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Bev Sharpe
MemberThe FEAT BC discussion forum is your meeting place with other parents of children with autism, and an information resource for the Behavioural Autism Treatment program of your child.
Recent posts regarding questions and answers regarding a child-specific behaviour issue MUST be addressed by a qualified Behaviour Consultant.
To be clear, any and all information about solutions to behaviour questions MUST be carefully considered by a qualified Behaviour
Consultant first, before being implemented.This forum is not intended to take the place of a qualified Behaviour Consultant.
Beverley Sharpe
DirectorMember8 years ago today, November 19, 2004 the Auton decision was rendered by the Supreme Court of Canada.
This judgment upheld the findings of fact from the BC Supreme Court that ABA Treatment was medically-necessary. The judgement failed our children by not ordering the provinces to pay for this treatment.
The serious flaw in the Supreme Court of Canada judgement was that this court, the highest court in the land, did not wanted to force the provinces how to spend their health care dollars.What Auton did was put a spotlight on the inhumane exclusion of our autistic children from Medicare.
What can you do?
Continue your childs ABA treatment program it is the single treatment with the science , data and efficacy behind it it works.
Join Medicare for Autism Now! Their website: medicareforautismnow.org
Your autistic child is a Canadian citizen who is worthy of their core treatment need for ABA and worthy of being included in Medicare.Read and understand the Auton and Hewko decisions. These decisions outline critical facts which you can use to make good decisions for your children, for their treatment both at home and in school.
Thank you to Dr. Sabrina Freeman for founding Families for Early Autism Treatment and for your tireless work on both the Auton and Hewko cases.
Thank you to each and every family who courageously carries on a treatment program for their child.Member8 years ago today, November 19, 2004 the Auton decision was rendered by the Supreme Court of Canada.
This judgment upheld the findings of fact from the BC Supreme Court that ABA Treatment was medically-necessary. The judgement failed our children by not ordering the provinces to pay for this treatment.
The serious flaw in the Supreme Court of Canada judgement was that this court, the highest court in the land, did not wanted to force the provinces how to spend their health care dollars.What Auton did was put a spotlight on the inhumane exclusion of our autistic children from Medicare.
What can you do?
Continue your childs ABA treatment program it is the single treatment with the science , data and efficacy behind it it works.
Join Medicare for Autism Now! Their website: medicareforautismnow.org
Your autistic child is a Canadian citizen who is worthy of their core treatment need for ABA and worthy of being included in Medicare.Read and understand the Auton and Hewko decisions. These decisions outline critical facts which you can use to make good decisions for your children, for their treatment both at home and in school.
Thank you to Dr. Sabrina Freeman for founding Families for Early Autism Treatment and for your tireless work on both the Auton and Hewko cases.
Thank you to each and every family who courageously carries on a treatment program for their child.MemberImportant Supreme Court of Canada decision.
OTTAWA – The Supreme Court of Canada says a British Columbia school board discriminated against a severely learning disabled boy by not doing enough to give him the help he needed.
In their 9-0 ruling the judges sided with Rick Moore and his son Jeffrey, who is dyslexic.
They agreed with a 2005 British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal decision that found the North Vancouver school district discriminated against the boy by failing to accommodate his disability.
The B.C. Supreme Court overturned the tribunal ruling and that decision was upheld by the court of appeal.
The Supreme Court, however, overturned the lower courts, restored the finding of discrimination and awarded costs to Moore.
In the 15 years since the case began, Jeffrey was educated in an independent school and now works full-time as a plumber.
MemberREMINDER TO ALL WHO POST ON THE FEAT CHAT BOARD:
WAGES ARE NOT TO BE POSTED.
THIS CHAT BOARD DOES NOT ENDORSE SETTING UP COMPETITION BETWEEN FAMILIES FOR ABA POSITIONS.
INCLUDING YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS IN YOUR POST WILL ENABLE INTERESTED CANDIDATES TO RESPOND AND GET THE INFORMATION REGARDING WAGES.
Beverley Sharpe
Director, FEATBCMemberATTENTION PARENTS of all school districts.
A recent posting correctly explained how the Surrey School District hires its own employees and requires 1000 hours of home based ABA experience in order for them to be ABA Support Workers for the Surrey School District.
As a FEAT BC Board member and Hewko Steering Committee member I must post information regarding the legal precedence (HEWKO -2006 Supreme Court of BC) pertaining to Special
Education Assistants hired for Autistic children in ABA home – based treatment programs.First of all, while employees may apply for a position to work with your child, according to the HEWKO judgement, the following applies:
1. Before any decision is made regarding the placement of a child within the school system, the parents MUST be consulted.
2. The depth of consultation and the concomitant obligations for the parties to accommodate the requirements of the other will vary with the known need of a child's requirement for a modified curriculum.
3.The bottom line requirement for each side in meaningful consultation is to be able to demonstrate that the proposal put forward can produce instructional control of the child.
In short, you don't have to accept someone to work with your child who is not trained and can't show instructional control.
Alternatively parents, you must show due diligence and offer up a candidate from your home team, or talk to the school about YOUR child's requirement for a candidate who is willing to be trained by your Behaviour Consultant and Home treatment team.
While training on ABA home based teams adds to skill and knowledge levels of support workers, it is no substitute for someone who has child specific training in a child's behaviour protocol.
It is incumbent on school districts to meet their duty to accommodate autistic students. It is vital that parents exert their roles as advocates for their child, and their child's ABA treatment program.
Settling for an ABA support worker/Special Education Assistant who is unable to show instructional control, who has no ABA training, is NOT a viable option.
The data on Lovaas Applied Behaviour Analysis is clear. Consistency in application of the ABA principles specifically designed for your child by a qualified Behaviour Consultant is optimum. This is why Dr. Lovaas included parents and siblings to be educated in child specific behaviour protocols, and why he stressed the importance of consistency and training with anyone who worked or interacted with a child.
From a medical treatment view – yes, your child's ABA Treatment program is considered medically necessary treatment (See the Auton 2004 decision)
child specific training is a REQUIREMENT, not an option.While a school district may use seniority as a union-based tool to slot employees into posted positions – this is an element that fuelled my
passion, and all of the other parents who funded and worked on the HEWKO (Nov. 2006 Supreme Court of BC decision) case. Seniority of an employee doesn't mean anything to a child who requires a worker who is child specifically trained in their ABA protocol.The system that is in place in Surrey does not trump the judgements made by the Supreme Court of B.C.
Whenever a school district's system results in a situation where the child's needs are not met, this is not acceptable. Being wait-listed for a worker is not acceptable. Having seniority used as an element for an employee posted to your child's position is not acceptable. Being told by the school district who THEY have hired(without consultation) to be your child's worker is not acceptable.
Parents, educate yourselves. Read the Auton and Hewko decisions. These tools must be understood and used to ensure your child has access to an education. You are the stewards of your child's medically necessary treatment at home and at school.
Beverley Sharpe
Proud Parent of Miss A
FEATBC DirectorMemberATTENTION PARENTS of all school districts.
A recent posting correctly explained how the Surrey School District hires its own employees and requires 1000 hours of home based ABA experience in order for them to be ABA Support Workers for the Surrey School District.
As a FEAT BC Board member and Hewko Steering Committee member I must post information regarding the legal precedence (HEWKO -2006 Supreme Court of BC) pertaining to Special
Education Assistants hired for Autistic children in ABA home – based treatment programs.First of all, while employees may apply for a position to work with your child, according to the HEWKO judgement, the following applies:
1. Before any decision is made regarding the placement of a child within the school system, the parents MUST be consulted.
2. The depth of consultation and the concomitant obligations for the parties to accommodate the requirements of the other will vary with the known need of a child's requirement for a modified curriculum.
3.The bottom line requirement for each side in meaningful consultation is to be able to demonstrate that the proposal put forward can produce instructional control of the child.
In short, you don't have to accept someone to work with your child who is not trained and can't show instructional control.
Alternatively parents, you must show due diligence and offer up a candidate from your home team, or talk to the school about YOUR child's requirement for a candidate who is willing to be trained by your Behaviour Consultant and Home treatment team.
While training on ABA home based teams adds to skill and knowledge levels of support workers, it is no substitute for someone who has child specific training in a child's behaviour protocol.
It is incumbent on school districts to meet their duty to accommodate autistic students. It is vital that parents exert their roles as advocates for their child, and their child's ABA treatment program.
Settling for an ABA support worker/Special Education Assistant who is unable to show instructional control, who has no ABA training, is NOT a viable option.
The data on Lovaas Applied Behaviour Analysis is clear. Consistency in application of the ABA principles specifically designed for your child by a qualified Behaviour Consultant is optimum. This is why Dr. Lovaas included parents and siblings to be educated in child specific behaviour protocols, and why he stressed the importance of consistency and training with anyone who worked or interacted with a child.
From a medical treatment view – yes, your child's ABA Treatment program is considered medically necessary treatment (See the Auton 2004 decision)
child specific training is a REQUIREMENT, not an option.While a school district may use seniority as a union-based tool to slot employees into posted positions – this is an element that fuelled my
passion, and all of the other parents who funded and worked on the HEWKO (Nov. 2006 Supreme Court of BC decision) case. Seniority of an employee doesn't mean anything to a child who requires a worker who is child specifically trained in their ABA protocol.The system that is in place in Surrey does not trump the judgements made by the Supreme Court of B.C.
Whenever a school district's system results in a situation where the child's needs are not met, this is not acceptable. Being wait-listed for a worker is not acceptable. Having seniority used as an element for an employee posted to your child's position is not acceptable. Being told by the school district who THEY have hired(without consultation) to be your child's worker is not acceptable.
Parents, educate yourselves. Read the Auton and Hewko decisions. These tools must be understood and used to ensure your child has access to an education. You are the stewards of your child's medically necessary treatment at home and at school.
Beverley Sharpe
Proud Parent of Miss A
FEATBC DirectorMemberReminder to all, do not post remuneration in your ads.
Such info. can be disclosed to those who respond to your ad.
Thank you,
Beverley Sharpe
FEATBC Board MemberMemberThank you Andrew Kavchak for sharing the letter you sent to The Globe and Mail.
Sabrina Freeman is the single reason that my child and thousands of others across this country, are in bonafide treatment programs. Dr. Freeman founded FEATBC in 1996. Sabrina had the clear, concise, single message, "Applied Behaviour Analysis is the only scientifically, data-backed treatment for Autism."
Sabrina Freeman educated myself, and countless other parents. She, along with a small group of brave FEATBC parents, spearheaded the Auton and Hewko cases.
Her blog, "Autism Pundit" is a must read, as are her books listed at the right hand side of her blog.
My wishes for this New Year is:
1. That every parent educate themselves about Autism treatement and that every child with a diagnosis of Autism get started in an ABA program immediately.
2. That the efforts of Medicare for Autism Now! (thank you to the founders: Jean Lewis and David Marley) are successful in getting Applied Behaviour Analysis covered under Medicare.
3. That every parent,ABA therapist, Grandparent, neighbour, Canadian citizen that cares about children with Autism, learn from the recently released film, "Medicare's Orphans" (on the Medicare for Autism Now! website – it is free)that there is no room for complacency. Raise your collective voices to lobby the politicians at all levels because we need Medicare for Autism Now!Beverley Sharpe
Proud parent of Miss A
Proud FEATBC member since 1997.MemberHoliday greetings to those of you running a bonafide, ABA treatment program for your children.
My daughter put every ornament on our Christmas tree by herself this year, correctly identifying each one. She participated in her schools Christmas choir, singing Christmas Carols. She also participated in line-dancing at the Christmas dance on the last day of school before Christmas break.
My daughter is now 17 yrs. old. She has been in an ABA treatment program for 14 yrs. All of her achievements were due to the thousands of hours of one-on-one treatment. This treatment has enabled her to enjoy the Christmas activities that typically developing children enjoy.
I now look forward to Christmas morning, as my daughter has learned how to open presents, turn-take with gift-opening, and even clean up the wrappings after the gift-opening is finished.
My Behaviour Consultant, Miss Shelley Davis, specifically designed programs for each one of these achievements.It is vital that this science-backed, peer-reviewed, bonafide treatment for Autism be covered by Medicare. Please take time this holiday season to view the film, Medicares Orphans on the Medicare for Autism Now! website.
Thank you to Jean Lewis and David Marley, founders of Medicare for Autism Now!, who spent 2 years on this film which chronicles the 14 years of advocacy, litigation in a succinct 42 minute documentary.
Sincerest thanks to Dr. Sabrina Freeman who founded FEATBC in 1996, bringing the message to Canada, that Autism treatment exists, it works, and it is called Applied Behaviour Analysis. Her blog, Autism Pundit is a must-read.
Beverley Sharpe
Proud parent of Miss A
FEATBC -
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