[Isaac]

Autism is in the news again this week on the Bill Good program, Sept. 14, '04, CKNW radio. Please visit this address to hear the program: http://www.featbc.org/the_media/

As happened in the landmark Auton case on medically necessary autism treatment, once again B.C.'s government is in the legal hot-seat regarding autism policy (or lack thereof) and will need to repackage senior bureaucrat spin and tap into corrupt academe to defend itself in court and before the public.

It's way overdue, but at long last the education bureaucracy in BC will soon be forced to "tell it to the judge," their best case vs. ours. What's nice in all this is that facts are a very stubborn thing – they simply don't go away because government has a bevy of lawyers and a bottomless legal defense budget.

There's a new autism lawsuit in town, wherein your B.C. government's education system is on trial for autism discrimination and will be compelled to tell all, show all and make their best arguments. This legal action essentially amounts to a privately funded commission of enquiry examining appalling school district and Ministry of Education autism policy negligence and discrimination.

There are very deep structural flaws in B.C.'s public education policy where autism is concerned, but our "friends" in government just don't get it yet. The policy deficiencies are profoundly harmful and BC's bloated education bureaucracy will need to explain all this in a court of law.

Short strokes on the lawsuit: BC's Government will be held to account for discrimination, incompetence and/or malfeasance vis a vis the education rights of children with autism who have physician-prescribed, medically necessary treatment programs in place.

The harmful incompetence of government bureaucrats and special-ed contractors will necessarily be on the stand, in defense of the indefensible (… you special-ed Brahmins know who you are.)

Isaac
Miki's Dad

Bill Good program: http://www.featbc.org/the_media/

[Isaac]

Autism in the news:

To get the latest stories, please visit http://www.featbc.org/the_media/

1) Click on TV news for the recent BCTV story on the new autism lawsuit against the BC education system.

2) For the National Post commentary on a dad's protest in front of the First Minister's health conference, click on newspapers.

[Isaac]

This article appeared on the Editorial page of today's Ottawa Citizen and has been kindly forwarded to us by Andrew Kavchak.

__________________________________________________________
It's crucial for autistic children to get help immediately

The Ottawa Citizen
Sep 7, 2004
Page: A12
Section: News
Edition: Final
Byline: David Ljunggren

At first glance, there seems nothing unusual about the three-year-old boy as he bounces up and down on a small trampoline at home, his eyes glued to the television. But there is something terribly wrong with this picture. Little Steven Kavchak has autism, a serious mental disorder that affects one in 200 children and locks sufferers into their own worlds, unable to communicate, show emotion or cope with everyday life. Although there is no cure, evidence shows that autistic children can be helped greatly by intense behavioural therapy, especially at the age of two to five, when the brain is still growing and can — putting it simply — be rewired to work better. The therapy costs at least $40,000 a year, but Ontario's funds are limited and the list of those in need is long. Steven has been waiting for treatment for nine months.

"This therapy needs to be administered to a child immediately following a diagnosis. Every week, month and year on a waiting list is a tragic loss," said Steven's father Andrew, appalled the health-care system is letting him down when he needs it most. The good news is that Steven has been getting 30 hours a week of therapy from specialists since January. The bad news is that the Kavchaks are paying and money is running out. If the treatment stops, Steven's chances of attending regular school are remote. This story could be even gloomier, since Ontario at least provides some funds for therapy. Parents seeking support elsewhere have been forced to sue provincial governments, some of which claim the treatment is educational rather than medical and does not qualify for funding. Others say the therapy is ineffective, an approach that Kavchak dismisses as ludicrous.

"Say hello to our guest," he called out as we entered the room. "Hello," replied Steven cheerfully, continuing to bounce as he watched television. "That's good — he wouldn't have been able to say that a few months ago," beamed Kavchak, citing studies that show 50 per cent of autistic children who undergo early therapy can attend school without needing further help. Effectively treating children with disabilities so they can go to school and survive without being teased or falling behind is critical, says Pam FitzGerald, chair of the Ottawa-Carleton Assembl of School Councils. "Politics is a short-term game. There is little incentive to put into place expensive programs for children at a young age. But if you spend some money now, you save a lot later," she says, noting that children receiving early help are less likely to end up in jail or on long-term welfare. FitzGerald says everyone benefits because the more help affected children receive, the less likely they are to cause disruptions in class. There are also financial reasons to do more. A study in 2002 said the cost of providing therapy to all autistic children in Ontari would be $2.8 billion over their lifetimes while giving no therapy and then paying their welfare expenses would total $11.2 billion. "What further arguments does one need to realize that eliminating waiting lists is not only the moral thing to do, but also in our economic interests?" said Kavchak. Help could be at hand. In March, Ontario's Children and Youth Services Minister Marie Bountrogianni unveiled a plan to help autism sufferers. "We recognize the need to provide more services to more children," said her spokesman, Andrew Weir, adding that Ontario would this year double autism funding to around $80 million and planned to cut waiting lists by hiring more therapists.

This is of little immediate consolation to Kavchak, who spends most lunch hours protesting on Parliament Hill, each time updating his placard with the number of days Steven has spent on the waiting list. Often he walks alone, awash in grim thoughts. "The impact of autism on families is an absolute disaster," he said, adding that up to 70 per cent of families where a child has a disability eventually break up. Kavchak, who worries that he and his wife are not paying enough attention to Steven's five-year-old brother, plans to demonstrate next week outside the Ottawa building where Prime Minister Paul Martin and the provincial premiers will hold their health care summit.

"I used to be a proud Canadian. I used to believe politicians when they said health care was the No. 1 priority and that our medicare system made us so superior to the United States. My family has now found out the hard way just what a horribly dysfunctional and non-responsive system we have," he said

David Ljunggren is the Reuters national political correspondent in Ottawa.

E-mail: davidljunggren@yahoo.ca

[Isaac]

'Autism … A voice from Parliament Hill.'

The September article in 'Access Now' can be downloaded at this address –> https://featbc.org/downloads/access_now_09_04.pdf

Isaac (Miki's Dad)

[Isaac]

Passing along today’s news from Ontario … yet another successful court injunction to enforce government funding for medically necessary behavioural autism treatment beyond the arbitrary government age six cut-off.

Isaac
(Miki's Dad)

==================================================

Important autism ruling
Judge supports boy despite age cap
Ruling may open doors for others

CHRISTIAN COTRONEO
TORONTO STAR STAFF REPORTER

An Ontario court is ordering the government to pay for a 7-year-old autistic boy's treatment, in a decision that may widen the door for hundreds more cases.

Eric Naccarato would suffer "irreparable harm" if he left the government-funded Intensive Early Intervention Program, or IEIP, even though he exceeds the program's six-year age cap, Mr. Justice Paul Rouleau ruled.

When the Hamilton boy turned 6 in July of last year, the Ontario government stopped paying for his therapy. To keep him in the program, his parents took over the payments. They eventually had to scale back his time at the center to three days, and enroll him in a special public school program for the remaining time.

But the boy's treatment, called applied behaviour analysis, requires intense, one-on-one sessions in which behaviour, language and social skills are constantly being reinforced. Eric's parents told the court his behaviour was beginning to unravel in a normal school setting. The costs – from $45,000 to $80,000 per year – on the other hand, prevented them from keeping him in therapy.

Lawyers representing the attorney-general argued that by keeping Eric in one of the program's 500 spots, another younger child who could benefit even more from the treatment would be denied.

The court has ordered the government to ignore the IEIP's age limit on a handful of occasions in recent years and the numbers are certain to grow.

"Not one of the children that's applied in this province, that was formally part of the IEIP has been turned down," said Norrah Whitney, whose son was granted an injunction last year.

In addition, she said the Ontario Human Rights Commission is hearing an estimated 160 families, seeking similar measures.

But Rouleau maintained that Eric's case is too unique to affect many other families.

==================================================

[Isaac]

In reply to queries on the Auton hearing in June at Supreme Court of Canada, the newspaper articles on the case are available at the FEAT-BC site at this address: http://www.featbc.org/the_media/

The Globe and Mail's Justice reporter, Kirk Makin, is the most informative; he's done the best job reporting on this story. Also, he was actually AT the SCC hearing all day, suffering through voluminous lies, deceit and distortions served up by 8 provinces and your federal government's Attorney General — a more thoroughly disgusting display of realpolitik one could not possibly dream up.

Isaac (Miki's Dad)

[Isaac]

From http://www.globeandmail.com

Friday, Jan. 30, 2004

Province told to pay in autism case
Failed to produce evidence in battle over funding program, judge says

By KIRK MAKIN
JUSTICE REPORTER

An Ontario judge has ordered the province to pay several thousands of dollars to 29 parents of autistic children because it failed to produce evidence at the heart of a 10-month-old trial. Madam Justice Frances Kiteley of the Ontario Superior Court said the award will cover the cost of having the evidence examined by experts and then woven into the parents' case against the government for failing to provide adequate care. "I have been doing this kind of litigation for about 20 years, and this is the first time I've had something like this crop up," said Mary Eberts, a lawyer for the parents.
Ms. Eberts said that the plaintiffs stumbled on the missing information — mainly statistics and evaluations of the provincial autism program — after they had closed their case. They will be permitted to deal with the new material after the province completes its defence in several weeks. "This is absolutely, totally the guts of the case," Ms. Eberts said in an interview. "When they produced it, we went ballistic. It makes us all so mad that we just happened upon evidence almost by accident that is going to be favourable to us."

The case, launched by 29 couples with children who have autism, is akin to a class action. Both sides are locked in a mammoth trial that has featured testimony from children with autism, parents, senior bureaucrats and expert witnesses from as far away as California. The plaintiffs allege that a government policy unconstitutionally deprives autistic children over the age of 5 of a widely hailed program capable of enhancing their ability to function in school and society. Yesterday, Judge Kiteley ordered an advance payment of $10,000 in costs. Ms. Eberts said that the total award is likely to be $40,000 or $50,000. She said that while she does not suspect government lawyers Robert Charney and Sarah Kraicer of having concealed the material, the situation shows that the province cannot keep track of its own information. The information was compiled by lawyers in the Ministry of the Attorney-General who were pursuing a separate autism case. Ms. Eberts said they unaccountably failed to pass it on to Mr. Charney and Ms. Kraicer. Ms. Eberts and her co-counsel became puzzled a few weeks ago when Mr. Charney tried to introduce a chart that bore oblique references to unfamiliar statistics and records. "We said: 'There's no way you can use those charts without producing the backup data,' " Ms. Eberts recalled yesterday. "When they produced it, it was absolutely new stuff we had never seen before. It shows what a mess their statistics are." About 500 children are in the autism program, while another 1,000 are on a waiting list and will probably turn 6 before they can qualify. There are thought to be another 2,000 children over the age of 6 with an autism diagnosis. The plaintiffs are seeking damages and a declaration forcing the province to extend treatment to any child with an autism diagnosis. "To the extent that the new statistics show the number of children being served was lower than they claim, and that the children got less service, they are favourable to us," Ms. Ebert said. "Given that the trial has already been prolonged beyond what the parents had bargained on, it's very upsetting for them." The province began fighting the multimillion-dollar lawsuit under the previous Progressive Conservative government. In a letter to parents of a child with autism shortly before the election last fall, Premier Dalton McGuinty described the autism policy as "unfair and discriminatory." The plaintiffs' legal bill stands at about $1.2-million. According to Ms Eberts, this pales in comparison to what the province must be paying its larger team of lawyers and bureaucrats immersed in the case. Mr. Charney could not be reached for comment yesterday.

[Isaac]

Yesterday (12/10/03) there was an article in the Globe and Mail (http://www.globeandmail.com) by the Justice Reporter. It's a scathing indictment of the Province of Ontario and further evidence that it's the permanent bureaucracy that really runs government where autism policy is concerned … not your elected politicians. The Premier of Ontario 's damage-control reply to the negative Globe and Mail publicity was quick out of the gate … as in 24 hours later. Both articles are below.

Isaac
(Miki’s Dad)

************************************************************

Province backs policy decried by Premier
Approach on help for autistic children called alarming in McGuinty letter

By KIRK MAKIN
JUSTICE REPORTER
Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2003

The Ontario government is aggressively fighting a multimillion-dollar courtroom battle to uphold an autism policy Premier Dalton McGuinty described in a recent letter as "unfair and discriminatory" to children who don't qualify for it.

Mr. McGuinty's letter — written to the parent of an autistic child about 10 days before the Ontario election — denounced the province for depriving autistic children over the age five of a widely hailed program capable of enhancing their ability to function in school and society.

While 500 children receive the program, another 1,000 are on a waiting list and will probably turn six before they can qualify, he said. (There are thought to be another 2,000 children over the age of six with an autism diagnosis.)

"It is alarming and unacceptable that there are almost twice as many on a waiting list," Mr. McGuinty wrote to the parent, Nancy Morrison.

"I also believe that the lack of government-funded [intensive behavioural intervention] treatment for autistic children over six is unfair and discriminatory.

"Sadly, as you and many other Ontario families are experiencing first-hand, far too few autistic children in our province are getting the help and support they so desperately need. The Ontario Liberals support extending autism treatment beyond the age of six."

Both sides are locked in the sixth month of a mammoth trial that has featured testimony from autistic children, parents, senior bureaucrats and expert witnesses from as far as California.

"The government's position is, if anything, more heated up than it was under the Ernie Eves' government, which seems incongrous," Ms. Eberts said in an interview yesterday.

"I would say the total bill for the province of Ontario to be resisting all these claims is vast."

Government spokesman Brendan Crawley said that in general, the province is assessing all ongoing litigation to see if it can be resolved outside the courtroom.

It may continue to litigate cases which have ramifications extending beyond its particulars, he said.

Lurking in the background is a B.C. ruling last year where the province was ordered to fund autism treatment to several families. The program involves a broad learning strategy that extends from in-class learning to socialization.

The B.C. case, known as Auton, is under appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.

The 29 plaintiffs in Ontario allege that the provincial policy breaches Charter of Rights equality guarantees as well as the right to security of the person.

They are seeking damages and a declaration forcing the province to extend treatment to any child with an autism diagnosis.

Ms. Eberts said nothing prevents the province reaching a settlement right away in keeping with the sentiments Mr. McGuinty espoused. "In constitutional cases, it is perfectly open to the government of the day to give the attorney-general different instructions," she said.

Ms. Eberts cited a case several years ago in which Conservative Premier Mike Harris made a comparable move. The case, M vs. H, involved the division of property after the dissolution of a lesbian relationship. After taking over the government from the NDP, Mr. Harris hardened the province's position, she said.

Ms. Eberts also questioned the financial soundness of the provincial position. The plaintiffs' legal bill already stands at about $1.2-million, but Ontario has a larger team of lawyers and bureaucrats immersed in the case, she said. In addition, other government lawyers are busy fighting 50 human-rights complaints involving the autism policy and 15 parents have launched injunctions to obtain treatment funding.

Tammy Starr, one of these parents, said yesterday that it costs $30,000 to $50,000 annually to put a child through the autism program. "If both the plaintiffs and the province consider the age 6 cutoff to be 'unfair and discriminatory,' why don't they change the legislation?" she said in an interview.

"I'm very disappointed," Ms. Starr said. "I see people in their eighties routinely being given chemotherapy and other medical treatment. No one would dare deny them treatment regardless of their age."

************************************************************

Will help families, McGuinty promises
But legal battle over program for children with autism is necessary, Premier says

By RICHARD MACKIE

Thursday, Dec. 11, 2003

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty has promised that his government will help families with autistic children, despite the fact it is in court fighting parents seeking extended treatment for their children.

"I think we have a responsibility to help them," the Premier told reporters at Queen's Park yesterday. "We are determined to sit down with the families and find innovative solutions."

He said the Liberals are continuing to fight the court case, which was initiated under the former Progressive Conservative government, because of the point of law involved and the issue of the extent to which the courts can order governments to provide social programs.

"The best advice I have gotten from the Attorney-General is that there is something larger at stake here in terms of mandating governments to proceed with certain kinds of expenditures. That's why we're in court," Mr. McGuinty said.

In the legislature he said: "What the parents are asking the courts to do is to force the government to make certain kinds of expenditures. That has far-reaching effects beyond this particular issue."

While Mr. McGuinty talked of larger issues, the immediate focus of the court case is the fact that the government does not provide funds for children over age 5 to participate in a program that has proven successful in enhancing the ability of autistic children to function in school and society.

There are about 500 children benefiting from the program while another 1,000 are waiting to get into it and will likely turn 6 before they qualify. Further, an estimated 2,000 have passed age 6 and will never benefit from the program if the government holds to its present policy.

Prior to the election, Mr. McGuinty promised to change the policy to extend the program to children over 5. But the government is still in court fighting a group of parents who argue that it is a violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to deprive the older children of the program.

Ontario's action is similar to a fight being waged by the British Columbia government, which has gone to the Supreme Court of Canada to appeal a court order that it must fund autism treatment for several families.

[Isaac]

A couple of points I would like to address today in response to recent posts on the discussion board.

First, regarding whether the Paperman post (Nov. 16, 4:22 PM) does or does not constitute a violation of forum rules — it doesn't. The post may be spirited, but it's clearly well within forum rules insofar as it only speaks of government-funded agencies and, moreover, is devoid of any personal attack against a member of this forum.

To address the question by Anon-Nov.16, 10:PM … the query being, "What is the difference between an ABA trained therapist and an EIBI one?"

Well, first we need to define what we mean by "ABA trained therapist." When parents ask for an ABA interventionist for their child, what they really mean is they want a Lovass-style ABA therapist. The vast majority uses the shorthand term "ABA" to refer to Lovass-style ABA. Dr. Lovaas (Psychologist of UCLA), represents the headwaters from whence the real science behind autism treatment flows. Lovaas is the pioneer who took many of the proven, component parts of well established ABA principles, put them together and developed the groundbreaking, comprehensive treatment protocol for autism referred to as Lovaas Autism Treatment in the BC Supreme Court judgments. This autism treatment is yet to be equaled for efficacy in the scientific literature. For anyone who claims their treatment protocol is science-based, or effective ABA, the mantra needs to be, "show me the data." If the bona fide science isn't there, then it's not the real deal, even if the method may use some components from the very broad field of ABA … and may have someone with a Ph.D., nice suit and a smooth talk advocating the method.

When parents say, "I want ABA" for my child, they don't want pseudo-science simply because hearsay and parental reporting says some treatment or other is terrific. Parents want the GENUINE science BC courts have ruled is uniquely effective in ameliorating the debilitating disorder of autism – and that's Lovaas-style ABA, otherwise known as EIBI, or Intensive Behavioural Intervention. All this brings us back to Anon's 11/16/03 question: "What is the difference between … ABA … and EIBI …"

The short answer is ABA is 'real' and the BC government program called 'EIBI' was only strategically labeled as such to defeat a court case. Stated simply, government's 'EIBI' is a patently fraudulent, so called autism treatment program, created by cynical bureaucrats to defeat children in the Auton case. It would be wonderful if this were only hyperbole on a chat board post, but sadly, it isn't. To be technical — and perhaps more polite — government's so-called 'EIBI' program fails to meet the criteria for medically necessary treatment ordered by the judge in the Auton case and affirmed by the BC Court of Appeal. A straightforward case-in-point is this: transcripts from BC's preliminary EIBI government hearings (in preparation for government's "remedy" in the Auton case) suggest a grandmother can deliver Early Intensive Beahavioural Intervention. It sounds ludicrous, but this is the kind of bankrupt government system parents of children with autism are up against.

A brief history for those who may be new to the autism wars in BC: when government lost the Auton case in July 2000, the court ordered that government fully fund genuine EIBI for children with autism i.e., Lovaas-style autism treatment. What Government did instead is create a fraudulent program that simply carried the nameplate 'EIBI' … a Volkswagen Beetle with a Jaguar moniker is still a Beetle. In fact, government's 'EIBI' is a rehashed smorgasbord of what was discredited in court and has no resemblance to what the judge ordered for our kids.

Government's EIBI program is also age-limited (kids under age 6) and only accessed through government diagnostic gatekeepers (Sunny hill, etc.) rather than private practice health care professionals (as in all other publicly funded Medicare treatments). Only immensely arrogant MCFD bureaucrats could pull off this kind of big lie in BC Supreme Court — but they have, at least in the short run. The result now is that the only place on the planet where 'EIBI' does not mean real EIBI (A.K.A. Lovaas Treatment) is in British Columbia. Welcome to George Orwell's version of 'EIBI,' where the lie is presented as truth by your BC civil servants.

To sum up, anyone who has been trained by, or works for the government-run 'EIBI' program, should not in any way be deemed a bona fide autism treatment professional in terms of what the BC Supreme Court ruled is medically necessary treatment for children with autism.

Please be careful … please be suspicious. If they work for government, your child will likely suffer, given the sorry state of current government affairs in this province.

Isaac
(Miki's Dad)

[Isaac]

Apologies … the correct address is below:

–>http://www.canadianchristianity.com/
cgi-bin/cgi?nationalupdates/030925autistic <–

[Author]

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