[Super Dad]

I know everyone is busy writing letters, but if anyone wants to take a break to answer one question: I interviewed one consultant who claims to practice Lovaas ABA. Her primary assessment/tracking tool is ABLLS. I know Sundberg/Partington ABA practioners use ABLLS. My question: is ABLLS compatible with Lovaas ABA? What tool do Lovaas practioners use?

Thanks.
Tony (Leo's dad)

[Super Dad]

I just sent this out:

Date: Thu, 25 Nov 2004 04:12:31 -0500 (EST)
From: leomom2004@yahoo.ca
Subject: Autism Petition
To: "UBC Psychology Student Association" , "Kwantlen Psychology Society" , "Langara College – Dr. Norm Carsley" , "Capilano College"

On November 5 I sent you an email with a request for help, to raise awareness of autism and to get more students involved in ABA therapy. On November 29, the awareness suddenly became an urgent matter. By now you must have read about the Supreme Court of Canada decision against the children. For the families, this is a death sentence. For students like you, this means losing opportunities to become therapists, to make a dramatic difference in the children's future.

We need your help stop the government from ending their support for treatment. You can help by signing this online petition:

http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?andap1

To learn more, visit:

http://www.featbc.org

Please spread this message as widely as possible. I thank you on behalf of thousands of children and their families.

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." – Edmund Burke

Leo's Mom

[Super Dad]

After I voted on the CKNW survey, it told me a bunch of idiots voted against autism treatment. People out there still think "I'm not autistic so let's spend the money on something relevant to me." What they don't know is that any day any one of them can get an invisible disability. As opposed to something high-profile such as cancer or heart disease, he will get something with no public awareness. He will need treatment to reduce the excruciating pain, but oh surprise there is no political pressure for the government to provide any funding. All of a sudden he realizes the importance of minority rights, and when he tries to fight the discrimination, he will see a bunch of idiots vote against his treatment on CKNW.

So go ahead and trash the Charter, because you don't need it today. Let's see what happens tomorrow.

[Super Dad]

It felt like a death sentence when I got the diagnosis for my son. Money for ABA treatment provided hope. But when I heard the supreme court of canada decision, I got the death sentence all over again.

This is too big of a test of faith. If there are other Christians reading this please talk to me.

Tony (Leo's dad)

[Super Dad]

One last word regarding treatment intensity: Thank you Louise, Sara, Nancy and Michelle for sharing your experience and knowledge. I am especially grateful to Michelle for her extremely valuable advice. It's helping me a lot more than you may realize.

Tony (Leo's dad)

p.s. I am confused about why we may not have to worry about the money after Friday. I thought the whole point of this battle was to reverse the provincial court decision and end the current funding. To me that means next week I may have to sell the house just to pay for the 18 hours.

[Super Dad]

I almost forgot:

4. There are lawsuits against various school districts to provide, or at least allow, proper autism treatment in the classroom. Who is fighting that battle? When is a decision expected?

Tony
Leo's dad

[Super Dad]

I am quite confused about all the lawsuits in progress. Having stopped reading about them for a couple of months I have already forgotten all the names. I have a couple of questions:

1. Regarding the Supreme Court of Canada decision on Auton this coming Friday: my impression is that it's all about the BC government trying to reverse the previous provincial court decision to provide the $20,000 a year. If the parents win then the funding continues. Are there other implications?

2. I recall a lawsuit which may force the government to provide full funding for treatable disabilities. Even though this case is not specifically about autism, it may help us get the money required for Lovaas treatment, much more than the current $20,000. Who is fighting that battle? When is a decision expected?

3. I recall a lawsuit which may help us keep the $20,000 funding beyond age six, up to age 18. Who is fighting that battle? When is a decision expected?

Tony
Leo's dad

[Super Dad]

Hi Sara and Nancy:

The Sheinkopf and Siegal study (1998) had some interesting results. I have not found a copy of it, but here is a summary by Tristram Smith: "children who received treatment based on the UCLA model in the UCSF study (Sheinkopf & Siegel, 1998) scored an average of 28 IQ points higher than children in a comparison group that did not receive such treatment at follow-up (90 vs. 62). The investigators reported that children who averaged 25 hr/week of treatment appeared to fare as well as children who averaged 35 hr and suggested that treatment need not be as intensive as at the UCLA project. However, the small number of children at each level of intensity (five) prevented a sensitive test of this issue."

Here is a rebuttal by Lovaas: "given the unknown and non-optimal nature of the treatment provided in the Sheinkopf and Siegel article, we are in no position to argue that more or less of that form of treatment would make a difference. Finally, Pomeranz (1998) questions Sheinkopf and Siegel’s assertion that children who received 20 hours a week of therapy gained as much as those who received 30 hours a week. Dr. Pomeranz comments that the children who received 20 hours a week received many more months of therapy. It is a major mistake to delete such information. There also remains a question of the children’s treatment history, prior to the treatment provided by the therapists in the Sheinkopf and Siegel study."

An article by Glen Sallows states: "Sheinkopf and Siegel (1998)… hypothesized that parental involvement may explain the positive outcomes for children who do not receive high levels of treatment hours from the program itself."

Tony (Leo's dad)

[Super Dad]

Dear Louise: Thank you so much for sharing your experience. I too have seen good progress in my son, with only 18 hours of scheduled ABA each week (plus a lot of unscheduled ABA at every opportunity), but I keep wondering how much more progress we would see if we used 40 hours a week. Such intense therapy would require us to sell our house, which my wife loves dearly. I don't want to deprive her unless I think it will make a significant difference. (Don't get me wrong; I am more than willing to give my life for my son's recovery, if I know it would make a difference, but I need to know it's not unnecessary sacrifice for the rest of the family.) The time investment would also mean pulling our son out of preschool, which is helping him get used to peer interaction. One treatment provider claims there is huge diminishing returns beyond 25 hours, but they fail to provide the data, leaving me to search on my own. What I need is solid scientific evidence to help me decide.
Tony (Leo's dad)

[Super Dad]

We all know about the study by Lovaas comparing 10 hours of therapy to 40 hours. Has anyone read about studies on the effectiveness of 20 or 30 hours of treatment per week?

[Author]

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