[Deleted User]

The FEATBC office has been receiving lots of calls regarding tomorrows Therapist workshop.

Yes, we will be accepting registration at the door. We have a small number of spaces available as we have booked a larger room for this workshop than last time. Please bring a cheque payable to FEAT of BC.

Registration will start at 8:30 and will be first come first serve. We will do our best to squeeze in everyone.

See you tomorrow morning.

Michelle Karren

[Deleted User]

Thanks Stephen – well said. Just a quick comment though on "Premier Campbell doesn't think the government is in contempt."

The dictionary definition of 'contempt':
1. Disparaging or haughty disdain, as for something base or unworthy; scorn.
2. The state of being despised or dishonored; disgrace.
3. Open disrespect or willful disobedience of the authority of a court of law or legislative body.

Well, let's see now.

1. "haughty disdain" for the court's jurisdiction in protecting children's equal right to health care insurance… yup!
2. is the court "despised " and "dishonored" by the senior MCFD special needs bureaucrats… yup!
3. is the government "willfully disobedient of the authority of the court" by ignoring the many directives to provide full and universally accessible funding for medically necessary autism treatment… yup!

Looks pretty clear from where I sit.

[Deleted User]

For those interested, I have made the following (unofficial) transcript of a portion of the previously mentioned recording of this morning's Bill Good show on CKNW, with Gordon Campbell on the air talking about a sweeping range of current issues. This was followed a short time later by a phone call (I believe it was from Jean Lewis), in which the premier confirmed that he did not believe his government was in contempt of court. (I haven't transcribed the phone call and response.)

[GOOD] Autism: Three court decisions have told your government it's a health care issue that the families need specific early intervention fully funded by government. You continue to stall; why?

[CAMPBELL] No, we've increased funding for autism and we will continue to try to provide for individual care for people with autism. We're trying to include parents in doing that; there are individual opportunities for parents to be part of looking at the care regime that their children have, and we're going to continue to do that.

[GOOD] But the B.C. Supreme Court said you should fully fund the families until a higher court decides the case or the or the lower court case is overturned and the families insist that you haven't done that.

[CAMPBELL] Well … no … my understanding —

[GOOD] Jean Lewis was here yesterday and saying that you've broken your promise, a promise you made first of all when you were in opposition, not to appeal those decisions.

[CAMPBELL] Well, I … didn't promise not to appeal, I said I couldn't understand why the government was appealing, but I understand why they would think that. There are some major issues that are involved with this with regards to the courts we are trying to respond to the needs of families, we've increased the funding for autism across the province, we've tried to individualize those supports and the Attorney General is carrying out unfortunately the task that he has to do to maintain the framework for health care decision making that we have in the province.

[GOOD] But can't it be argued that you are in contempt of court by not paying for by not paying the families now, at least until the appeal is heard at the Supreme Court level in March?

[CAMPBELL] Not as far as I know, no.

[Deleted User]

I just posted regarding Bill good's interview with Gordon Campbell this morning, and would like to add that I'm referring to this morning's segment, Thursday the 25th, not the interview (awesome, by the way) with Jean Lewis yesterday.
Thanks to anyone with any more info.

[Deleted User]

Did anyone happen to hear Premier Campbell on CKNW this morning with Bill Good? I only caught the tail end, but I THINK Premier Campbell said that he was NOT aware of the court rulings regarding autism funding. Hard to believe! Did anyone else happen to hear this discussion?
Thanks!

[Deleted User]

With the FEAT therapist workshop coming up this week, we’ve been receiving some emails and calls from those who are interested in a more “intermediate” workshop. It sounds like a great idea! It would be geared to those who have attended a beginners workshop (FEAT or otherwise) and/or have worked in the field for at least 3 months. Parents are always welcome though, even if they do not meet these pre-requisites.

From the comments I’ve heard so far there seems to be a need for more detail on:
§ data collection including techniques, customizing data forms for particular programs,
§ putting terminology into practice, how it all relates (this would expand on what we cover in the beginner workshop.)
§ more hands on practice, particularly with trial by trial data while delivering effective therapy. (in the beginners workshop we work on implementing Discrete trial techniques but don’t ever have time to practicing data collection at the same time. It sounds like many of you would like further practice with this)
§ More detail on generalizing concepts
§ Organization: data collection, filing, stimuli, room in general
§ Professionalism and Confidentiality (this is an on-going topic that should be addressed in each and every workshop – so important!!)
§ The key features to an effective team and how to train up a team to these standards
§ Training new team members (that could be a workshop in itself!)
§ Team meetings: the importance of them, the goals to work towards and how to effectively run a meeting

I’d like to get a feel for how many people are interested in something along these lines and other topics you might be interested in having included. I can not guarantee that we would teach them all and as we have not even attempted to clear a weekend in our schedules and I can’t guarantee that the course will go ahead immediately but your feedback would be appreciated.

You can email me directly at mkarren@telus.net

[Deleted User]

I've done alot of laminating over the years too but a pretty crude version compared to the high tech stuff I've been reading about the past few days.

When we were working with our son, trying to build a greater understanding of emotion and feelings, I took alot of pictures of my him with a polaroid camera in order to use his own image as a visual reference and therapy aid. If he was happy and smiling I took a picture of that and I did the same with other emotions, like sadness and anger. Digital cameras would be perfect for this. The important thing I believe was to be able to take the picture and show it to him right away. It really began to speed up his "processing" of emotion and understanding of it because there was such a short lag time between the expression and him seeing it for himself on his own face. He has been able to generalize this to other people and has gotten fairly adept at reading quite overt facial expressions and even more subtle body language. I can walk across the room and he'll be able to infer if I'm troubled or upset and say
"What's the matter Mom?"

[Deleted User]

This is a great thread! For an even less expensive version of Mac Tac…try looking for generic brands at local dollar stores. The clear is great, and sometimes you can pick up a roll for one dollar! (The role may not be the same size as Mac Tac though).
Just a tip!

[Deleted User]

While we are talking gadgets we can't live without… I highly recommend a printer that can colour photocopy/scan/fax.

it sounds expensive and ridiculous but it has been a lifesaver for us.

When our last printer died and untimely death, we had to buy a new one so we decided to get one that could photocopy. I strive to be organized but sometimes I forget to do things… and photocopying was one of those tasks that I was always rushing out at the last minute to do. This way our case managers can easily copy however many are needed. While we don't do super large copy runs on it, it saves us in the mean time.

When we do worksheets like sensible pencil, we like to make copies of the original. In the past we would copy lots of each sheet and if the child moved on quickly there would be wasted pages that we had no use for. Now we simply make a few copies and copy more as necessary.

We have also used it to make pec type schedules on magnet paper (pecs on your fridge instead of on a velcro strip, handy for some situations) we have used it to shrink photos down to creat PECS or to enlarge photos for presentations; I also make my overheads for my workshops on it etc etc.

its particularly handy for me as I am a nightowl and do most of my work after 10:00 at night and living in the boons (otherwise known as maple ridge) there are no 24 hour kinkos around. THere isn't even a kinkos. its alot easier for me to do my work at 10:00 in my pj's at home then to scrambling to make it to staples before they close.

our photocopier is constantly in use and I frequently wonder how on earth I survived without it! My team is positively enamored with it. My senior's practically cartwheeled across the yard when it was set up.

And in regards to making flashcards and other materials on the computer, I would highly recommend the professional version of Picture This. Picture this is great because it contains photos of many of the standards (little tykes, fisher price, popular food items such as chicken nuggets and m and m's). It also has actions, emotions, sequencing… and yes it is available from different roads to learning.

And a gadget I don't have but if I was starting over (which thankfully I am not!) I would definately invest in a laminator. I know that those who have laminators use them incessantly.

Michelle

[Deleted User]

Sabrina, Thanks for pointing out the reason certification can be good. Poor practitioners can have certification revoked. I don't understand why you feel that the certification process in place now and advocated by FEAT members across North America is inadequate to qualify the Lovaas ABA consultants that are already certified (and their organizations Directors) operating within our province today. If a family was to complain to the certification board there would be an investigation and ultimately the certification can be revoked if ethical conduct governing Certified Behavior Analysts was violated. What can be better for the parent consumer?
There is no such thing as 'Generic' Board certification. Working outside ones area of competence is contrary to the ethical conduct governing Certified Behavior Analysts and as such would lead to having certification revoked. That is why there are no Certified Behavior Analysts who didn't specialize in autism treatment taking on clients in this province or any other area. The only autism treatment consultants out there who are incompetent of delivering quality ABA are definitely not certified. Thus we are more likely to be invaded by space aliens than Board Certified Behavior Analysts that specialize in self injurious behavior or animal training trying to sell their services to our kids.
As for fluency I never brought it up here and haven't discussed it, everyone else did. My only mention of the word was a direct qoute of what you said. I was talking about certification and i also tried to clarify the omnipresent theme that appears here from time to time that ABA isn't effective science based treatment for children with autism without Ivar Lovaas's name stamped all over it. I think every Lovaas ABA consultant operating in BC uses at least some components within their clients programs that would never be advocated by Lovaas and certainly aren't found in his publications. I am not saying that Lovaas ABA isn't good, its great, in fact I paid for it for my own child. I cannot tolerate people stating that any other ABA protocol or technique but Lovaas is 'snake oil' though because that is a blatant untruth. In the end what makes autism treatment effective is the quality of the ongoing behavior analysis behind the treatment plan and the training and proficiency of the childs team in implementing the treatment plan as it relates to his/her specific individual needs.
I thank you for the privilege to post, and appreciate the support you have given our family and child and so many others. I do however agree with you that on some things we disagree.

Alex Barclay

[Author]

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