New Brunswick made substantial progress in providing services to autistic pre-schoolers and students over the previous 10 years. Those gains are now being eroded. Eroded may be to gentle a way to describe what is happening. Those gains are being dismantled completely.
The basis for the gains made in providing autism services in New Brunswick is the UNB-CEL Autism Intervention Training Program. Early intervention workers and teacher aides were were educated in the UNB-CEL program which provided independent, quality training. Now training will be provided in house by the autism agencies themselves and by the Department of Education. The interests of autistic children will now take a step back behind the competing interests of adults. Attached following this commentary is a letter I sent this morning to various political and organizational leaders who are, or should be, interested in autism issues in NB.
The ASNB needs to step up and speak up again! We are meeting this Saturday, March 12 at 12:00 noon at MacLaggan Hall, UNB Fredericton and we need you and your voice. See you there!
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To the Honourable Premier David Alward and other esteemed recipients with an interest in autism in New Brunswick:
There will be an open meeting of the Autism Society New Brunswick this Saturday March 24 at 12 noon at UNB Fredericton, McLaggan Hall. The meeting is open to anyone in NB with an interest in autism.
New Brunswick, during the previous 12 years, came to be recognized as a Canadian Leader in autism service delivery by esteemed experts including Dr. David Celiberti of the Association for Science in Autism Treatment. The gains resulted from the efforts of many people including parent advocates, involved professionals in psychology, speech language pathology and related disciplines, and conscientious members of both former Premier Bernard Lord and former Premier Shawn Graham. Those gains are now being eroded by decisions of the current administration without consultation with conflict free autism advocacy representatives in New Brunswick.
Anyone interested in autism and autism service delivery is welcome to attend. The meeting will not be conducted by a professional "facilitator". In other words it will essentially be a free and open discussion with only two requirements - candor and courtesy.
Hope to see you all there. Feel free to invite, or refer this invitation to, anyone you know with an interest in autism in NB.
Respectfully,
Harold L Doherty
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