[Tanja Weiser]

**WANTED**BEHAVIOR INTERVENTIONIST (Maple Ridge)

We are currently seeking a dedicated BI to join our home-based ABA team. Training will be provided to the right candidate by our Case Manager & under the direction/supervision of our Behavior Consultant, Dominika MacDonald (ABA Academy). This position would be ideal for a part time student (with flexible hours & days), taking psychology, special education, speech/language pathology, occupational therapy or any other courses involving children, special needs, teaching and clinical therapy.

You will be working 1 on 1 with our 4.5 year old son who has(High Functioning)Autism Spectrum Disorder (PDD-NOS), Infantile Anorexia & Sensory Food Aversion Disorder, as well as Obessive Compulsive Disorder. You must be 20 years old or older, enthusiastic & fun, enjoy working with children with special needs & challenges and be sensitive to their needs & emotions. You must be a quick learner, possess a great sense of humour and have strong play skills & creativity. You must be be patient, responsible, reliable, organized, able to multi-task and work well independently, as well as with a team. Session notes & charting/record keeping is mandatory.

Psychology background and experience working with children with Autism is preferred. Familiarity of ABA and current First Aid & CPR certificates is an asset. We require a current criminal record check, valid BC driver's license and a minimum of one year commitment. Therapy sessions will be mainly home-based, however may also be at our son's preschool or daycare. Sessions will be 2-3 hours in length and 2-3 days per week. You will be expected to attend monthly team meetings. Wage will be negotiated based on relevant skills, educational background & related experience. Please reply to this posting with resume or career vitae and 3 personal references to: tanjaweiser@shaw.ca

[Tanja Weiser]

In regards to your last message to me Ducky…so true…I can't agree with you more! Thanks for your support and absolutely…I won't give up the fight! We need our government to recognize the strong, growing need for increased Autism funding (ie: Medicare for Autism), as well as awareness/education to the people that will be responsible for our children in the public school system. We need ABA in all of our schools!! ABA has been implemented in the Surrey schools. (After a very long fight of course). What I don't understand is, why does each individual community need to fight to get it in their schools? Shouldn't this have set a precedence and be in all schools across BC? Or even Canada for that matter? Or are we all expected to pack our families up & move to Surrey, so that our kids can get the proper treatment & education? Bureaucracies, Politics…Red tape…gotta love it!

-Tanja

[Tanja Weiser]

Thanks Monika! Good advice!
-Tanja

[Tanja Weiser]

Thank you so much Dave for your words of encouragement. It's nice to hear that things can get better and that there's people out there that are living proof of that! I do try to tell myself that some of what I'm experiencing with my son is temporary and will one day pass (at least I can hope)…but when you're in the moment of it, that's hard to do. Plus I'm always afraid of what's around the corner. It seems you may get over one obstacle, only for another more challenging hurdle to be in it's place.

Thanks for your support.
Tanja

[Tanja Weiser]

Sorry Dave…I meant to send that little blurp about ABA & feeding issues on the message board to Ducky, not you.

To Ducky, I do appreciate your support as well.

To all the Parents before me who advocated for their children & future children….THANK YOU!!

[Tanja Weiser]

A heartfelt thank you to all that replied to my posting! It means so much to have your support & words of encouragement.

Barb…you're absolutely right, a support group for parents of an ASD child with feeding issues, is greatly needed!

Dave…While this message board is more about ABA treatment and advocating for your child…I strongly believe that feeding issues do have a place here. Especially seeing the response to my posting…I see I'm not alone and ABA treatment is and can be a part of the solution(if the feeding issues are behavioural). Also one knows, that a well fed child will tend to "act out" less & sleep better. Behaviours are put into overdrive when the child is not eating and in my experience, it also interferes with the child's sleep. This becomes a vicious cycle, which reflects on the child's behaviour. Eating & sleeping…2 key conponents to a child's development & learning abilities.

[Tanja Weiser]

Hi,
I am a new to this discussion board. My son was diagnosed last August, while I was 7 mths pregnant to my 2nd child. I went through major whirlwinds of emotions…denial, remorse, anger, depression, etc. It's been a rollercoaster ride to say the least! My son is high functioning on the spectrum, with a severe speech delay & major control issues…but it really came as a shock (it's not a very pleasant label to put on someone's child)! I do feel lucky in some ways though, as now we have some funding to help him(as limited as it may be). But with that said, I have experienced so many, many road blocks; so many wait lists, not enough funding for certain services, shortages of therapists, etc. It's so frustrating & overwhelming to deal with (especially when you have a newborn child on top of it)!!! Then I read about families like Hunter's (in Langley, who was prohibited from attending school). This extremely upsets, angers and frustrates me. This could be my family in a couple of years (as my son is 4yrs old.). How can the school get away with this? Why wasn't the ABA consultant allowed in the classroom to implement a behaviour plan? Is it a territorial thing/power trip? I really feel for the family. I know that my family struggles daily with our own challenges & stresses (on top of having a baby)…I can't imagine what it would be like to be in a situation where you have to have lawyers involved to try to get a proper education for your 6 year old son. My heart goes out to you & families like this! Be strong and advocate, advocate for your child…like you're doing!!

On a separate note, does anyone have any feeding issues with their ASD child that compares with ours. Our son had acid reflux at birth to 12mths. He's had issue with food since. Currently, he accepts about 6 foods and with that list of foods…gags & chokes (sometimes throws up). This is a huge stressor for our family. I'm running out of things to give him to eat. I'm so worried he's going to end up on a feeding tube. He's already dropped from the 25th percentile in height & weight to the 15th percentile. He's skin & bones!! Some of his issue is sensory and some…definitely behaviour. I'd like to hear from you if you have encountered similar prombems with your child and am open to suggestions of what could work to turn our situation around. By the way…supplements won't work as he's very paticular as to what type of liqud he'll accept & where it goes (ie: what type of container, for instance: Milk must be in his baby bottle, as he gags & chokes if it's in a cup and he only drinks water & OJ, but again in very specific drinking containers), and he refuse to try anything new (ie: chocolate milk). Right now he's living off of Toddler biscuits, yogurt, milk, and either banana or apples. Occasionally he'll accept chicken, pork chops or salmon & dry cheerios. That's it! That's all he'll eat. Not big on carbs or veggies!! I feel doctors don't really take it serious until one is malnourished!! I welcome your comments.

Thank you!

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