[Deleted User]

Can anyone recommend a good accountant?
Thanks

[Deleted User]

Tune in to CKNW radio (AM 980) at 10 a.m. Tuesday June 24 to hear a half hour interview on inclusive education and why the Ministry of Education's allocation of $250,000 to a private segregated school for children with special needs is not a good idea. The interview will be conducted by Peter Warren . They may open the show to calls from listeners.

[Deleted User]

Subject:
Re: Room Two: Behavioural Treatment Topics
Date:
Fri, 20 Jun 2003 17:15:34 +0000
From:
"linda knoph"

Dear Colleen,

While this is in no way an immediate solution to the problem of your son running away I
thought you might be interested to know that the National Dog Service Assoc. of Canada is
now training dogs for children with Autism. The dogs are trained to help sooth and
protect the children. They are larger dogs so that the dog is able to block or gently push
the children down so they do not run away, step into traffic and other dangers. Please have
a look at the web site; you can search by category or use the name itself. The costs are
minimal but if your son is a danger to himself your case may be pushed forward. You will
need documentation and need to write a cover letter. The demand is getting high so you
should get right on it if you are interested.

As for the immediate, your consultant should be able to help with the behaviour. But
sometimes dangerous behaviours cannot wait for therapy to change the behaviour. You
might consider looking for a device that attaches to his waist that alerts you when he goes
beyond a certain distance (programmable). I don't know where to get them, my apologies,
I just read of there existence in a parents magazine a couple of years ago.

I wish you both well.

Linda

>From: "FeatBC Discussion Board"
>To: lindaknoph@hotmail.com
>Subject: Room Two: Behavioural Treatment Topics
>Date: Mon, 16 Jun 2003 22:11:20 -0400 (EDT)
>
>————————————————————
>FeatBC Discussion Board: Room Two: Behavioural Treatment
>Topics
>————————————————————
>
>By Colleen Braeger (Braeger) on Monday, June 16, 2003 –
>07:09 pm:
>
> Hi everyone,
>We are looking for some help concerning our 6 yr. old son
>with autism. Lately, we have been finding ourselves in very
>scary situations where he keeps running away at any
>opportunity he can get. We have figured out that he is
>running because he wants to explore other people's houses
>and so he is just running in and out of people's houses very
>quickly. The problem is he seems to be running further and
>further away every time, despite our efforts to stop him. We
>obviously have locks on all our doors and windows but he
>waits for those brief moments when a window may be unlocked
>(and I have quickly gone to the bathroom or something) and
>climbs out. Has anyone else had a similar problem? Or can
>anyone think of any ideas that may work? We're willing to
>try anything! Thanks for all your help and support
>

[Deleted User]

We are looking for the 'Picture This' CD ROM for our child's program. We are aware that Different Roads to Learning has this item for sale, but are wondering if another family could provide us with information on obtaining this for a cheaper price than $90 US.
If anyone has any information, please contact Shirley at: rshewko@shaw.ca

Thank you so much!

[Deleted User]

OK dang it, it's not working, so never mind. And it was
really gonna be cute too — trust me!

Sabrina, you said it all, for all of us, even if the Chat
Board won't accept my sound effects ;-)

Thank you !

[Deleted User]

Sabrina, what can I say, except:

(Note this will probably only work on the web site — if
you're reading this in email, go to the chat board :-)

[Deleted User]

Sabrina, what can I say, except:

(Note this will probably only work on the web site — if
you're reading this in email, go to the chat board :-)

[Deleted User]

To;

By Anonymous on Sunday, June 15, 2003 – 12:52 am:

Re: ABA in school

I would hazard a guess (no personal experience in this

"If I managed to teach even *one* of those people *one* vital thing that will help them that will help them as they move through life, then
that is enough. If I managed to be a support to parents when they were ready to give up or were just having a bad day, then that is enough. If I managed to (as I did more than once last month) comfort a sibling in a moment of distress, so that they knew they weren't alone and I'm
really not there just for their strange brother/sister, then that is enough."

you are nice

you provide comfort

you provide support to parents ready to give up

you are not just their for the strange brother or sister

you managed to teach one vital thing to one of THOSE people

"while dreams of seniority and sugarplums danced through their heads"

[Deleted User]

Reread after posting (oops) and realized that I completely messed up a sentence.

"But even if I'm not, even if I for some reason quit working with the children I currently work with, I know I've made a difference in the lives of a number of lives – parents of autistic children, siblings of autistic children, classmates & friends of autistic children, and the autistic children themselves."

Should be:

"But even if I'm not, even if I for some reason quit working with the children I currently work with, I know I've made a difference in the lives of a number of individuals…" and so on.

(I may not have an English degree, but I do care about proper grammar and the like!)

-SEA3

[Deleted User]

Re: ABA in school

I would hazard a guess (no personal experience in this process or anything) that it's a lot more convoluted than just "Oh, here's an autistic child. Best outcome? ABA will give us that. Okay, let's make sure this kid has all the ABA s/he needs." Someday, maybe that will happen. We will all be overjoyed when that day comes – well, excepting the Anon SEA who expressed such bitterness and misinformation. When that day comes, it will be due to the efforts of parents, therapists, and, yes, SEAs and school beaurocrats who challenge the status quo and urge beneficial changes to ensure the children's rights to actual *education* are not being trod upon. *Until* that happens, I fail to see the point in wasting time and energy responding in anger to people who are simply trying to provide a somewhat rounded view of issues a lot of us know nothing about.

(Actually, could someone explain just *exactly* what is meant by "ABA in school"? I'm confused about what people mean; we may all be defining that differently, and that can't be good for amiable discussion.)

Re: Good/Bad SEAs

There are some truly horrible SEAs out there. The child for whom I work with the school (I am not her SEA, though I am on-call in her district) has had a series of such SEAs. In grade 1, they kept this child in a desk away from the other children, in the corner, with the SEA standing guard to make sure no behavioural disturbances occurred. In grade 2, once they finally had an ABA program up and running (at home only), this kid ranroughshod over her SEAs (she had 2) – pretending to be tired, or sick, to get out of work, or acting out so that they'd go for a walk instead of doing schoolwork. I came onto the home team midway that year, and I was appalled at the sheets that were being sent home – some of them were totally beyond the child's ability, yet they were supposedly being completed independently, and others were, quite frankly, insulting in how easy they were. The parents pulled their child from school after the teacher requested that I (as lead therapist) refrain from writing her and the SEAs helpful notes and suggestions of how to better help the child learn and do well in school – "Please keep the ABA at home" was the gist of the message (if not the exact wording). (There were other things, too, all related to politics and union stupidities.)

I am a therapist first, school board/district employee second(and I suspect possibly SEA1 is, as well). What matters most is what is best for the child. Unfortunately, as things stand right now, what is best for the child often takes backseat to what is best for the district/union.

The only practical advice I currently have for this situation is to try not to paint all SEAs with the same brush before you meet them. There are a number of great SEAs out there… perhaps fewer great than truly horrible, but there are great ones out there. The child I work with is lucky to have one of those great SEAs. Someday, should I choose to continue along the road to seniority within the school system, I hope I am counted among them.

But even if I'm not, even if I for some reason quit working with the children I currently work with, I know I've made a difference in the lives of a number of lives – parents of autistic children, siblings of autistic children, classmates & friends of autistic children, and the autistic children themselves.

If I managed to teach even *one* of those people *one* vital thing that will help them as they move through life, then that is enough. If I managed to be a support to parents when they were ready to give up or were just having a bad day, then that is enough. If I managed to (as I did more than once last month) comfort a sibling in a moment of distress, so that they knew they weren't alone and I'm really not there just for their strange brother/sister, then that is enough. If I managed to encourage a peer to reach out and find the ability to interact with someone who *is* different, in very fundamental ways, then that is enough.

And if I managed, just once, to make an autistic child smile *at me*, well, that's the world to me and I am blessed every day it happens.

-SEA3 (still Anon. because of the children and parents to protect)

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