed to other methods, such as psychoanalysis or treatments based on diet or drugs.

"Parents are desperate, so they try these, and by the time they get to a good behaviour analyst, they've wasted a lot of time," said Larry Williams, a professor of psychology at the University of Nevada, Reno, and a longtime autism researcher.

IBI "is worth it if you look at the long-term cost of an autistic child," he said.

In Ontario, IBI is run by nine centres across the province, each of which are contracted to the government.

The program has been controversial in Ontario because of its cost, and the role of the government in funding it, as was argued in the case of Wynberg et. al. v. Ontario. In that case, the Ontario Superior Court initially ruled that the province must extend autism treatment to children aged six and over, because to refuse treatment reinforced the notion that these children were "unredeemable." That decision was overturned this summer by the Ontario Court of Appeal, which ruled the government does not have to pay for extended treatment. This week, the plaintiffs filed leave to appeal that decision.
Joseph Brean, National Post
Published: Saturday, November 11, 2006
Prof. Perry acknowledged that her analysis of IBI's effectiveness has several shortcomings. It did not include a comparison group, for example, such as children who received no treatment or a different kind. It was based only on the first and final evaluations, and did not chart progress during the treatment. And because the results are new, there has been no long-term follow-up.

jbrean@nationalpost.com

© National Post 2006

[Jenn Ralph]

From today's National Post, Page A6…
Jenn

Autism program makes 'huge' difference
study: First major research finds nearly half became non-autistic
Article Tools
Printer friendly
E-mail
Font: * * * * Joseph Brean, National Post
Published: Saturday, November 11, 2006
MARKHAM – Ontario's program of intensive behavioural intervention for young autistic children is so effective that nearly half — 41%– of the mild to moderate autistics left the program as non-autistics, according to a new analysis.

It is the first accounting of success rates for the provincially funded program, which seeks to improve the social and cognitive functioning of autistic children by breaking down skills into discrete steps, and then teaching those through repetitive reinforcement.

Among severe autistics, 59% left the IBI program in the mild/moderate category, and 15% were classified as non-autistic. In all, three out of four children showed some measurable improvement, while a small but significant number, 7%, got worse, and 19% showed no change.

"Children are clearly having a lot more skills after the program than when they came," said Adrienne Perry, a York University psychologist who prepared the review independently with funding from the province. She presented the results yesterday to a conference in Markham, calling the success rates "a huge, huge effect size."

Children who started the IBI program at a younger age tended to do better, as did those who stayed in it for longer.

The results, compiled from the case files of 332 autistic children between the ages of two and seven (with five times as many boys as girls) showed that, across the board, their rates of development — as measured by a psychological test — roughly doubled during the treatment.

In her report to the province, Prof. Perry described it as "the largest (and one of the only) studies which demonstrates the effectiveness of IBI in a large and diverse community sample [as opposed to in ideal conditions with ideal candidates]."

Intensive Behavioural Intervention is a type of autism treatment specifically for young children, based on the wider practice of Applied Behavioural Analysis. It aims to track the behaviour of autistics, observe how changes to their environment change their behaviour, and then use those trends to teach practical skills by breaking them down into simple, repeatable steps.

It has been criticized for creating "robot-like" behaviour, and because it typically involves 20-40 hours of therapy per week, it is also very expensive.

It is also the only autism treatment that is experimentally proven to be effective, as opposed to other methods, such as psychoanalysis or treatments based on diet or drugs.

"Parents are desperate, so they try these, and by the time they get to a good behaviour analyst, they've wasted a lot of time," said Larry Williams, a professor of psychology at the University of Nevada, Reno, and a longtime autism researcher.

IBI "is worth it if you look at the long-term cost of an autistic child," he said.

In Ontario, IBI is run by nine centres across the province, each of which are contracted to the government.

The program has been controversial in Ontario because of its cost, and the role of the government in funding it, as was argued in the case of Wynberg et. al. v. Ontario. In that case, the Ontario Superior Court initially ruled that the province must extend autism treatment to children aged six and over, because to refuse treatment reinforced the notion that these children were "unredeemable." That decision was overturned this summer by the Ontario Court of Appeal, which ruled the government does not have to pay for extended treatment. This week, the plaintiffs filed leave to appeal that decision.
Joseph Brean, National Post
Published: Saturday, November 11, 2006
Prof. Perry acknowledged that her analysis of IBI's effectiveness has several shortcomings. It did not include a comparison group, for example, such as children who received no treatment or a different kind. It was based only on the first and final evaluations, and did not chart progress during the treatment. And because the results are new, there has been no long-term follow-up.

jbrean@nationalpost.com

© National Post 2006

[Dave Collyer]

Hi Tony,

Here is a link to a decent summary of Dr. Mottron's work: Summary .

Your point about ASD being a spectrum seems valid to me and the "neurodiversity" movements efforts seem to ignore this point.

I clearly don't understand all of the implications Mottron and company have presented but here is my understanding… The research that I have looked at to date seems to attempt to assess brain based diferrences. These differences could be looked as "disability" or "ability" I suppose but for me the bottom line is functional behavior and independence and how to promote both. Mottron's "neurodiversity" stance is interesting from an "academic" perspective but seems to offer little in the realm of research validating a specific intervention protocol (ok… I have not read ALL of the work in the area… jump in if you would like to clarify). I think both he and M. Dawson would say that "doing nothing" would be a form of neglect… but from there the arguement for "accepting the differences" seems to break down. The basic premise seems to be that these differences imply that folks with ASD learn differently. On this point I have no issue as my son with ASD clearly requires a very different instructional process (ABA) then my neurotypical son. Clearly ABA is not what Mottron and Dawson have in mind. The primary objection as I understand it seems to be both with ABA as a process and with the goal some ABA advocates endorse (cure…). Rather then seeing "cure" as a positive thing they see it as negative. From my perspective "cure" as a goal is a continuum of increasing functional skill development so I am not sure why this would be an issue (as it is the goal for all of our children… the process of socialization etc…). In one BBS "conversation" I had with M Dawson I think Michelle was suggesting that ABA was antithetical to how a person with ASD learns and that it in fact destroys the ASD leanring process/ability and that ABA destroys the person with ASD… as they are not "seperate from" the syndrome. Hmmm… I don't see it that way as ABA as an instructional method has clearly given my son so much (fledgling self help skills, communication skills, cognitive skills…).

… Michelle Dawson also alluded to differences in how to best support a child with ASD to learn… she was suggesting (I think… I am not sure I caught all of what she was trying to say) that Autisitics learn best via implicit learning modality as oppossed to explicit instruction (ie ABA). An interesting idea… but from my scan of the research base one with little support in terms of long term controlled research ( drcollyer123@mac.com if you have links to the work into this area… specific controlled studies looking at this approach to supporting a child with ASD is what I am interested in).

One final question/point… some within the neurodiversity movement assert that ASD is not a disability… and yet also accept long term disability benefits? I don't get it…

D.

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