Child With Autism Removed From BC School Which Lacked Autism Trained Staff

Work Safe BC Inspection Report, Vancouver Sun

The Vancouver Sun reports that a six year old child with an autism disorder, that's right six years old, was removed from a Langley, British Columbia school after a Worksafe BC investigation agreed with a complaint by staff who refused to work at the school because of the danger posed by the six year old autistic boy.  The article points out that the staff at the school who refused to work with the young child have no training in something called "the Crisis Response Plan Protocol".  The WSBC report also quoted a Langley area Teacher Association President who commented on the lack of adequate "special education" training for teachers.

No one referenced in the article speaks of the need to have teachers and aides with autism specific training working with autistic school children.  Here in New Brunswick autism specific  training of Resource Teachers and Aides, through the UNB-CEL Autism Intervention Training Program  has taken place over the last 6 years with great benefit to many autistic school children, including my son.  The UNB-CEL program has received recognition from such sources as David Celiberti, Ph.D., BCBA, President of the Association for Science in Autism Treatment and Eric V. Larsson, Ph.D, LP, BCBA  Executive Director of Clinical Services at the Lovaas Institute Midwest.  

Unfortunately not all districts and schools educating autistic children have been interested in having autism trained teachers and aides working with autistic children.  Here in New Brunswick we still have autistic children being sent home from schools because school staff are not properly trained in how to educate and management the behavioral challenges of autistic children.  The problem has been compounded in New Brunswick by the extreme inclusion views of Gordon Porter, currently a special adviser to Education Minister Jody Carr, and the architect of New Brunswick's extreme inclusion model which forcefully encourages all children to be dumped in the mainstream classroom whether or not it is in their best interests to do so.

Autism disorders are neurological disorders which are still not taken seriously by some educators including, apparently, those in BC, and of course New Brunswick's own Gordon Porter. The best interests of autistic children are simply not always on the agenda for cost cutting school administrators or ideologues who believe that only they understand what is best for all school children.

Provide credible autism specific training for those who work with autistic children? Accommodate them, if the best interests of the specific child require a quieter learning environment for all or parts of the school day? Heaven forbid.

Far easier to blame the autistic child, keep him or her out of school, and forget about the child's best interests.

Read more »

Adult Autism Residential Care and Treatment in New Brunswick 2000-2010 and Beyond; In 2011 Will Autistic Adults Remain Forgotten?

December 31 2010

The Honourable David Alward
Premier of New Brunswick and Minister
Responsible for the Premier's Council
on the Status of Disabled Persons

The Honourable Madeleine Dubé
Minister of Health

The Honourable Sue Stultz
Minister of Social Development

The Honourable Jody Carr
Minister Education and Early Childhood Development

Dear Honourable Premier and Honourable Ministers

Re: Adult Autism Residential Care and Treatment in New Brunswick 2000-2010 and Beyond; In 2011 Will Autistic Adults Remain Forgotten?

As this year draws to an end and a new year approaches I congratulate you on your victory in the recent election; on winning the trust of the people of New Brunswick. In facing up to the well known financial and economic challenges confronting New Brunswickers I hope, and trust, that this government will not neglect the eduction, health and social needs of New Brunswickers, of all New Brunswickers, including NB adults with autism disorders. In particular I hope, and ask in this open letter, that this government begin serious efforts in 2011 to address the residential care and treatment needs of New Brunswick adults with autism disorders.

I am the father of a 14 year old boy with Autistic Disorder, assessed with profound developmental delays. In plain language he is severely autistic. I have, because of his condition, been an active autism advocate in New Brunswick over the past 12 years. New Brunswick has enjoyed much success in addressing preschool and education needs of autistic children and youth in recent years taking an evidence based approach and we have done it in both of our official languages. These advances began under the government of Premier Bernard Lord and grew during Premier Shawn Graham's term in office. The success that has been enjoyed with autistic preschoolers and students stands in stark contrast, however, to the lack of progress in helping NB's autistic youth and adults who are severely disabled by their disorders and who have need of residential care and treatment which have not been provided in any meaningful sense in New Brunswick.

In 2005 the national media reported that an autistic New Brunswick youth was being held on the grounds of the Miramichi youth correctional facility. At that time NB autism advocates had already been advocating for several years for a modernized residential care and treatment system for NB youth and adults. No significant progress has been made over the past 10 years. During the recent election campaign Professor Emeritus (Psychology) and Clinical Psychologist Paul McDonnell was interviewed by CBC and described a comprehensive modernized approach to autism residential care and treatment:

"Our greatest need at present is to develop services for adolescents and adults.


What is needed is a range of residential and non-residential services and these services need to be staffed with behaviorally trained supervisors and therapists.


Some jurisdictions in the United States have outstanding facilities that are in part funded by the state and provide a range of opportunities for supervised and independent living for individuals with various disabilities."


We need an enhanced group home system throughout the province in which homes would be linked directly to a major centre that could provide ongoing training, leadership and supervision.


That major centre could also provide services for those who are mildly affected as well as permanent residential care and treatment for the most severely affected.


Such a secure centre would not be based on a traditional "hospital" model but should, itself, be integrated into the community in a dynamic manner, possibly as part of a private residential development.


The focus must be on education, positive living experiences, and individualized curricula. The key to success is properly trained professionals and staff."

The model described by Paul McDonnell has been described and advocated for in meetings with senior civil servants over the past decade but no action has resulted. Today we still have autistic adults living in facilities outside New Brunswick and in a variety of ad hoc accommodations. The most seriously challenged persons live in the psychiatric hospital in Restigouche. The current group homes have untrained staff . We need a modernized, centrally located facility that could provide treatment and permanent residential care for those most severely disabled by autism disorders and community based residential facilities around the province with properly trained staff. In 10 years there has been no progress in addressing the residential care and treatment needs of autistic youth and adults. I respectfully ask that your government begin planning, in 2011, to provide an evidence based system, as described by Dr. McDonnell, that will address these needs and provide a decent quality of life for our autistic youth and adult population.

Respectfully,

Harold L Doherty

Read more »

Autism in NB Schools and Gordon Porter's New Minister of Education

Gordon Porter                            Education Minister Jody Carr

Gordon Porter was one of the 5 men  who formed the David Alward transition team that advised New Brunswick's David Alward as he prepared his transition from Premier Designate to Premier. One of the key tasks they handled was to assist in drafting the 15 Conservative MLA's who would form the pared down Cabinet. It is no surprise that MLA Jody Carr was named to fill the post of Education Minister. Carr, his wife Krista Carr, and brother and fellow MLA Jack Carr, are all disciples of Gordon Porter's extreme inclusion philosophy. They have all resisted for several years, in conjunction with Gordon Porter and the NB Association for Community Living with which Mr. Porter and the Carrs are affiliated,  efforts by parents of some autistic children to have their children educated in neighborhood schools but outside of the mainstream classroom

Gordon Porter began introducing in NB his extreme model of inclusion, with its "all children in the regular, mainstream classroom", decades ago. His views on inclusive education do not appear to have changed, literally, since mankind walked on the moon. During the MacKay Review of NB's inclusive education system, and while Mr. Porter was chairperson of the NB Human Rights Commission,  he spoke to me, and another autism advocate, contemptuously and angrily, dismissing us as "you people". While in the position of NB Human Rights Chair Gordon Porter's HR officers drafted a position on accommodation in NB Schools ..  a position which supports Porter's "keep all children in the mainstream classroom" vision.  

Gordon Porter's philosophy resulted in Conor being placed in a mainstream classroom where he was overstimulated and overwhelmed by being forced to learn a different curriculum by a different method than the other students in the class. Conor came home every day with bite marks on his hands and wrists while in Gordon Porter's inclusive classroom setting. The  biting declined and ceased almost entirely once he was removed at our request to a quieter setting. The evidence did not support Conor's inclusion in a mainstream classroom and school and district officials respected that evidence and accommodated my son's disability. I am thankful that they did.  

Gordon Porter's extreme inclusion philosophy has lost ground in NB schools despite his stranglehold on positions of influence in education circles. The Ministerial Committee on Inclusive education, which began during the Lord government years, and continued during the Graham government of the past 4 years,  made a commitment to an evidence based approach to inclusive education based on the best interests of the individual child in its definition of  inclusive education. That evidence based approach permits children like my son Conor, diagnosed with Autistic Disorder and assessed profound developmental delays, to receive ABA based instruction in a separate, quieter area of the school,  while visiting common areas of the school such as the gym, pool, kitchen etc where they can also meet other children. 

Hopefully Education Minister Jody Carr will shake free of the dominating influence of Gordon Porter and not try to roll back the progress that has been made in New Brunswick schools  by so many autistic children, including my son Conor. I am told by some people whose opinions I value that I should give Minister Carr an opportunity to do the right thing by autistic children so I will but I will do so reluctantly, cautiously and with an  eye to ensuring that the Porter Philosophy of Inclusion does not force my son back into the mainstream classroom where his education, his health and his safety would be at risk.  Hopefully new Education Minister Jody Carr will not try to undo the commitment to evidence based education that is necessary for many children with disabilities and disorders, including some with Autism Spectrum Disorders, to receive a real education in New Brunswick schools.

Read more »