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Jenn Ralph
Member*** ABA THERAPIST REQUIRED ***
…for 2 shifts/week, one most likely Mondays after school and one most likely on the weekend, for our 7 year old daughter.
Our consultant is Dr. Sara White.
Location is South Surrey.
Bi-weekly evening team meetings mandatory.Those experienced in ABA welcome, but if inexperienced, will train the right person.
Please contact Jennifer Ralph at jennifer.r@shaw.ca.
Member….actually, I'll just post my husband's response requesting advice from him on your issue Deb (and probably others….).
JennIt sounds like she is talking about the private company doing education plans but this isn't a real RESP. If its a real RESP available through banks and credit unions, one can do a "family plan" where the funds can be transferred among students without restriction.
Technically, if the plan was set up for an individual, this probably isn't retroactive but you could try.If its the scholarship company, good luck. I never heard anything good about them and this story would be typical. The best one could do is appeal to their common sense and compasion and failing that shame them by reporting them to the media or the very least the BBB.
MemberDeb,
Email me at jennifer.r@shaw.ca
JennMemberHi all,
Update from Day 3 in Ottawa:Great press conference, awesome rally! Lots of media and interviews and a large turnout. More on that later, however, we are busy preparing for today's senate committee meeting. But we need to first clarify an issue that has been brought to our attention.
We understand that Mark Warawa's assistant has been contacting parents regarding a discussion Mark had with the 4 parents who were in attendance at the press conference, myself one of them.
He was clearly confused about the difference between the university chair (s) that FEAT has been advocating for, and the research chair that was proposed in Tony Clement's announcement. Unfortunately, when that was clarified for him, he became angry, left the room, and did not attend the rally.
Mark Warawa's position is consistent with the Conservative stance at this time, which is that this is a "provincial issue", this "is not within the federal gov's juristictional competency to achieve", and by Clement's own admission, the announcement does not include treatment money or initiatives.
For any further inquiries about the actual discussion with him contact me at jennifer.r@shaw.ca or my cell phone.
Member..another interview from the hill today – this one from MPTV – Garth Turner's blog. Go to:
scroll down to video of the day (autism).
MemberThis story, forwarded to you by jenn.ralph@shaw.ca, appears on http://www.cbc.ca at the following URL:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2006/11/22/autism-reaction.htmlMemberHi everyone,
Update: Day 2 from Ottawa:We attended a breakfast at Parliament Hill for Children's rights that Senators Jim Munson and Terry Mercer are involved in and championing. Jim made a special mention of us and our kids needs in his speech. We were also able to meet and network with Senator Mac Harb and Norman Atkins, as well as a few others.
We then went to a "round-table" meeting on FEAT and select politicians, including Peter Stoffer, Shawn Murphy, Andy Scott, Stephen Fletcher, Mike Lake (who brought his child), Senator Pepin, Senator Norm Atkins, Ralph Goodale's assistant, Russ Heibert, Laurel Gibbons,and chaired by Blair Wilson, who made solid, factual opening comments. Jean, Roxanne, Jenn and Andrew were there as was Rosemary Thompson from CTV, taking notes (more on that later).
Jean was brief and succinct in our message of what children with autism need. Mike Lake is doing nothing more than spouting the conservative line, and even went as far to say that the gov needed to do more research into what is effective and what isn't (even though his own kid gets ABA..).We then met with Senator Ethel Cochrane – good meeting, and watched Tony Clement's press conference in her office with her. Nothing of substance from Clement, just more money to health technocrats to "study the mistery of autism", "..since there is no consensus on what consitutes effective treatment", blah, blah blah. Oh, and they are launching a website..
Jean and Andrew then had the CFRA radio interview from 2-3pm with Michael Harris – amazing. Try to listen to it at http://www.cfra.com. Then Jean did an interview with City TV – should be on the Vancouver news tonight at 6:30 PST, and on the Toronto feed at 6pm EST.
Jean got calls all day from McLean's, CBC Newsworld, Global National, CTV and we are looking forward to lots of media coverage tomorrow at the press conference (12:30 EST) and rally (1:00pm EST). Also, she will be speaking live with Bill Good on CKNW from 11-11:;30 PST. We also have more appt's w senators in the next 2 days…
Jenn
MemberHi everyone,
Update from Ottawa!
We had a very productive day…good meeting w Senator Jim Munson, then an interview with the Hill Times, then Jean interviewed with Margaret Wente – it will be in tomorrow's Globe and Mail.
Also – on CFRA radio (Ottawa) Jean and Andrew will be on at 11am PST (2pm EST) on the Michael Harris show, and Wednesday at 11am PST tune in to the Bill Good show on CKNW where Jean will be reporting live from the rally in Ottawa…MemberFrom today's National Post, Page A6…
JennAutism program makes 'huge' difference
study: First major research finds nearly half became non-autistic
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Font: * * * * Joseph Brean, National Post
Published: Saturday, November 11, 2006
MARKHAM – Ontario's program of intensive behavioural intervention for young autistic children is so effective that nearly half — 41%– of the mild to moderate autistics left the program as non-autistics, according to a new analysis.It is the first accounting of success rates for the provincially funded program, which seeks to improve the social and cognitive functioning of autistic children by breaking down skills into discrete steps, and then teaching those through repetitive reinforcement.
Among severe autistics, 59% left the IBI program in the mild/moderate category, and 15% were classified as non-autistic. In all, three out of four children showed some measurable improvement, while a small but significant number, 7%, got worse, and 19% showed no change.
"Children are clearly having a lot more skills after the program than when they came," said Adrienne Perry, a York University psychologist who prepared the review independently with funding from the province. She presented the results yesterday to a conference in Markham, calling the success rates "a huge, huge effect size."
Children who started the IBI program at a younger age tended to do better, as did those who stayed in it for longer.
The results, compiled from the case files of 332 autistic children between the ages of two and seven (with five times as many boys as girls) showed that, across the board, their rates of development — as measured by a psychological test — roughly doubled during the treatment.
In her report to the province, Prof. Perry described it as "the largest (and one of the only) studies which demonstrates the effectiveness of IBI in a large and diverse community sample [as opposed to in ideal conditions with ideal candidates]."
Intensive Behavioural Intervention is a type of autism treatment specifically for young children, based on the wider practice of Applied Behavioural Analysis. It aims to track the behaviour of autistics, observe how changes to their environment change their behaviour, and then use those trends to teach practical skills by breaking them down into simple, repeatable steps.
It has been criticized for creating "robot-like" behaviour, and because it typically involves 20-40 hours of therapy per week, it is also very expensive.
It is also the only autism treatment that is experimentally proven to be effective, as opposed to other methods, such as psychoanalysis or treatments based on diet or drugs.
"Parents are desperate, so they try these, and by the time they get to a good behaviour analyst, they've wasted a lot of time," said Larry Williams, a professor of psychology at the University of Nevada, Reno, and a longtime autism researcher.
IBI "is worth it if you look at the long-term cost of an autistic child," he said.
In Ontario, IBI is run by nine centres across the province, each of which are contracted to the government.
The program has been controversial in Ontario because of its cost, and the role of the government in funding it, as was argued in the case of Wynberg et. al. v. Ontario. In that case, the Ontario Superior Court initially ruled that the province must extend autism treatment to children aged six and over, because to refuse treatment reinforced the notion that these children were "unredeemable." That decision was overturned this summer by the Ontario Court of Appeal, which ruled the government does not have to pay for extended treatment. This week, the plaintiffs filed leave to appeal that decision.
Joseph Brean, National Post
Published: Saturday, November 11, 2006
Prof. Perry acknowledged that her analysis of IBI's effectiveness has several shortcomings. It did not include a comparison group, for example, such as children who received no treatment or a different kind. It was based only on the first and final evaluations, and did not chart progress during the treatment. And because the results are new, there has been no long-term follow-up.© National Post 2006
MemberFrom today's National Post, Page A6…
JennAutism program makes 'huge' difference
study: First major research finds nearly half became non-autistic
Article Tools
Printer friendly
E-mail
Font: * * * * Joseph Brean, National Post
Published: Saturday, November 11, 2006
MARKHAM – Ontario's program of intensive behavioural intervention for young autistic children is so effective that nearly half — 41%– of the mild to moderate autistics left the program as non-autistics, according to a new analysis.It is the first accounting of success rates for the provincially funded program, which seeks to improve the social and cognitive functioning of autistic children by breaking down skills into discrete steps, and then teaching those through repetitive reinforcement.
Among severe autistics, 59% left the IBI program in the mild/moderate category, and 15% were classified as non-autistic. In all, three out of four children showed some measurable improvement, while a small but significant number, 7%, got worse, and 19% showed no change.
"Children are clearly having a lot more skills after the program than when they came," said Adrienne Perry, a York University psychologist who prepared the review independently with funding from the province. She presented the results yesterday to a conference in Markham, calling the success rates "a huge, huge effect size."
Children who started the IBI program at a younger age tended to do better, as did those who stayed in it for longer.
The results, compiled from the case files of 332 autistic children between the ages of two and seven (with five times as many boys as girls) showed that, across the board, their rates of development — as measured by a psychological test — roughly doubled during the treatment.
In her report to the province, Prof. Perry described it as "the largest (and one of the only) studies which demonstrates the effectiveness of IBI in a large and diverse community sample [as opposed to in ideal conditions with ideal candidates]."
Intensive Behavioural Intervention is a type of autism treatment specifically for young children, based on the wider practice of Applied Behavioural Analysis. It aims to track the behaviour of autistics, observe how changes to their environment change their behaviour, and then use those trends to teach practical skills by breaking them down into simple, repeatable steps.
It has been criticized for creating "robot-like" behaviour, and because it typically involves 20-40 hours of therapy per week, it is also very expensive.
It is also the only autism treatment that is experimentally proven to be effective, as opposed to other methods, such as psychoanalysis or treatments based on diet or drugs.
"Parents are desperate, so they try these, and by the time they get to a good behaviour analyst, they've wasted a lot of time," said Larry Williams, a professor of psychology at the University of Nevada, Reno, and a longtime autism researcher.
IBI "is worth it if you look at the long-term cost of an autistic child," he said.
In Ontario, IBI is run by nine centres across the province, each of which are contracted to the government.
The program has been controversial in Ontario because of its cost, and the role of the government in funding it, as was argued in the case of Wynberg et. al. v. Ontario. In that case, the Ontario Superior Court initially ruled that the province must extend autism treatment to children aged six and over, because to refuse treatment reinforced the notion that these children were "unredeemable." That decision was overturned this summer by the Ontario Court of Appeal, which ruled the government does not have to pay for extended treatment. This week, the plaintiffs filed leave to appeal that decision.
Joseph Brean, National Post
Published: Saturday, November 11, 2006
Prof. Perry acknowledged that her analysis of IBI's effectiveness has several shortcomings. It did not include a comparison group, for example, such as children who received no treatment or a different kind. It was based only on the first and final evaluations, and did not chart progress during the treatment. And because the results are new, there has been no long-term follow-up.© National Post 2006
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