[Jenn Ralph]

To Debra and Evan –
Debra – Thanks for sharing your experiences. We have thought about Disneyland too, but will probably wait a few years (our daughter just turned 4). Your experience with the staff there was very encouraging to read about. Also, I find that what Catherine Maurice said proves true time and time again: The people who criticize ABA are almost always the ones who are the least informed. This has proven true in my own experience (since my daughter's diagnosis a year and a half ago) with various "support workers/professionals in ASD": The people who have criticized it have GRAVE misconceptions about the therapy, and have also NEVER done it (either as a parent or therapist) themselves. This continually concerns and frustrates me.

To Evan – Welcome to the group. I know it is very difficult to recieve the diagnosis for your child. I have been there, and most of the people on this board have been there too. You will find a vast array of experiences here, both positive and negative. My personal advice to you would be:

1. Read "Let Me Hear Your Voice" by Catherine Maurice. It doesn't matter how much you and your wife work and how busy you are, you MUST read this. It is probably as much your story as it is hers (and all of ours). It will give you great direction and perspective, and is a true story.
2. Get the required diagnoses required to get the funding as soon as possible. DO NOT WAIT FOR SUNNYHILL – the wait lists are massive, it will take too long, and it will be precious time lost for your child that they could be benefitting in therapy.
3. Get a bona fide ABA consultant as soon as possible. The good ones all have waiting lists, so get on them all. From what I know, here is a partial list: Catherine Sharpe, Rachel Russel (ABLE clinic), Shelley Davis, Andrea Sharp, Lisa Wincz (ABC), etc. I'm sure other people on the board can contribute more suggestions as per their knowledge and experience. The ones listed on the Autism Society list and on the MCFD (Ministry of Children and Families) list are NOT all bona fide ABA trained. The ugly politics involved in this are too numerous to get into now. Just take my word for it so you don't waste 9 months like I did before starting an ABA therapy program for your child. Time is of the essence.
4. Although all of this is overwhelming (it was for me), read as much as you can, and remember – go with the therapies that have evidence. Should you want to read about all known "therapies" for autistic children, you can refer to the NEW YORK Report, or the legal section of this website (to see what the courts deemed effective/not effective, all based on facts, data, and evidence).
5. Know that you are not alone and that your child will improve,perhaps greatly improve, with proper intervention.

I hope this helps, and good luck.
Jennifer Ralph

[Jenn Ralph]

Advice please: An acquaintance of mine has a 27 year old autistic son in a home. She has only just recently heard of ABA from me, and was wondering if it would help her son. Is anyone aware of anybody who has started ABA at such a late age – late 20's? Any advice that i could pass on to her would be great, and much appreciated.
Jennifer

[Jenn Ralph]

In response to anonymous Nov 20th 10:21 am:
I don't usually post here and get in these "arguments", but I have got to say, holy cow! Let's once and for all stop trying to defend the history of this government and their "experts"! How many times does Isaac, or Sabrina, or whoever else, take valuable time out of their day to-over and over again-defend what is fact?
Although all opinions are freely expressed on this forum, I have got to say that reading your posts are indeed very tiresome.

[Jenn Ralph]

In response to anonymous re consultants Nov 15th – I have not heard of Suzanne but my consultant is Catherine Sharpe and I would highly recommend her. Feel free to email me at jenn.ralph@shaw.ca if you like.

[Jenn Ralph]

Hi Kerry,
I know how you feel. Our program is now in it's fifth week and I am finally starting to relax and watch the wheels in motion and resulting progress. It really is amazing! I found all of my therapists (except one) by advertising on the UBC job advertising service (which is free and you can accomplish it all online in a few minutes) called Joblink. I probably got 15 responses over about 2-3 weeks, and hired 7 of them, of which 5 have worked out better than I ever imagined. It is very stressful indeed, but just keep plugging along and it WILL work out. Good luck.
Jennifer Ralph

[Jenn Ralph]

Hello all! Well we're finally hiring therapists and getting this going! My question to you all who have run programs is with regard to scheduling. I guess I just assumed shifts should be 3 hours, but I see alot of posts for 2 and 2.5 hour shifts. For those who schedule shifts for LESS than 3 hours, please share with my why you choose to do that. Also ,if you schedule 2.5 hour shifts, does that mean you schedule 3 of them in a day to get 7.5 hours of therapy in a day as opposed to 6 (2x3hour shifts)? I'm not sure which way to go, or which would be best for our daughter, or how well she'll do etc. etc.! Please feel free to post your response or email me directly at jenn.ralph@shaw.ca. Thanks so much. Jennifer

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