[Mike & Rachel Goetz]

Hi Tony

I think the wait time at the ABLE clinic depends on who you see. Glen Davies is the most well know person there I think, and his wait times are also really long (when I called back in the summer he was booking into January!). We had our daughter reassessed by Ron Schmidt (at ABLE) last month and we were very happy with his service, and he has shorter wait times. So you might want to ask about the various practitioners there and compare their waitlists.

Rachel Goetz

[Mike & Rachel Goetz]

So we read Tony Clements announcement, and while it didn't offer much help, there was one interesting thing we noticed: the number of times the word "autism" was used in the same sentence as "health".

* "We already support research on ASD through the Canadian Institutes of HEALTH Research"

* "launch a consultation process on the feasability of developing an ASD surveillance program through the Public HEALTH Agency of Canada"

* "Create a dedicated page on the HEALTH Canada website to guide the public to ASD information available through the Canadian HEALTH Network and other resources"

* "Designate the HEALTH Policy Branch of HEALTH Canada as the ASD lead for actions related to ASD at the Federal HEALTH Portfolio level"

There you have it – in an announcement that had six points, the word HEALTH is mentioned in four of them. And although the press release is disappointing, perhaps the message is starting to get through that autism is a health issue – not one that comes under education or social services – and now that Tony Clement has made this connection we can call him on it, both now and in the future.

Rachel Goetz

[Mike & Rachel Goetz]

Positions available in Port Coquitlam

* Part-time school aide in a private Christian school, supporting our 'ray of sunshine' daughter who will be going into Grade 1 in September.

* Experienced therapist willing to consider taking on senior responsibilities.

Our daughter has been in an ABA program under the direction of Catherine Sharpe for two years, and is very high functioning. She is a lot of fun to work with and learns very quickly. We will be transferring to another consultant, Sara White, at the beginning of 2007.

These positions offer excellent opportunities under two very well-respected consultants. You will also gain exposure to new online data-taking methods. Please email your resume to Mike and Rachel Goetz at abapoco@gmail.com subject "ABA positions"

We look forward to hearing from you!

[Mike & Rachel Goetz]

Hi everyone

I'm wondering about sending my 5 year old (high-functioning) daughter to a Pedalheads bike camp in Coquitlam this summer. Does anyone have any experience with this organisation, and if so, would they recommend them?

Thanks in advance!
Rachel Goetz

[Mike & Rachel Goetz]

Wanted – senior therapist

We are looking for someone to take over the role of senior therapist on our established team in Port Coquitlam, under the direction of Catherine Sharpe. Our daughter is five years old, very bright, verbal and lots of fun to work with. You would do two 3-hour shifts per week, which always include one hour of sibling/peer play, and often involve trips out in the community, plus you would lead our bi-weekly team meetings.

Virtually all senior admin (checking progress, writing STO's, consult reports etc) can be done in the comfort of your own home, thanks to our onlineABA website & PDA data entry system. You would be working alongside committed parents who are consistent in consequating behaviour and look to generalise programs wherever possible. You could also have the opportunity to work with our daughter as a part-time SEA in a very supportive and ABA-friendly private Christian school.

Experience preferred, but not necessary as our current senior is available to provide all necessary training. Salary is negotiable based on experience. Interested? Please email abapoco@gmail.com
We look forward to hearing from you!

Mike and Rachel Goetz

[Mike & Rachel Goetz]

Hi Everyone,

Today, the BC Government announced increased funding for special education starting immediately. You can read the press release here: http://www2.news.gov.bc.ca/news_releases_2005-2009/2005EDU0079-000825.htm

The main area of increased funding involves what I perceive to be a redress of the disparity for children in the public school system compared to those in the private system. Up until now, private schools were only able to apply for half of the funding that the same children would receive in the public system.

From today's announcement, this would appear to be no longer the case, and independent schools can now apply for the full funding.

I would be interested to hear any other people's initial viewpoints. On the surface, this seems to be positive news for those whose children are attending private schools. Our daughter has just started Kindergarten at a local private school, so we will find out soon enough if this funding increase is indeed for real!

Mike & Rachel Goetz

[Mike & Rachel Goetz]

Regarding hiring foreign students as therapists…

I'm not expert on matters related to obtaining work visas, but I suspect your student may have a problem if she wants to work as an independent contractor doing ABA. My understanding is that normal sponsorships for work permit visas are done in an employer-employee relationship.

I would suggest you find out what the requirements are for work permit applications; you might be able to maintain a contract relationship if you are able to produce a work contract which meets their needs.

Mike

[Mike & Rachel Goetz]

Our family uses both trial-by-trial and anecdotal data taking methodologies, depending on the program. We used the clipboard system and while it was a good way to manage data for individual programs, I found that the general notion of doing all your data with pen and paper cumbersome.

My background is computer programming and so I began to devise a system that our team now uses for data taking. We use a handheld PDA (AKA 'Palm Pilot', about the size of a large cel phone) to take trial-by-trial data, where each program is stored on the server and accessed just the same as a web site. Our therapists only need to enter minimal information about each trial, and the system handles the rest — percentage calculations, graphing, mastery, moving on STOs, etc.

We still do anecdotal and behavioural data on paper, as this is more convenient than using the PDA. Overall, I would say that our therapists can be done in less than 10 minutes after a session. In addition, our senior therapist and consultant can access our data via the internet, allowing them to manage programs and make adjustments without having to be in our home.

If you want to have a look, you can go to http://www.onlineaba.com — login as 'guest' with password 'guest' to see some sample data.

Mike

[Mike & Rachel Goetz]

ABA Therapy is GST Exempt:
http://www.featbc.org/cgi-local/forum/show.cgi?tpc=4&post=5412#POST5412

This means that any person who is providing ABA therapy charges GST at a rate of 0%. Hooray

Mike

[Mike & Rachel Goetz]

Hi Nancy

If it were me, I would actually teach the notes first, and do it just as you would letters of the alphabet (sight recognition). The piano books that I learned from had very short pieces that were in 4/4 using all quarter notes. That way he can build feel proud of playing real music first.

Regarding establishing a beat – have you considered using a metronome and tapping along?

I hope that helps. If you want to talk about it on the phone, send me an email at abapoco@hotmail.com and I'll give you my number.

Rachel Goetz

[Author]

Posts