[Deleted User]

FEAT of BC is pleased to announce registration is available for the Intermediate workshop in Vancouver.

Date: January 15

Time: 9:00 – 5:00

Place: Douglas College.

Prerequisite: a minimum of 3 months experience and attendence at either a FEAT BC basic workshop of that of a Qualified Lovaas Consultant. (This is to ensure that the audience is at a similar level so that time is not spent reviewing basic information). Parents are always welcome regardless of expeience level.

Registration forms can be downloaded at:
http://www.featbc.org/downloads/ibtw.pdf

In order to register you must list your experience level as well as where you have taken your basic workshop.

Please note that the intermediate workshop fills quickly. Space is extremely limited to allow us to provide a high amount of hands on practice with individualized feedback from the workshop instructors.

[Deleted User]

Tony, you are taking a big risk, and I say that with utmost respect! I agree with Avery, you have the opportunity to do it right and that opportunity will never come again. Your son is 2 1/2, start a thorough, quality program, work up to 40 hours a week and be consistent with your team and your son will have the best.

There are many parents out there who would be thrilled to have an opportunity for such a great start.

Think of it this way, in 1 year, 2 years, maybe even in a few months, your child will be ready to enter preschool and behave appropriately.

Here is an even better thought for you, a few months of focussed intervention, and your child may not whine at home (behond of course the normal whining one expects from a 2 year old!)

The best time to start school/preschool for a child in a home program is when your consultant advises that your child has the prerequisite skills.

Yes you might be allowing your child too much self-directed time if they are being allowed to follow their own agenda at school. Yes you might be building in a response of problematic behavior at preschool. Yes your Montessori or any other non ABA trained person may be allowing your child to respond inappropriately. (And by the way, your child may be demonstrating lower rates of problematic behavior at preschool because no one is expecting more from him. Perhaps at home you are giving your son challenges, expecting communication, stretching boundaries… perhaps at school they are not?)

It is so much easier to do it right the first time and SO much harder to undo mistakes.

Michelle
Been there, done that and if I knew then what I know now….

oh and btw might want to do a keyword search on montessori here on the FEAT board as it has been discussed in past discussions that this approach because it does not foster group interaction/social skills is not the best for our kids. Our kids are usually pretty good at following their own agenda, our goal is to teach them to follow everyone else's.

[Deleted User]

FEAT of BC intermediate workshop in Vancouver

Mark your calendars!

We are just confirming location details but barring unforseen circumstances, we will be teaching an intermediate workshop in Vancouver on January 15th. Registration forms will be posted shortly.

This workshop will not be offered again for at least 4 months, possibly longer and registration is limited to allow for one on one attention and hands on practice.

Details to follow soon

[Deleted User]

Just wanted to add a few comments on the idea of recovery…

I doubt there are any accurate stats on recovery in Canada because there is little if any quality research in this field occurring… Those doing research in this area have agenda's of their own.

Lovaas' research found that 47% of the children who participated recovered. As new parents we often look at that stat and think "great, my kids going to be one of those 47%" Its important however to point out that we are workign with less than optimal situations here.

1. lack of funding means less supervision from Consultant than a child might receive in a clinical setting

2. in Lovaas et al, tutors/instructors had higher level of training, here we are desperate to hire with families constantly looking and recruiting.

3. The role of the sr. instructor is to ensure that your child's programming is implemented correctly by all team members. You can have a fantastic consultant who provides phenomenal programming but if no one implements it correctly, your program will suffer. I can't stress enough the importance of a trained, experienced Sr. Instructor, too often people are in this role, because of desperate need in this area, before they are ready.

With these conditions, the 47% recovery rate is hard to achieve. Yes we are faced with a difficult road…Someone recently suggested to me that by talking about the success of the Lovaas study in light of the situation here, we set parents up to fail, that those conditions are unachievable.

To that I have to say ABSOLUTELY NOT!

We must always strive to the highest benchmark, what is the point in aiming for mediocre?! Take the conditions of the Lovaas study and do your best to recreate them.

The recovery rate under our conditions may not be 47% but as Nancy pointed out recovery is not all that there is. Huge gains and progress can be made, lives can be changed and dreams can be fulfilled without ever attaining recovery.

Maximize your program by getting as much training as possible and then ensure your team gets constant ongoing training as well.

Parental involvement is so important! But it is not the only factor and being involved and doing everything right doesn't' equal guaranteed recovery. I've seen children who have or will recover in involved homes and uninvolved homes and I've seen children whose parents work themselves to death and do everything right and their child will never recover.

Listen to your consultant and follow their directions – ask questions and explain your hesitations or concerns and work with them. An optimal program travels across all waking hours of the day. Parents and team and consultant should be one unit that works together.

If you've managed to snag a good Sr. Instructor who manages your team well, trains new instructors and implements programming correctly, hold on to them for dear life, they are a precious commodity.

Aim for Quality. There are good consultants and there are some whose knowledge base may not include adequate training. Quality over quantity.

and finally, I just wanted to add, and I've said this before, some of the children who have shone the brightest, who have moved my heart and inspired me with their resiliance, strength and personality are children who will never recover. For some of these kids, their gains are all the more impressive because they have fought so hard to achieve them.

Anyways just a few words of advice… my humble opinions!

Michelle
Proud Mother of 2 autistic children, 4.5 years of ABA, one recovered, both miraculous and awe-inspiring!

[Deleted User]

Almost Dried Up: Is Full Recovery From Autism Really Possible?
Monday, December 13; 7-9pm
West Vancouver Memorial Library
Peter J. Peters Room

We hope that you can join us Monday, December 13; 7-9pm at the West Vancouver Memorial Library in the Peter J. Peters Room for “Almost Dried Up: Is Full Recovery From Autism Really Possible?” — a powerful, positive and enlightening evening about beating the odds and coming out "looking indistinguishable" on the other end.

First, Jenny Obando will tell her story of her son’s hard-won recovery, using visual examples, on how their family tackled the tough reality that is Autism. She will share with us what went into her successful mix including her son’s starting points, challenges and her family’s personal sacrifices in overcoming her first child’s diagnosis and what life looks like at the other end. She also has a second child recently diagnosed who is in the beginning stages of an ABA program.

Second Speaker is Dr. Glen Davies of ABLE Developmental Clinic who will talk about the power and potential of ABA treatment and if full recovery from Autism or “coming out clean with no residuals” is really possible. Our last presenter is Janet O'Reilly who will come with son Russell Pearce who is one of the "Auton Four". Russell has long since completely lost his diagnosis, has no SEA, no special tutors or supports and in fact is not even aware that he once had Autism. We would appreciate that attendees **NOT** inform Russell of his past! Any questions regarding Russell's treatment or his recovery from Autism should be directed to his Mom Janet O'Reilly, **in private**, via email or phone.

We believe that this presentation will spread the message of Hope that treatment brings … something that is needed this Christmas season.

All are welcome: Parents, grandparents, friends, teachers, therapists, judges, politicians and Service Providers. Entrance is by donation; materials, coffee and treats are always supplied. We hope that you can join us for this truly extraordinary event.

With treatment there is hope. We will help you slay your giant!

Tamara + Anissa

[Deleted User]

I have been speaking to the HR dept at work, and here is what I turned up. I have copied and pasted an email from the site admin assistant at work. There are 1500 people that work in my building, I have collected 75 signatures for the petition, so far… more to come. Everybody I have spoken to has signed my petition, thus far.
I have been rather sick, and fairly busy with 2 autistic children, plus my NT child, so I figured the best way communicate my work's response was to give FEAT the info. If further info is required by me,
email: atlas_shrugging_now@yahoo.ca
work: (604) 702-5100/4977
home: (604) 703-0271
please contact me if I can help
Amie

__________________________________________________

Hi Amie,

I have been filled in on your situation and have been informed that you were given the ok to set up in the cafeteria to collect signatures for your petition during your days off. I thought it might be a better idea to have the petition set up at security since it can be there 24/7 and if you send me the information about the petition I can send an email to the site letting them know that it is there to sign.

Regarding having the organization to come in and collect donations…just get them to contact me and I can arrange a time for them to come in to the cafeteria.

Let me know your thoughts about the petition…its up to you…just thought you might get more signatures if its available to sign 24/7.

Regards,

Ann-Marie Blessin
Site Administrative Assistant
Chilliwack – Stream
(604) 702-5100 x2106

[Deleted User]

Hey Guys –

Just though I'd pipe in with 2 "thoughts":

1. What exactly happens to an individual who is born with a harelip that does not receive medical treatment? And how much does this corrective treatment cost? We know that with treatment one can go on to become the AG of BC…

And

2. If the Laws don't actually exist to protect our kids as we thought they did, then I think we need to get into politics and **create** the health care system we all thought we had. I also think that the judiciary needs reform too, so that the "spirit" of the law is upheld, not just the letter. WOW: with a diagnostic rate of 1 in 165 (and each of those individuals has parents, grandparents, etc)… and we are spread out across the land: sea to sea to sea.

So what I am suggesting is that we take some inspiration from the farmers (we have a Federal Minister of Agriculture and a national reimbursement program for Farmers to help them preserve their "quality of life" from year to year), the "Calendar Girls" and Jimmy Stewart in "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington". We're loud, we're smart, we're driven … and now that the courts have let us down we can not afford NOT to do this…

And why on earth would the rest of Canada **choose** to leave a morally bankrupt gang of Pirates (we know what they do to young children with Autism) to guard the health care till when they could have a Parent, a Mom or Dad, who has a track record of dedicating their focus to fixing their kid (not an easy thing), potentially selling off everything they have in the process, and then turning back to help others.

Bottom-line: ABA Parents **believe** in health care. We are use to making the absolute most of each and every dollar, without out cutting too much away so that no progress is made. And of doing the math (i.e. looking at a cost-benefit analysis and making a decision based on hard data) And isn't that someone you'd rather trust with the National and Provincial cash boxes, regardless of how Autism affects your life?!?!

So stay in Canada and fight for the right to reshape this country into the one you thought you had before November 19, 2004. There are elections just around the corner. No one said it would be easy, and others have demonstrated that they will not do our bidding, so now we must move the mountain …let’s make fully funded Autism Treatment happen in **this** lifetime.

Please consider and email taml@telus.net : Recovery Is Possible; but first we have to fix the system.

t

[Deleted User]

RE: walkathon

There are other FEAT groups in the US who do organize walkathons… I believe one of the groups in Texas does or Oregon… can't remember. CHeck out http://www.feat.org and you will find links to all chapters.

If they can do it, we can!

[Deleted User]

I've bee thinking.
What about a walk-a-thon? The issue is in the public at the moment, and now would be the time to raise our voices. The CIBC supports the walk for cancer, we may be able to gain support from a larger corp. If it were well organized, we may be able to enlist the help of other FEAT members accross the country. We may be able to get media coverage, and certainly we could raise funds….
We could approach student bodies at universities/colleges
Amie

[Deleted User]

An article from today's Globe and Mail:

Nobody said drawing the line is easy
Principle, not emotion, ruled when our top court refused to force B.C. to pay for a treatment for autistic kidsBy ANDRE PICARDThursday, November 25, 2004

The Supreme Court has done a great service to all Canadians by refusing to force British Columbia to fund a specialized treatment for autistic children.The decision is not cold-hearted or mean-spirited; on the contrary, it is principled and thoughtful. The court has stated, unequivocally, that the decision to fund or not fund specific health services is a matter for Parliament and provincial legislatures to determine.That governments should govern is a fundamental aspect of democracy. That the Supreme Court of Canada would forcefully restate that principle — without being distracted by the heart-wrenching plight of autistic children — is a welcome dose of common sense.
Now, hopefully, the ruling will inspire wishy-washy elected officials and their prevaricating bureaucrats to actually make some decisions. Governments need to show the same backbone as the court and get on with the business of reforming medicare in a systemic, sensible manner.
When the medicare system was created, only physician and hospital services were deemed medically necessary. The guarantee of these "core" services was later enshrined in the Canada Health Act. This, of course, has not stopped individual governments from providing more — home care, prescription-drug plans, palliative care, diagnostic imaging, physiotherapy, optometry and even the ABA/IBI treatment for autistic children (also known as the Lovaas method) that was at the root of the B.C. court case.
But it is clear that a publicly funded system cannot provide for every health-care need of every citizen, and the decision to fund programs, or not, remains at the discretion of government.
The problem is not with the principle itself, which is sound. The problem is that, over the years, funding has been decided in a piecemeal fashion.
Every review of the medicare system since its inception has underscored this problem. Governments need to decide what is in the basket of services — essentially, what is funded by medicare and what is not. More importantly, they need to create a mechanism for determining what will be added (and removed) from the basket of services so that medicare remains a flexible, vibrant social program — one that can react swiftly instead of dithering.
Right now, the legislative underpinning of our medicare system is caught in a time warp, a 1950s model of health care being delivered exclusively by doctors and hospitals.
There is no question that the Canada Health Act must be amended, or supplemented by additional legislation.
But the response to the autism ruling has been cynical and misguided. There have been calls to amend the Canada Health Act specifically to include autism treatment. That approach is ridiculous: Are we going to amend the law each time a new treatment comes along?
Many people seem to have missed the point and the importance of the Supreme Court ruling. The court did not rule on the validity of Lovaas treatment. Canada's top justices are not child-haters, nor are they discriminating against autistic children.
The reality is that there are many perfectly valid therapies that are not funded, or only partially funded (and some dubious ones that are) in various jurisdictions. Is partial funding for the treatment of autistic children really any different from partial funding of home-care services for people with Alzheimer's?
The reality is that we have too few ways of measuring the benefits — absolute, relative and cost-effective — of new technologies and therapies. There are some superb scientific agencies such as the Canadian Co-ordination Office for Health Technology Assessment, but they can examine only a tiny minority of techniques. (And CCOHTA's report on autism treatment is worth reading: It gives the Lovaas treatment for autistic children a lukewarm review, saying it appears to benefit preschoolers but notes that much of the methodology of studies is of dubious quality.)
What is required, beyond objective scientific studies, is a decision-making body, one that decides what should be included in the basket of services. A good model for this is the Canadian Expert Drug Advisory Committee, an independent group that counsels the provinces on which prescription drugs should be covered by government drug plans.
The important underlying issue, of course, is that governments need to make decisions — and make them promptly and in a transparent manner. Health-care dollars are not unlimited, and provinces and territories need to be able to allocate scare resources as they see fit, even if doing so is going to upset some people.
The last thing we need is for the courts to be deciding, on a case-by-case basis, what the medicare system should cover.
apicard@globeandmail.ca

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