[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

[Deleted User]

AUTISM BEHAVIOURAL THERAPIST TRAINING WORKSHOP

FEAT of BC Island Chapter is sponsoring a 1-day workshop on the implementation of behavioural treatment of autism spectrum disorders based on the techniques of Lovaas-style ABA.

The workshop will include general information on autism and behavioural theory, but will focus primarily on the practical aspects of delivering effective behavioural autism treatment.

Topics to be covered:
· discrete trail techniques
· basic principles of behaviour modification therapy
· data collection
· commonly used behavioural analysis terminology

Who can benefit from this workshop:
· present and potential behavioural therapists
· classroom assistants
· aides or other individuals interested in working with children with autism spectrum disorders.

DATE: Saturday, November 8, 2003
TIME: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
LOCATION: University of Victoria
COST: $25.00
PRESENTERS: Senior Behavioural Instructors Theresa Tournemille and Michelle Karren.

More information and registration details at http://www.featbc.org/downloads/abtw.pdf

[Maureen St. Cyr]

Robin, thank you for putting it so well. If it were not for the
many hours Sabrina and Jean spent helping Maureen and I
get this all sorted out, Ariel would today still be sitting in
the corner, rocking, bobbing and doing just about nothing.
Instead, she is talking, has friends, rides a bicycle, and is
enjoying her life. Yes we have a long way to go, but she
gets there, a little more each day, and she loves her
therapists and consultants and her Lovaas-ABA programs.
And she now has her name on a court judgement which will
hopefully help the next generation of children avoid some
of the battles we have had to fight…battles which would
never have been won without Sabrina Freeman. Every parent
of a child with autism in this country owes her a debt of
gratitude which can never properly be repaid.

[Jeff and Robin]

I have followed with great interest the posts on this board over the last week with mixed emotions; anger at the ill conceived ramblings of those who blatantly attack parents in this province who have fought hard for scientific based medically necessary autism treatment and disbelief at the thinly veiled barbs aimed at Sabrina Freeman who singlehandedly took up the cause nine years ago in B.C. on behalf of all of our children. To those parents whose children have reaped the benefits of Dr. Freeman's efforts and who now receive funding for their programs, let me tell you that the treatment situation in this province was very different ten years ago. There was no FEAT of BC, government providers were sucking up government dollars and none of was being expended on treating our kids. I know this- my now fourteen year old son was the beneficiary of those horrific policies. Nine years ago Sabrina Freeman sat in my house and shared her far reaching vision for children with autism which encompassed trained Lovaas ABA practictioners working locally, removing the need to bring in out-of-country consultants at exorbitant costs to parents, and hundreds, albeit even thousands of families in this province having the resources to run home based Lovaas ABA programs for their children and the creation of an Autism chair at one of our local universities. At the time, there were only two families, hers and mine running home based programs but hundreds of parents crying out for scientific based treatment for their children. The rest, shall we say, was history and FEAT of BC, a small grassroots organization was born. Sabrina Freeman has painstakingly dedicated thousands of hours at great cost on every level to work tirelessly for the children of this province. For those of you who choose to follow a different path for your children in terms of treatment modalities, that is your right as parents. You are, however, missing the bigger picture. FEAT of BC's mandate has always been to support scientifically based autism treatment of which Lovaas ABA is considered the gold standard and best practice. If you wish to promote your preferred treatment modalities, chose your own forum. Create your own organization and be prepared to put in the thousands of hours of work, expending your own financial resources and talking to every parent of a newly diagnosed child. Don't denigrate Sabrina Freeman whose hard work has benefited all of your children. Sabrina, my friend, I want to publicly take this opportunity to thank you for all your energy and hard work on behalf of all our children.

Robin Gelfer

[David Chan]

Well, as you all may know Mr. P is quite
hyper-verbal, which is to stay he talks, and
talks and talks and talks most of the time
about things that he's seen, heard,
experienced etc.

finally, we couldn't hack it anymore so our
consultant designed a program for topic
maintenance.

hmmmmmmm

Mr. P's Dad
Glad he's talking, but…………

P.S. This may apply to the chat board of
late……

[Mike & Jean]

This post is in response to several queries I have had from parents with respect to legal information being dispensed on the FEAT website.

To clarify:

. The FEAT of B.C. organization has no lawyer on
retainer.

It should be understood that there are many parents of children with autism who are lawyers and have their own very definite and very individual opinions regarding the Auton/Anderson litigation. Several are directly involved with the Auton/Anderson litigation because they sit on the legal steering committee. All of these parents/lawyers have chosen not to disclose their professional or private views, or give legal advice regarding these cases on the FEAT website or any other public chat room for the following very important reason:

This matter is still before the courts. It is scheduled to be heard by the Supreme Court of Canada in March, 2004. In addition, a new development has occurred as of Sept. 18/03, the B.C. Government filed a notice of appeal for the Anderson decision of Aug. 22/03.

We all have a long road ahead of us in the courts. It has already been a long road for all of us involved in the Auton/Anderson cases, but the road will lead to success for all our children. Commentary on the possible consequences to our children by the Supreme Court of Canada and now, the B.C. Court of Appeal is purely speculative. How this will all play out is unknown until the Supreme Court of Canada makes its decision. Further speculation on the possible outcomes of these cases while they are still before the courts are not helpful in my opinion.

If you would like to know who is acting for the Auton/Anderson families and would like further clarification regarding these cases, please contact me directly.

Hopefully common sense, discretion and respect for the Auton/Anderson familes who have already paved a long, hard road on behalf of all of your children will prevail here.

I will not engage in any on-line anonymous or otherwise debate regarding this post. All of our children's futures are at stake.

Thankyou for your attention.

Jean Lewis – Director, FEAT of B.C
jean.lewis@telus.net

[Deleted User]

I want to provide some information about Fluency Based ABA for those of you who are interested. Fluency Based Instruction, like Discrete Trial Teaching is based on the work of B.F. Skinner and his book “Verbal Behavior” which was published in 1957.
The following components are included in a Fluency based ABA program:
– Skills are established
– Skills are practiced daily
– All practices are timed
– (All) Performance is graphed on the Standard Celeration Chart
– Every three data points are assessed
– Changes are made when the student's learning does not grow
– Outcomes of Fluency (RESA) are empirically validated
A range of instructional procedures are used to establish skills such as:
– Discrete Trial Teaching
– Direct Instruction
– Errorless Learning procedures
– Discrimination Training
– Incidental Teaching
Instruction may be delivered in a variety of arrangements:
– whole class
– small group
– 1:1
– Teacher led
– Therapist led
Outcomes Data (RESA) – A skill is not considered mastered until it has passed these 4 checks
– Retention
– Endurance
– Stability
– Application
The use of ABA in treating children with autism began with Dr. Lovaas’ research 30 years ago but did not become universally known to the majority of people until Catherine Maurice published her book “Let Me Hear Your Voice” in 1993. In other words, if there had been no Ivar Lovaas there may be no research, if there had been no Catherine Maurice no one would know about it. We have both of these people to thank as well as the many hard-working researchers and practitioners in the field of ABA who are dedicating their lives to improving the lives of our children with autism. Fluency Based ABA is relatively new to the field of scientific treatment of autism but should not be dismissed as experimental and lumped together with non-scientific treatments such as Floor time, swimming with the dolphins, music therapy, etc. Although I can’t begin to express myself as intellectually or eloquently as Sabrina I know from my experience that my son’s Fluency Based ABA program has made “THE” difference in skill acquisition, mastery and generalization. Fluency is the way we take data, make data based decisions and structure teaching sessions. It can be used in conjunction with a LOVAAS program. My purpose for posting here is to demystify Fluency Based ABA for those of you who have shown an interest in this information. If we dismiss this method of ABA, which is relatively new but does have published peer reviewed data to support it, we would be making the same mistake as people who dismissed Lovaas’ work when it was relatively new 25 years ago.
I am and will always be grateful for the work of Dr. LOVAAS and the support of FEATBC when my son was diagnosed over 6 years ago. Back then, FEATBC was a very new organization and not a lot of families were doing ABA programs for their children with autism. We have all grown a great deal over the years and our similarities are greater than our differences. I’ve always believed that we have enough to do without fighting amongst ourselves.
Very respectfully,

DeeDee Doyle – with an apology to Sabrina for posting this after your request to take it somewhere else.

[Nancy Walton]

Hi Everyone,

Just a reminder of the Early Autism Project presentation "Theory of Mind" that will be presented Thursday, Sept 11, 7-9pm at the Surrey/Delta ASBC meeting. Our meetings take place at the Semiahmoo House Society, a lovely two story building at

15306 24th Ave, South Surrey.

To get there go south on 152nd towards White Rock, turn Left on 24th Ave and right on 153rd Street. Parking is off 153rd. However, I have had almost 50 people tell me they are coming (I have seating for 70) so I recommend you carpool. There is parking on 24th in front of the building and along 153rd Street. People coming west on 24th Ave will not be able to make a left turn on to 153rd, so you might try parking in the London Drugs parking lot across the street.

see you there. If you haven't told me you are coming, please e-mail me. Those who already have, I have contacted you.

Nancy Walton

[Deleted User]

Does anyone know of a reputable DAN! Dr. or a Clinical Ecologist in the lower mainland?
Please email me at magnolias@telus.net if you have any info.
Thanks

[FEAT BC Admin]

Families for Early Autism Treatment of British Columbia (F.E.A.T. B.C.)is sponsoring a one-day workshop on the basics of Lovaas style Applied Behavioural Analysis — the Autism Behavioural Therapist Training Workshop at S.F.U.

–> https://featbc.org/downloads/abtw.pdf

The workshop will include general information on autism and behavioural theory but will focus mainly on the practical aspects of delivering effective behavioural autism.

Who can benefit from this workshop:

– Present and potential instructors
– Parents
– Teaching Assistants/Special Education Assistants/Aides
– Other individuals working with children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Topics covered include the terminology and theory of Lovaas-style ABA, the art of reinforcement, when and how to prompt, an overview of a variety of different teaching processes, a practical look at maintenance and generalization, commonly used behaviour terminology and
practices, professionalism and confidentiality and making data collection manageable.

To register for the workshop, please download a flyer at this address and mail to FEAT BC:

–> https://featbc.org/downloads/abtw.pdf

[Nancy Walton]

Re: Gluten/Casein free diet. I wrote on this a while back. See my old posting in General Topics, Sept 24th and a follow-up posting on Oct 1st.

Nancy Walton (Casey's still calm mom)

[Author]

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