[Deleted User]

Hi. What can people tell me about the Able Clinic? I've heard good things about them. Anyone care to comment?

[Deleted User]

Does anybody know the website for accessing the BC Supreme court ruling in the recent Anderson et al. case?

[Deleted User]

I noticed that most of the posts re: Laurel Group are very critical and negative. I wanted to ask other parents what specifically you might say about Laurel either good or bad. I received an email from a parent – part of which I will attach below this post – extolling Laurel. Would anyone care to respond to these comments and also to say anything you care to about Assessment of Basic Language and Learning Skills (ABLLS)??
….
The following is the email message:
We have a 5 1/2 year old girl with
autism
and have been running an ABA program for two years. She has gained so
much.
When she was diagnosed at 3 her developmental levels were 9months to
12months. At age five they were at the 3 year old level!!! Very good
gains… We are currently training the local school staff as
therapists, as
the school as agreed to try discrete trial for 4 out of 5 school days
for
her kindergarten year…

The reason why I am emailing you is that we use Laurel House or MAPCL
we
have always used their services, I have not tried another agency. I
know
that on FEAT they are not popular. However, I have found them to be
excellent. If your very clear that you want discrete trial not just
behavoiur intervention that is exactly what you will have, remember
with
any consultant to be clear about this. In addition they have just
trained
their consultants in the ABLLS Ciriculum. Go and look at the website
"Learning to Learn with Stars" or Behaviour Analysis Inc. It's James
Partingdon's new school/program. I have used EAP"s program, Maurice's
program and A work in progress. All I can tell you is that ABLL"S is
by
far the best yet. It's clear, concise, you know exactly how your child
is
doing and what to do next… it's a language based program and it's so
much
better the rest..it is much more natural, uses errorless learning,
manding,
etc.

I love the way this program charts the drills, you see immediately
where the
problem areas are or where something might have been missed. As well
it
starts off with an assessment process where the child is tested on
everything so that they are not repeating any work or "get stuck" on
things
they already know. I really wish I had this two years ago, it would
have
made life so much easier..

[Deleted User]

Does anyone know of a great speech pathologist that you can recommend? Our child is almost 3 years old.
We would prefer someone who is ABA friendly and is in the Burnaby/Vancouver area.
Please email me at magnolias@telus.net if you know of someone.

Thanks

[Deleted User]

This post is regarding the question of shift lenghts. Your consultant is the best person to determine the length of shifts, but I'll present a few options and some pros and cons of each. It comes down to your consultant's style, your needs, your child's ability to handle a long shift, schedule juggling particularly if your child is in any type of school program and last but not least the availability of your team.

Juggling act indeed!! (ahhhh, in a few months you will be all too familiar with the nightmare of scheduling! ;-)

2 hour shifts
young children often start out with 2 of these a day. I'm afraid I am not sure of the age of your child. Some kids stay at this, others increase the length of their shift once the child has adjusted to 4 hours a day.

40 hours a week is a big jump at first and not one I would recommend. Personally, and this is just my opinion, I think it is good to start out with 2 hour shifts and build up. For a child who is say 4 I would think building up fairly quickly would be possible. but again that is very dependent on your child.

2 hours shifts can be either built up to 2.5 then increase one to 3 then the second to 3 hours long or a third 2 hour can be added in the afternoon. I have some familiarity with teams who do 3 two hour shifts and the day looks something like this.

9-11
12-2
3-5

The cons to this (in my opinion only – no flaming please!) is that

1.) therapists/instructors are only in for 2 hours so if you are not centrally located you may have difficulty attracting people. 2 hours is a short shift if you have to drive for 1/2 hour to get to work.

2.) you have three people in your hourse every day. That is a lot of coming and going.

3.)there is a lot more admin time for that setup

4.) this is not great for the parent's ability to get out of the house. 1 hour breaks are incredibly short. There is not enough time to do anything. However if your child is difficult to manage that is a good thing as parents have an incredible burden and workload when running an aba program. Also the 2 hours that your child is in therapy may seem long but it is hard to squeeze in chores, errands and all the other things in life that may be difficult to do with your child.

the pros might be
1.) if someone cancels their shift that day, you still have 2 people coming in and quite possibly one of them might be able to fill in the open space

2.) more variability across staff

another set up is the 3 hour shift

9-12
2-5

this is a common example. Advantages are less admin time, less people coming and going, shifts are a decent length so therapists are a bit more willing to commit, a bit more freedom for the parent.

disadvantage is to meet 40 hours a week you have to do this schedule (as you would with the above) 7 days a week. It is nice to have a day off from having people in your home.

Another disadvangtage is that some therapists find this long shift. that depends on your team, the number of programs, the programming itself.

another con, some children find this too long.

and finally there is another option that I am familiar with and that is four hour shifts.

The model I am familiar with has 50 minutes of therapy, 10 min break where child is not in therapy room.

Disadvantages:
if one therapist cancels, child misses a lot of hours and if team is not flexible scheduling wise, there may be no one to fill in.

4 hours can be long for child and instructor. Again this depends on child, programming, etc etc etc. Personally I work 4 hour shifts on some teams, and it is long but those 10 minutes allow some refuelling in the form of a food that helps with energy. (It is amazing the amount of energy that is burned in this job! kids are incredibly energetic creatures!)

Advantages:
When done in the above format 4 hours is not actually 240 min of therapy so it is a good format for the child to get consistent therapy while allowing them more breaks (ie the 10 min breaks out of the room).

as an instructor myself, I find that getting started is a fair amount of work, once I have started I am efficient with my time and as I hit a program more than once in a four hour span, I am very familiar with the programs througout my session. I think I am a bit more efficient in this format. (but the first few shifts I did I was exhausted!!)

scheduling wise it is easier. 2 shifts a day means only 2 people in your house vs three. therapists are more likely to be able to commute longer so you have a bigger pool to hire from. If child is difficult out side of therapy, this schedule is easier for the parent. parent gets a longer break, particularly useful for families with other children etc.

I'm sure with more time I could list off more ideas but this will give you some idea of the various schedules. Your consultant will have specific reasons as to why they want to use the schedule they prefer and my recommendation is follow their schedule guidelines. I'm sure they would be very happy to explain the reasons behind their recommendation

Michelle

[Deleted User]

Hello, everybody!
We are looking for a therapist to join our team in Burnaby/Edmonds area. Professional training will be provided. Three references is a must.
Minimum 1 year commitment.
Please contact Alexandra at (604)527-8045 or e-mail at rhinocerus@praisemail.com.

[Deleted User]

EXPERIENCED, PROFESSIONAL, RELIABLE AND FUN THERAPISTS WANTED…

Two Lovaas ABA programs have been run in our household over the past four months for our boys who are 6 and 10 years old. Both children are mildly affected with autism and are lots of fun to work with. Two of their therapists are returning to university in September.

The programs are supervised by Jennifer Newland and Michele Shilvock of EAP. Our older child in particular would benefit from a therapist who has an education background. Peer play is a focus for the younger child.

We live on the bus route in West Vancouver.

If you would like to join our team, please e-mail Debbie at abasquared@hotmail.com

Thank you

[Deleted User]

Hello, I am trying to contact the parent who relocated to BC from Nova Scotia some time ago and posted on this board.

please contact me at alexbarclay@shaw.ca

a fellow bluenoser

[Deleted User]

I like this story…
To me, you don't have to be religious and "God's plan" could also mean just a spiritual moment, whatever works for you.

At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves learning-disabled children, the father of one of the school's students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question. "Everything God does is done with perfection. Yet, my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do. Where is God's plan reflected in my son?"
The audience was stilled by the query. The father continued.
"I believe," the father answered, "that when God brings a child like Shay into the world, an opportunity to realize the Divine Plan presents itself.
And it comes in the way people treat that child."
Then, he told the following story:
Shay and his father had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, "Do you think they will let me play?"
Shay's father knew that most boys would not want him on their team. But the father understood that if his son were allowed to play it would give him a much needed sense of belonging.
Shay's father approached one of the boys on the field and asked if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance from his teammates.
Getting none, he took matters into his own hands and said, "We are losing by six runs, and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can
be on our team and we'll try to put him up to bat in the ninth inning." In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was
still behind by three. At the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the outfield. Although no hits came his way, he was obviously
ecstatic just to be on the field, grinning from ear to ear as his father waved to him from the stands. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again.
Now, with two outs and bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base. Shay was scheduled to be the next at-bat. Would the team actually let
Shay bat at this juncture and give away their chance to win the game? Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a
hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball. However, as Shay stepped up to
the plate, the pitcher moved a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least be able to make contact. The first pitch came and Shay swung
clumsily and missed. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly toward Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a
slow ground ball to the pitcher. The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could easily have thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would
have been out and that would have ended the game. Instead, the pitcher took the ball and threw it on a high arc to right field, far beyond reach of the first baseman. Everyone started yelling, "Shay, run to first. Run to first." Never in his life had Shay ever made it to first base. He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled. Everyone yelled "Run to second, run to second!" By the time Shay was rounding first base, the right fielder had the ball. He
could have thrown the ball to the second baseman for a tag. But the right fielder understood what the pitcher's intentions had been, so he threw the ball
high and far over the third baseman's head. Shay ran toward second base as the runners ahead of him deliriously circled the bases toward home.
As Shay reached second base, the opposing shortstop ran to him, turned him in the direction of third base, and shouted, "Run to third!"
As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams were screaming, "Shay! Run home!" Shay ran home, stepped on home plate and was cheered as the hero, for hitting a "grand slam" and winning the game for his team.
"That day," said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, "the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of the Divine Plan into this world."

Discussion of decency is too often suppressed in school and the workplace. I believe that we can all make a difference.
We all have thousands of opportunities a day to help realize your God's plan.. So many seemingly trivial interactions between two
people present us with a choice:

Do we pass along a spark of the Divine? Or do we pass up that opportunity, and leave the world a bit colder in the process?
You know the choice I made.
My autistic child has taught me so much about life, that yes, I do believe he is, and all autistic children are part of a Divine Plan.

_________________________________________________________________

[Deleted User]

In the Vancouver Province today:

'Prove to us we were not a photo op'

Margaret Birrell
The Province

Wednesday, July 30, 2003

More broken promises, more penny-wise and dollar-foolish policy as the government refuses to pay for the treatment that will help people living with autism. We share the deep disappointment of the Cucek family and the other families who will be impacted by this shortsighted decision.

It is astonishing that Children and Family Development Minister Gordon Hogg cites the fact that autism is more prevalent now than 20 years ago to justify the decision not to fund the treatment his government promised to provide.

If the government does not fund the treatment, hundreds of families will suffer and B.C.'s taxpayers will bear the brunt of the resulting costs of institutionalized care.

We call on the government to honour its pre-election promises. By doing so, it will prove to the families that they were not used as an election campaign photo opportunity.

Margaret Birrell,

B.C. Coalition of People with Disabilities

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