[Nicole Harvey]

Just thought you all may want to see this,

Mr. Razzell:

Thank you for taking the time to write in support of Bill C-304.

I have had the opportunity to meet with a number of parents and therapists of Autism Spectrum Disorder children in the riding and appreciate the special challenges, both personal and financial, that families with ASD children must face.

While I am very sympathetic to the spirit expressed in Bill C-304, this private member’s bill treads heavily into provincial jurisdiction. Provinces and territories are responsible for the administration and delivery of health care services and the administration of the publicly funded health care insurance plans.

The Canada Health Act requires that medically necessary hospital and physician services be covered by provincial/territorial health care insurance plans in order to receive the full amount of federal funding under the Canada Health Transfer. There are many health care services that fall outside of the scope of the Act because they are provided outside hospitals and by non-physicians. For these services, it is up to provincial and territorial governments to decide whether or not to cover them. Services related to the treatment of ASDs, including ABA/IBI services, fall within this class of services.

Last fall federal Minister of Health, the Honourable Tony Clement, has announced a package of initiatives to improve knowledge and research on Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) to help individuals and families facing the challenges of ASD.

We already support research on ASD through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), which has invested nearly $15 million since 2000 – and knowledge dissemination through the Public Health Agency of Canada's (PHAC) investments in the Centres of Excellence for Children's Well-Being.

In addition to those measures, the federal government has committed to:

Sponsor an ASD stakeholder symposium in 2007 to further the development of ASD knowledge and dissemination among health care professionals, researchers, community groups, teachers, individuals and family members;
Begin exploring the establishment of a research chair focusing on effective treatment and intervention for ASD;
Launch a consultation process on the feasibility of developing an ASD surveillance program through the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) to help shape appropriate ASD programming and research;
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; and
Designate the Health Policy Branch of Health Canada as the ASD lead for actions related to ASD at the Federal Health Portfolio level.

We are confident that these initiatives will help to better address the many challenges individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder and their families are facing.

In closing, I have enclosed a copy of the statement made by my colleague MP Mike Lake last week. Mr. Lake knows first hand the heartache and challenges faced by Canadian parents seeking the best possible treatment for their autistic child.

Once again, thank you for taking the time to write on this important issue.

Sincerely,

James Moore MP

Port Moody-Westwood-Port Coquitlam
Encl (1)

http://www2.parl.gc.ca/housechamberbusiness/ChamberPublicationIndexSearch.aspx?retPublicationDocumentId=2728165&retKeyword=mike+lake&retDateFrom=&retDateTo=&retParliament=Parl0Ses0&retSortBy=Publication&retMaxResults=10&retSourceDebates=True&retSourceCommitteeEvidence=False&retCommitteeAcronymList=&retBooleanSearch=False&Language=E&Mode=1#Para445271

Autism

Mr. Mike Lake (Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont, CPC):

Mr. Speaker, today I need to address an issue of political gamesmanship taken too far.

My 11-year-old son, Jaden, has autism. Bill C-304 purports to help families struggling financially when a child is diagnosed with autism. However, this bill is simply a political manipulation.

The Liberal member knows full well that this is a bill he could never have supported when he was in government. If this bill were to pass, autism would be the one and only disease or disorder named in the Canada Health Act. Cancer is not named. Neither is diabetes nor cardiovascular disease.

The member knows that only the provinces can act on the provision of ABA treatment if we are to maintain the integrity of the Canada Health Act. Why in most cases are the provinces not taking urgent action? That is a question to which voters should demand an answer from their provincial governments.

What the member does not get is that this is not an appropriate wedge issue to exploit for political gain. These are real people with real challenges who are desperate for real solutions. Bill C-304 does nothing but give false hope to families who deserve more than to be treated as pawns in a political game.

——————————————————————————–

From: Derek Razzell [mailto:derekrazzell696@hotmail.com]
Sent: February 18, 2007 4:00 PM
To: Moore, James – M.P.
Subject: Bill C-304

Dear Mr. James Moore,

I am writing to urge you to vote in support of Bill C-304 when the
Bill is subject to a vote in the House of Commons. Bill C-304, the
"National Strategy for the Treatment of Autism Act" is of critical
importance to families with members who suffer from autism. The
Centres for Disease Control in the U.S. just recently reported that
the prevalence rates of Autism Spectrum Disorders have increased to 1
in 150. By any standard this is a national public health crisis. Yet,
not one province offers the core healthcare treatment for autism under
Medicare and there is no National Autism Strategy to deal with this
growing epidemic. The government has recently made announcements of a
National Cancer Strategy, National Heart Health Strategy, National
Spinal Cord Rehabilitation Strategy, etc. Although the federal
government announced some autism consultation initiatives in November
2006 and supported a motion for a National Autism Strategy in December
2006, these are non-binding and largely symbolic window dressing.
Words are not enough. We need action. Please vote to refer Bill C-304
to the next stage in the approval process and let the Committee
examine the Bill and do its work. Please urge your fellow MPs to
support the Bill. Providing these children with assistance in their development leads to them leading productive and normal lives.
The cost of not doing this is a lifetime of dependence on the taxpayers.
The quality of life in the future for my child depends on this bill and I am not alone.

Thank you,
Derek Razzell

[Nicole Harvey]

Want to have a say in the 2007 budget?? Go to this webpage http://www.fin.gc.ca/fin-eng.html and scroll down to: Online Pre-Budget Consultations for Budget 2007.

I dont know if it will do any good, but it never hurts to try. Maybe we can get a lot of people making a stand about autism funding????????

Thanks,
Nicole

[Nicole Harvey]

Hello everyone,

I'm just curious what the general concensus on vaccines being the cause of Autism is. My son was involved in a vaccination study put on by the Fraser Health Authority to determine the safety of immunizations administered either with or without an aluminum phosphate adjuvant. Upon finding out the study results (they did individualized blook tests to see if the immunizations were succesful or not)it was recommended that I have my son re-vaccinated as the results in his case were inconclusive.

I guess I have two questions:
1. What are the general opinions on vaccines causing Autism,

and,

2. Is there any other families involved in this study (It took place in 2003 called the MET 15 study)that have children with autism?

Please let me know!

Thanks!

Nicole Harvey

[Nicole Harvey]

There is a baby sibs program going on in Ontario and they would probably be more then interested in taking a look at their family. I cannot remember the contact information but its on one of the Autism research sites. These are the people doing the study:

Lonnie Zwaigenbaum, M.D., Susan Bryson, Ph.D., Peter Szatmari, M.D., Wendy Roberts, M.D.
McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario (Canada)
"Identifying Early Markers of Autism: A Longitudinal Study of Infant Siblings

Here is the site address:
http://www.offordcentre.com/asd/study_sibs/sibsstudy_main.html

Hope this helps!!

[Nicole Harvey]

Hello,

I posted a few weeks back about a team I was going to put together for my 3 1/2 year old hf autistic son. I received quite a few replies but am wondering if everyone is still interested. I live in the port coquitlam area and the group I am working with is called CBI Consultants. You can google them and take a look at their program if you would like. We are starting to create this team so if you are still interested could you please forward me your resume again??

Thanks so much
Nicole Harvey
nikki_libra83@hotmail.com

[Nicole Harvey]

I am just wondering if anyone has compared the different Provinces programs and funding and if so what Province supplies the best services for their Autistic children?

[Nicole Harvey]

Hi everyone! I'm super new at this but my 3 1/2 your old son was just diagnosed with very high functioning autism. I am starting the whole assessment/intervention process next week and upon their recommendations, will be looking to create a team of experienced interventionists. All interventionists would be asked to go through the three day promising packages training offered through CBI consultants. If you will be available to take on a new child and be a part of this team starting around December, please email your resume to Nicole Harvey at nikki_libra83@hotmail.com. Thanks!!

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