[Justin Himmelright]

and why am I not surprised that the FEAT board is still active at this time of night.. and that Ms. Tournemille is burning the midnight oil.

Go for it Ms. T. I look forward to seeing it on the chat.

[Justin Himmelright]

Does anybody out there have a nice simple cover sheet to go with their petition. I am thinking of a ground up explanation of autism, what the treatment is, and what is happening in terms of denial of treatment. It needs to be in layperson terms and about a half page long (this is the challenge).

If so, please post it. I think everyone could use it, especially those who are family and friends not directly involved.

[Justin Himmelright]

just reminding everyone to email CBC Cross Country Checkup and suggest they do a show on this topic.

checkup@cbc.ca

[Justin Himmelright]

ONLINE PETITION PASSES 3000 SIGNATURES.

We collected over 100 signatures so far today and still climbing…….

[Justin Himmelright]

Further to my post on OUR KIDS NEED YOU!

If you can, please include the following in your information to me.
Phone #
email
Town
Province
MP &Party
MLA(MPP) &Party
What you can do
What you are doing

And this time I willl include the email himright@telus.net

Thanks

[Justin Himmelright]

OUR KIDS NEED YOU!

General Notice to all Parents and Friends,

Time to organize the army to defend our kids. The petition drive and political activity needs you in the trenches. If you want to do something or are already doing something, contact me at the email address in this email.

Very briefly, tell me what you are interested in helping with. We need:
Intelligence Operatives – internet searches, email distribution list assembly, media watch, petition drive monitors and more
Artillary – letter writers, email launchers, phone callers, and more
Direct Action Infantry – if you are willing to attend rallies and get involved in direct action initiatives, let me know
Fundraising – there have been many excellent ideas floated past me in the last while. The battle is starting and we will need a way to pay for it.
Recruiters – we need more support from the grassroots and there are many organizations that need contacting.

Tell me what you are doing already doing. Maybe I can hook you up with people in your area and you can work together.

For the time being, this is organizational activity only. I will take your contact information and put you on the list. When the time comes, we will need your focused effort.

[Justin Himmelright]

Linda Reids Letter to the Globe

please note that the
B.C. Ministry of Children and Family Development will continue to
provide a RANGE OF SERVICES for children and youth who have been
diagnosed with autism, regardless of litigation

and

The Ministry's funding programs offer families choice and flexibility to
assist them in choosing the therapies that best meet their child's
needs.

Here is Geoff Plant's quote from his CKNW interview with Michael Smyth this past week…….
"we want to tell our health experts to spend our money ONLY
on the therapies that are PROVEN to be successful"

So what's with that? The Ministry of Poverty is going to continue to support their contractor hacks while the AG calls for only PROVEN treatment to be paid for?

I have no problem with a "range of services" being offered, just don't waste my tax dollars on them. I only want my tax dollars to go to Proven Treatment.

You know what, here I live in country where I pay out 33% of my income to taxes. After that, I get to take what meager income I have left and try to provide treatment for the medical a-bomb that has hit my family. The politicians can't stand up to the bureaucrats and the judiciary can't stand up to the politicians. The laws don't protect my kids from bloodsucking system hacks and to top it all off the weather is cold and the winters are long. Let me tell you, the choice is pretty damn obvious. Even if there wasn't a public system in the US, at least I would have some money left over on my paycheque to buy the services I need.

What a joke!

[Justin Himmelright]

Distribution List for BC Newspapers "Letters to the Editor".

I have this distribution list ready. Due to my technical ignorance, I can't get it to post on the chat board.

If you want it, email me (address link above or justin.himmelright@bchydro.com) and I can send it to you.

The idea is to try to get the online petition URL and FEAT web page in as many papers as possible.

I am working on a similar list for Ontario papers.
After Ontario, which province should I do next ?

When you write your letter be sure to include your contact information with it. They all seem to want this for some reason.

[Justin Himmelright]

Autism in the news some more. Both of my local papers (Maple Ridge Times and Maple Ridge&Pitt Meadows News) carried some stuff yesterday and today. Links and content below

Web links if you are interested:
http://www.mrtimes.com/issues04/114104/opinion/114104le1.html

Ruskin Report: Supremes to parents of autistic kids: suck it up

By Tim Tyler, NEWS Columnist

The Week in Review (cue big loud James Earl Jones-type announcer's voice with appropriate musical accompaniment and a montage of faces and scenery from across the country):
If we ever needed a more glaring example of the chasm between them and us, it is the cheering by provincial governments over the recent Supreme Court of Canada decision with respect to funding for the treatment of children with autism. Essentially the SCC says that governments don't have to pay for treatment, which can reach as high as $60,000 per year – which is what some bureaucrats spend on lunch.
Not that they shouldn't or can't pay, but that the failure to fund doesn't violate the Charter of Rights by discriminating against these kids who, unfortunately, aren't old enough to vote. Governments are worried that if they pay for this treatment they will be on the hook for a torrent of claims by groups representing a multitude of illnesses, disease and disorders, everything from social anxiety to saggy breasts. This would of course eat into the big surpluses, the advertising and entertainment budgets and assorted other expenses needed to maintain the Ivory Tower in its current state far from the grubbing masses on the ground.
That's the rub: that families, many of them young and just starting out are making tremendous sacrifices to find the money to pay for proven treatment for their autistic kids, to turn these children into functioning members of society, all the while teetering on the edge of financial and emotional bankruptcy and the threat of losing their child to some institutional or group home situation. While we have governments sitting on bags of cash (taxes) and pissing away money on pomp and ceremony, pork barreling and patronage, screw-ups and scandal.
It's reprehensible, it's disgusting, it's shameful that these kids and their families should be allowed to endure this type of emotional trauma and uncertainty while governments debate about what to do with that extra few billion. Call me a left-leaning, Volvo-driving, lettuce-eating pinko but I am ashamed that this is happening in this country, in a province where we're about to drop several millions on a rapid transit line from Richmond to Vancouver to carry the rich and near-rich from the airport to Whistler in time for the Olympics.

[Justin Himmelright]

Tyla, that is a fantastic idea ! All you therapists out there, if you want to help, grab a petition and hit the campus. If you have a campus newspaper, try to get a letter to editor in with directions to the online petition (http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?andap1) and how to download a hardcopy. To all those out there collecting signatures, try to keep copies. If you can, .pdf them or fax them to Nancy Walton. Nancy will be coming on shortly to post her contact information

[Author]

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