Autism Parent Advocacy and the ASNB AGM March 23 - Our Voices Must Be Heard!

Parents and others affected by autism disorders in New Brunswick are invited, and  asked, to attend the ASNB 2013 AGM this Saturday March 2013 at MacLaggan Hall UNB Fredericton formally beginning at 12:30, but open for discussion at 11:00 am.  Autism families have been excluded from government autism decisions, we are no longer stakeholders in the eyes of the Alward-Carr-Porter administration in matters affecting persons with autism, and if we do not prepare, once again, to speak up and be heard our children and loved ones with autism will suffer the consequences.  Come to the meeting this Saturday and prepare to fight for our loved ones with autism.

At present NDP leader Dominic Cardy and former NB Liberal leadership candidate Nick Duivenvoorden had indicated they will be attending the ASNB AGM.  An invitation to the Alward government made 7 weeks prior to the ASNB AGM was met with a reply indicating that all none of the invited ministers were free this coming Saturday afternoon.   Autism parents, because of our past advocacy successes, and insistence on serious, evidence based help for autism have been consciously excluded from autism decisions by thcurrent  government.  

Autism progress resulting from strong parent advocacy was made over the years. Early evidence based intervention, autism trained education aides AND the reversal of the decision to close the Stan Cassidy Centre autism team all resulted from autism parent advocacy.  All gains were made through direct discussion with concerned political leadership including Bernard Lord, Tony Huntjens and Shawn Graham.  Some members of the bureaucracy were helpful but for the most part officials at senior levels in Education and Health in particular opposed vigorously the autism progress that has been made.  Since the election of the current administration the bureaucracy has been working hand in hand with the Alward-Carr-Porter government  to exclude autism parents from government decsion making affecting young children and students with autism. 

The Telegraph-Journal featured a full page promotion of Acting Ombudsman Youth Advocate Christian Whalen which implied wrongly that progess had been made by this government and more progress was on the way ... if only parents ... would remain patient.  Mr. Whalen who wrote the article was ill informed. At the end of the day, while no doubt a good person, Mr. Whalen must follow the mandate of the government which signs his pay cheques.  He spoke of a "stakeholders" meeting at which autism programs on line were being developed as "cutting edge" progress. The stakeholders did not include the Autism Society NB or autism parents who are being consciously excluded from autism "stakeholder" meetings.  Government officials are of the view that autism parent participation would be "sloppy" as they stated at the so called stakeholders meeting. The truth is parent advocacy caused our autism progress and government bureaucrats have been fighting back not in the best interests of autistic children and adults but simply to regain control of autism issues they once ignored. 

Contrary to the Whalen article's implications every aide and resource teacher currently autism trained in NB schools was trained at the UNB-CEL Autism Training Program not by the Department of Education  and that was done in response to parent advocacy pressure.  The Education officials purchased rights to the program theory but have still not developed a practicum component.  The practicum component is vitally important and will not be ready for 1-2 years if then. When it is done it will, based on historical discussions, be done "in house" subject to department and union grievance pressures.  ASNB opposed such in house training vigorously and successfully despite education department reactions  including legal pressure directed at me personally.  Based on past history and based on the realities of the CUPE 2745 collective agreement and grievance process it is highly unlikely that the practicum will include rigorous, if any, testing requirements, times for course completion  or even criteria for entry and graduation from the in house autism "training".

Today children with autism are escorted from NB schools after calls are made to police, fire and emergency responders. Some are charged criminally.  Meanwhile educators follow official policies of physically grabbing children with autism and removing them to isolation rooms.  The predictable aggressive response by some autistic children is then considered as the bases for criminal charges. 

Parents with autism diagnosed toddlers face delays in getting early intervention for their children.  Months of delay will follow admission to the early autism intervention program, months that will be charged as "treatment" on the individual child's record. 

Adult care, as always, remains ignored under this as under all previous administrations.  Action is just not the strong suit of bureaucracies particularly when hamstrung by philosophy based, cliche thick "community" philosophies which, on the evidence, are in fact counter productive.  While our government has  never tired of  yanging about community  persons with severe autism are sent by our governments to psychiatric hospitals and institutions outside of New Brunswick as they have for many years.  It is the government adherence to cliche based community philosophy, and refusal to consider development of alternatives, that results in the full institutionalization of adults with severe autism challenges.

If you are concerned about your child or family member with autism, if you are autistic and need assistance, or if you are just genuinely concerned about the challenges faced by persons with autism disorders in New Brunswick meet us this Saturday at UNB-Fredericton, MacLaggan Hall.

Our voices must be heard!

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Great Autism News in New Brunswick!

Great autism news in New Brunswick as the UNB-CEL Autism Intervention Training Program is being made available for the public.  (Applications available online.) The college program has previously been recommended by US autism experts Dr. Eric Larsson and Dr. David Celiberti. Dr. Celiberti in particular is very familiar with the program and had recommended the New Brunswick autism service delivery model which was based on the program  for consideration by other Canadian provinces.  Unfortunately for New Brunswick's autistic children, students and adults the successful UNB-CEL Autism Training Program, first utilized by the Premier Bernard Lord's Conservative government, and then by Liberal Premier Shawn Graham's government, has been abandoned by the David Alward government and its non evidence based, philosophically driven partners at the NBACL. 

The UNB-CEL Autism Intervention Training program was born in response to requests for tenders for autism training put out by the Lord government. That request resulted from intense and effective advocacy by many New Brunswick parents of autistic children led by the Autism Society of New Brunswick.  The actual program itself was first conceived at a meeting of a committee which was  meeting to establish an autism centre of excellence at UNB in Fredericton.  During a committee meeting a parent advocate member of the committee suggested that UNB should provide training in response to the government tenders. Dr. Paul McDonnell who was at the meeting confirmed that UNB had the professional resources to provide the training.  Anne Higgins, then with UNB-CEL, laid out a step by step process, including necessary time lines, that could be followed to meet the tender requirements. A pilot program was run and the UNB-CEL Autism Intervention Training was born!

Parent advocates, including yours truly, lobbied strenuously for the extension of the UNB training to our schools.  We met fierce opposition from some in the Department of Education who had their own agendas to pursue.  I was even subjected to threats from Department of Justice legal counsel, at the request of the then Director of Student Services, Robert Gerard, to keep me from participating in meetings between the Autism Society and Education department officials to discuss implementation of a commitment by Premier Shawn Graham to increase the numbers of UNB-CEL autism trained education assistants working with autistic students. 

We also met with fierce opposition from the New Brunswick Association for Community Living which included direct opposition from NBACL icon, then NB Human Rights chair, and now Alward transition team member Gordon Porter.  The current Education Minister's wife Krista Carr is an executive officer with NBACL and at the time she also opposed the Autism Society's position that alternative learning environments were necessary for some autistic students and in particular for those receiving ABA based instruction, provided by UNB-CEL autism trained aides, in quieter settings outside the regular classroom.  Danny Soucy is a current member of the Alward government, also affiliated with NBACL, and was also a  public opponent of Autism Society efforts to achieve the flexible inclusion necessary for many autistic children to be educated at all and in particular to receive ABA instruction from UNB-CEL Autism trained aides.

A third force opposing parents advocating for UNB-CEL training for our children was, and is, the union representing education aides, CUPE Local 2745 and its leader Sandy Harding. During the time I was ASNB President I had requested a meeting with Ms. Harding's predecessor to seek the CUPE Local 2745 support for autism trained education aides (TA's).  Ms Harding's predecessor was not interested and she herself upon taking office as Local 2745 president has been openly hostile to any serious training requirement for aides working with autistic students.  

CUPE Local 2745 has used its considerable clout to resist any training requirement and pushed hard for seniority as the only requirement for aides working with children with autistic disorders. As a labour lawyer with a quarter of a century experience, in New Brunswick and federally, I can say that such a lop sided approach to any job posting requirement is almost unheard of and, as the Alward government currently genuflects before CUPE Local 2745, constitutes an abandonment of management rights. Removal of the UNB autism training requirement in favor of pure seniority considerations and refusal to permit learning outside the classroom when necessary also constitute failure to accommodate the autistic disorders, the neurological based disabilities of children with autism contrary to Human Rights Act requirements.   Both the Alward government and CUPE Local 2745 are now discriminating against children with autism disorders by refusing to acknowledge the need for autism training for aides working with children with autism disorders which are in fact serious neurological disorders.

With these three major institutional forces aligned in lock step opposition to the accommodation of New Brunswick's autistic students comes a fourth factor - the current shaky state of the world economy. Economic factors currently provide perfect cover for the Alward government to abandon the quality and integrity of the UNB-CEL autism training for the sloppy in house training that was opposed by the Autism Society New Brunswick and for a surrender of our children's best interests in the face of the adult interests of untrained senior members of CUPE Local 2745.

In this perfect storm the revival for the public of the UNB-CEL Autism Intervention training program, and the quality and integrity it provides, is one bright light in the darkness.  It  is a beacon to guide us and provide hope that better days are ahead.

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Erosion of New Brunswick's Autism Gains: We Can't Just Stand By and Let It Happen!

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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Foundation of New Brunswick Autism Success Is Being Abandoned

New Brunswick, Canada, like most jurisdictions, has some gaping holes in respect of autism services delivery. But there have also been some significant successes  due largely to the UNB-CEL Autism Intervention Training Program and Dr. Paul McDonnell who was a leading force in the establishment of the UNB-CEL AIT Program. While the UNB program is still being utilized for some specific purposes it is being abandoned for cost reasons and to satisfy competing adult interests, particularly in education. 

Adult residential care and treatment in particular is brutally bad here in NB with many severely autistic adults living in group homes with untrained staff and other inadequate resources.  The most severely affected autistic adults live in psychiatric hospitals and some live in other make shift accommodations, at least temporarily staying on general hospital wards and shipped out of the province.  Two young men were sent several years ago to the Spurwink facility in neighboring Maine, USA,  where at least one is believed to still be residing.  

Although not perfect there have been some successes here in NB in early intervention and provision of autism trained education assistants and resource teachers. The foundations for those successes, as highlighted very well in a Brunswickan news article, have been the UNB-CEL Autism Training program and Dr. Paul McDonnell, Clinical Psychologist and Professor Emeritus (Psychology).  Sadly, our provincial government is largely moving away from using the excellent UNB-CEL Autism Intervention Training program to train early intervention workers and education assistants and resource teachers for our schools. 

Our provincial government has recently approved the provision of in house, on the job, training for early intervention workers in our government approved early intervention agencies of which there are seven in our province.  One or two of these agencies may be able to provide some level of quality training but it is highly unlikely that all seven agencies will be able to meet a quality training level.  The move away from early intervention autism training by UNB-CEL is a serious setback for New Brunswick children with autism disorders.

At the same time New Brunswick has already been abandoning UNB-CEL Autism Intervention training for education assistants and resource teachers in favour of, once again, in house training.  It took some strenuous advocacy by parents of autistic children to obtain a commitment by our previous governments to provide UNB-CEL autism training for our education assistants and resource teachers working with autistic students.  Well placed people in the Education Department, in particular a gentleman named Robert Gerard, objected to the UNB training as being a "Cadillac" service.  Instead the department offered a number of in house training options none of which called for entry qualifications, testing as a requirement of course completion and in some instances no timeline for completion.  

It is my understanding that our government has sent some teachers to obtain BCBA qualifications in the US, and that they will be involved in some capacity with in house training of education assistants and resource teachers.  In house training however has inherent drawbacks. Lack of independence of those providing the training, who will report to a number of Department bureaucrats will be one of those drawbacks. The CUPE local which represents education assistants, and Teachers Association for the teachers, will likely be involved with and possibly interfere with, the conditions and qualifications for training.  There are already reports of a collective agreement  arbitration award which rejected a posting requirement for a UNB autism trained education assistant to work with an autistic student.  I have been unable to confirm that information though as a request made to the Department several weeks ago for a copy of the award has not been fulfilled despite a follow up last week. 

Our present Conservative government has chosen to abandon the quality UNB-CEL training of front line workers in early autism intervention agencies and schools.  Next will come a report by Dr. Gordon Porter and the New Brunswick Association of Community Living both of which have opposed the individualized instruction of students with autism in favor of Dr. Porter's everybody in the mainstream classroom inclusion illusion.

The autism success for which autism parents fought so hard in this province for so many years is eroding before our eyes. In all honesty this is what I expected with the current administration which has such close ties to Dr. Porter's "everybody in the mainstream classroom" inclusion philosophy.  Dr. Porter was part of the advisory team which assisted Premier David Alward in his transition to office after the last provincial election.  Minister Jody Carr and government members Jack Carr and Daniel Soucy all have backgrounds in the NBACL which has opposed attempts to provide one on one ABA based instruction to some autistic students in quieter school environments outside the mainstream classroom.

The abandonment of the UNB-CEL Autism Intervention training and the renewed influence of Dr. Gordon Porter and the NBACL in the provision of education services does not bode well for the future of New Brunswick's autistic children and students.  The challenge of bridging the gap in New Brunswick's adult autism residential care and treatment has always been huge. It is unlikely to be tackled in any meaningful way until a new government takes office in several years time.

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Autism leader helps UNB remain at forefront of autism intervention training

The University of New Brunswick has engaged a renowned expert to examine best practices in autism treatment.

Dr. David Celiberti is president of the Association for Science and Autism Treatment. His report, commissioned by UNB’s College of Extended Learning (CEL), examines program quality indicators already in place in other jurisdictions. The findings will be used to provide quality assurance for UNB’s program and to help UNB remain a leader with its Autism Intervention Training program.

“At UNB’s College of Extended Learning, we have great programs in place,” said CEL Executive Director Lloyd Henderson. “The methodology taught in our program is an Established Treatment as per National Autism Centre’s (NAC) standards.”

The NAC published a National Standards Report which classifies autism intervention treatments in a range from Established (known to be effective) and Emerging (some evidence of effectiveness), to Un-established (no sound evidence of effectiveness) and Ineffective (having no beneficial effects).

“We want to continue to lead in this area by taking a global approach, examining best practices, and making sure we continuously improve to offer the best intervention training possible. We monitor emerging treatments and will incorporate them into our programs if and when they are deemed established,” said Henderson.

“Autism treatment providers and program administrators should be required to report and justify why they are bypassing established treatment,” Celiberti said, in his report. “Parents should be educated and fully informed about which aspects of their child’s treatment are comprised of established treatment and which are not.”

The findings in the report will be used to establish a protocol for the CEL’s training program. It will also be made available to those involved in the administration and support of autism programs across the province and throughout Atlantic Canada.

“In light of the overwhelming body of growing intervention methods that parents and professionals are presented with on a daily basis, UNB’s intentions in undertaking this research project were to identify evidence-based proof of the support methods being used to treat children with autism,” Henderson said. “Thanks to Dr. Celiberti, we now have the information we need and are examining our programs to see if there are areas we can continue to improve.”

For more information on UNB’s program, or to read the report, visit: www.unb.ca/cel/intervention/index.html

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CBC: New Brunswick Lacks Residential Care for Adults with Autism

Emma Smith and CBC did a feature (at minute 23:40)  on last evening's news on the lack of residential care available for New Brunswick adults with autism.  I was interviewed along with some other parents and staff from the Autism Connections Fredericton community autism centre.  Paul McDonnell, Ph. D., UNB Professor Emeritus (Psychology), clinical psychologist and mentor to many parents of autism children, was also interviewed.  

Paul McDonnell is the autism expert who helped educate many parents of newly diagnosed autistic children, including me, about the benefits of evidence based interventions for our children.  He really has been the intellectual force behind the progress that New Brunswick has made in early intervention and education of NB children and students with autism.  While the progress in early education in particular, and in our schools to a lesser extent, has been significant, no progress whatsoever has been made in developing an appropriate residential care system for New Brunswick adults with autism disorders.  Paul McDonnell talks about the need for a high end facility, one which would incorporate a variety of arrangements to accommodate adults from different points on the autism spectrum.  He also points out that as much as $500,000.00 a year is being spent to provide care for just 1 New Brunswick adult with autism ... at the Spurwink facility in Maine.  He points out it would make economic sense to design and construct a facility which could be designed to provide community integration here in New Brunswick. 

The struggle for improved autism services in NB has been taking place in a serious fashion over the last 12 years. During that time activist parents advocated, argued, struggled and fought for evidence based early intervention for autistic children.  We had some success, albeit not total success, in obtaining 20 hours of government funded intervention for autistic children aged 2-5.  Some gains have been made in our schools although much, much more effort is need there. No progress though has been made for adults with autism in New Brunswick. 

Government drags its feet on adult autistic care for a number of reasons.  In my experience as an autism advocate it is easier to get public attention for the need to help children then it is to attract their concern over autistic adults. It seems to be a natural inclination for people to be stirred more easily to help children than adults.  There is also the fact that once in the care of government autistic adults are out of the public eye. Out of sight, out of mind. The government can, and will, cite privacy reasons of the autistic adult as a reason for refusing to disclose information about them.  The most extreme examples of the privacy issue being used in this way is taking place right now in Ontario where that government has sent its lawyers in to action to prevent disclosure of information in the two inquests, including the Ashley Smith and G. A.  inquests.  In those cases the government is arguing against disclosure of information about what happened to these two youths, purportedly to protect their privacy,  even though they are now dead. 

In New Brunswick a huge obstacle to development of an autism specific residential care and treatment facility is the opposition of the very influential NB Association for Community Living.  Community living cliches are pulled out at every discussion of adult care issues. "No bricks and mortar" solutions is the cry of the community living advocates who believe that all problems are solved by dumping adults, including severely autistic adults, into privately owned group homes.  The powerful and influential people who subscribe to this ideology are well connected to cabinet ministers, the Human Rights Commission, the department of education, schools and school districts,  even the Ombudsman and Youth Advocates office. As long as we all go to bed at night repeating "community", "inclusion" and other cliches over and over again until we fall asleep all will be well.  But there will be no talk of "institutions' ... or any other facility that might be needed to help autistic adults.

No serious thought is given to providing the residential care and treatment that many with autism will require throughout their adult years. In fact active resistance emerges at events like the Ombudsman and Youth Advocate office's recent  Complex Needs consultations, in which I participated,  to any discussion of a facility that might provide the expertise, security and access to autism specific programs required by autistic adults.  

It is not cash that is preventing adequate residential care for autistic adults in New Brunswick. Huge sums are being sent to export our autistic adults to the United States. The "bricks and mortar" of buildings that might be necessary to provide residential care and treatment are not the problem either.  The real problem is the "bricks and mortar" that encases the thinking of the community living adherents who have subscribed to the same  ideology for decades and refused to consider the needs of severely autistic adults.  Their philosophy has ruled New Brunswick with an iron fist for decades even though the failure of that rigid philosophy is evidenced by the people with autism living on general hospital wards, in psychiatric institutions, in specialized facilities in Maine and other provinces, in hotel rooms and even on the grounds of youth correctional facilities. 

In truth we all want our children to remain as integrated as possible in our communities, as close as possible to our families.  As a parent though I know that talking about community and inclusion does not address the need of some autistic adults for expert care, for expert based continuing education and recreation opportunities and for security.  These requirements, for some, can not be provided in a small, privately owned group home. We need a facility close to autism expertise such as exists at UNB and at the Stan Cassidy Centre to provide appropriate life arrangements for our autistic loved ones as adults.   

The need is painfully obvious to parents who see their adult children sent to live in general hospital wards, psychiatric hospitals .... and facilities in another country.  New Brunswick needs to fill the gap between the inadequate group homes and hospital institutions and provide a modernized autism  facility to accommodate the needs of out adults with autism.  Here in Fredericton we have developed some behaviorally based autism expertise of note. It is time for the community living adherents who are so influential in our government institutions in New Brunswick to let go of their rigid and dated perspectives,  to loosen up and let the needs of autistic adults be addressed with modern evidence based solutions, with facilities that can provide security, expertise, education and recreation in as community integrated a manner as the circumstances served by those facilities  permit.  

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Have Higgs and Harding Sacrificed New Brunswick Students with Autism?

Have Minister Blaine Higgs and CUPE Local 2745 President Sandy Harding 

Sacrificed New Brunswick Students with Autism?

It appears that the first New Brunswickers asked to sacrifice, or to be sacrificed, in the austerity era formally ushered in yesterday with the Budget Speech by Finance Minister Blaine Higgs may be New Brunswick students with autism disorders. Unnoticed by important news sources like the CBC the government announced the day before the budget speech the ratification of a new collective agreement with CUPE Local 2745.  The new collective agreement is not yet available publicly but it has been indicated to me that the agreement will give the edge to seniority over qualifications, experience, special circumstances  or special relationships between teacher aides who will now be called education assistants and students with autism disorders.

What this means, if correct,  is that when the school year starts education assistants will be assigned to posted job positions solely on the basis of seniority.  An education assistant who has received the UNB-CEL Autism Intervention Training program will lose the opportunity to work with and help a student with autism if an education assistant who has been working longer as an aide applies for the position.  Autism is a neurological disorder which requires special learning approaches and understanding of complex and at times challenging behavior.  But, if the information proves correct, it appears that Finance and Human Resources Minister Blaine Higgs and CUPE Local 2745 President Sandy Harding have other adult interests more important to consider and are willing to sacrifice the best interests of New Brunswick students with autism disorders.

As a lawyer my work has focused on labour law and labour relations for a quarter century, both federally and provincially and included time as a legal adviser to the Canada Labour Relations Board, now called the Canada Industrial Relations Board.  Most collective agreements strike a balance between seniority and qualifications  by assigning a standard of qualifications and position specific ability to be met before seniority kicks in. Others assign the position to the most qualified person for a position with seniority acting as a tie breaker where candidates are equally qualified.  Very few agreements simply give a position to the person with the most seniority regardless of qualifications or ability as the new CUPE 2745 is rumored to do.

The NB government web site provides little details about the new CUPE 2745 collective agreement except the financial bottom line:

We are pleased that this agreement has come together and is supported by CUPE's membership," said Finance Minister Blaine Higgs, who is also minister of human resources. "It is clear that New Brunswick has severe fiscal challenges and it is encouraging to see a willingness from both sides to work together to reach agreements that are fair to both employees and taxpayers."

The agreement provides two years of zero-per-cent wage increases, followed by general economic increases of two per cent in each of the following two years. As well, the contract increases the guaranteed hours of work for teachers' assistants to 30 hours per week by September 2012. Government and union representatives will officially sign the new collective agreement in the near future.

I recognize that my sources could be wrong.  The union members who voted to ratify, or accept the new collective agreement were apparently not even given a draft copy of the agreement before voting on it.  Basically they were given, at least in some locations, a summary on a screen. The collective agreement should ultimately be made public and available on line.  

The information is unlikely to be proven wrong though.  CUPE Local 2745 President Sandy Harding  has long advocated for seniority to be the only consideration in assigning teacher aides, now education assistants, to positions working with children with disabilities including  students with autism.  She has long put the interests of adults, the most senior members of CUPE Local 2745, over the interests of students with autism disorders.  

If this collective agreement grants Local 2745 President Harding her long held wish to promote seniority over the interests of students with autism then it would explain why  she  pushed a collective agreement with such little financial gain for her Local 2745 members. It  has no wage increase for two years and more importantly, an increase in the  maximum hours an education assistant can work to 30 hours a week, one hour short of the 31 weekly hours required to qualify for the full-time defined benefit pension plan.

I hope my sources are wrong.  I hope I am wrong. I would be very happy to issue a correction, and an apology, to Finance and Human Resources Minister Higgs and CUPE Local 2745 President Harding if I am wrong.  I hope that the new CUPE Local 2745 collective agreement with the Province of New Brunswick does not make seniority the only, or the dominant, consideration in determining who works with New Brunswick students with autism disorders and other challenging disabilities.  The UNB-CEL Autism Trained  Teacher Assistants have been vitally important to ensuring that autistic children, including my son, receive a real education and develop to the best of their abilities. To effectively eliminate their contributions in the name of seniority will hurt the development of many of New Brunswick's autistic students.

For now though it appears that Finance Minister Higgs and CUPE Local 2745 President Sandy Harding have sacrificed New Brunswick children with autism in order to meet their adult, organizational goals.  It appears that the first New Brunswickers thrown off  the life boats as our government negotiates stormy fiscal waters will be the vulnerable ... students with autism disorders and other serious disabilities. 

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New Brunswick Leads in Preschool & Student Autism Services But Adult Autism Needs Must Be Addressed

Autism expert Paul McDonnell Professor Emeritus (Psychology, UNB), Clinical Psychologist, and  a  major force behind the great progress that has been made in provision of preschool and school autism intervention and education services in New Brunswick,  has provided expert analysis of autism issues to the CBC. In two features, Paul's analysis, and his interview by CBC reporter Dan McHardie, Paul speaks about the leadership role New Brunswick has taken on in providing excellent preschool and school autism services but also points to  the need to address youth and adult autism needs including adult care residential needs as set out in the interview:

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

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

...

"In the past we have had the sad spectacle of individuals with autism being sent off to institutional settings such as the Campbellton psychiatric hospital, hospital wards, prisons, and even out of the country at enormous expense and without any gains to the individual, the family or the community

Among the reforms that the UNB professor is calling for is an enhanced group home system where homes would be connected to a major centre that would develop ongoing training and leadership.

The larger centre could also offer services for people who have mild conditions. But, he said, it could also be used to offer permanent residential care for individuals with more severe diagnoses.

"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," he writes.

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

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New Brunswick Autism Education: Everyone in the Mainstream Classroom Inclusion Model Continues to Hold Back Progress

I have been a frequent promoter of the progress made in New Brunswick in the education of autistic students. Recent developments though show the extent to which that progress has been uneven with ultimate implementation of changes being left to the School District level. A bilingual and bifurcated Education department in New Brunswick has resulted in some francophone districts preferring to go it alone or to follow models from outside New Brunswick.

Two developments have spurred the  progress that has been made. One is  the training of 4-500 teacher assistants at the excellent UNB-CEL Autism Intervention Training program. The program has received high marks on external review by Dr. Eric Larsson and has included knowledgeable guest speakers like David Celiberti of the Association for Science in Autism Treatment.  The UNB-CEL AIT program has emphasized both quality and integrity with course entry requirements, substantial practicum and examination requirements. Unfortunately the program has been opposed by some in the Department of Education who felt that the program, which resulted from political-parent consultation, represented a loss of departmental influence. The Department is now moving back to what it has wanted all along ...  an in house training program with all the inherent conflicts of interest, quality and integrity issues that in house training brings with it. Some school districts have also refused to enroll teacher assistants in the program particularly in New Brunswick's francophone school districts which have tended to go their own direction in New Brunswick's bilingual and bifurcated education system.

Progress has also been made in modernizing inclusion in New Brunswick schools.  For years the dominant "everybody in the mainstream classroom" approach pushed hard by  the New Brunswick Association for Community Living and by Gordon Porter,  the former chair of the New Brunswick Human Rights Commission,  has held total sway in New Brunswick.  This approach does not reflect the research literature, or the experience of families like ours, which says that not ALL students with autism belong in the mainstream classroom.  I have presented legal reviews and research literature reviews to the MacKay Inclusion Review, (Professor MacKay is one of the worst offenders, and I use the term "offender" intentionally, when it comes to promoting the "everybody in the mainstream classroom" model of inclusion).

My son used to come home with bite marks on his hands and wrists from his days in a mainstream classroom where he was overstimulated, and learning a different subject matter, using different methods than the other children in his class. Once removed from the class for most of his  academic learning his self injury ceased and his school career has been a true joy as I have indicated many, many times on this blog.  Conor has not been sent to a prison like isolation room.  He has been educated in a small side room with an autism trained teacher assistant. The room is decorated with the usual learning tools and is not in the least restrictive. Conor visists the school gym, pool, kitchen and library.  He is around other children there and in the halls.  I have seen children greet him at school many, many times.  Conor's classroom is the school and he is not alone in such accommodations which have been made for other students in District 18.

The concept of the whole school as a classroom or learning environment is not mine. I am not a professional educator and I did not come up with it. The person who did relay that concept to me was Alex Dingwall the Superintendent of School District 18.  The use of the whole school environment. to provide alternative learning locations and accommodation for autistic children who can not function in the mainstream classroom is not mine. It may or may not be Superintendent Dingwall's but it was he who relayed it to me during a settlement conference for a Human Rights complaint I had filed on behalf of my son and which I ultimately withdrew because he has been accommodated in our neighborhood schools here in Fredericton.

I caught some of the CBC coverage of the Moncton child placed in a jail like time out room. I heard Krista Carr of the NBACL offering her commentary without acknowledging that the system in place in that school district is the total inclusion, everybody in the mainstream classroom, model which does not recognize that the classroom is not right for all children and does not put any emphasis on providing alternate learning locations outside the mainstream classroom. The total inclusion model pushed by the NBACL, by the former chair of the NB Human Rights Commission and by Professor Wayne Mackay has failed and harmed some New Brunswick autistic students, including, for a brief period of time, my own son. Thankfully Conor has,  long since his failed mainstream classroom experience, had access to an alternate learning location in our neighborhood schools. The credit for that accommodation does not belong to me, or to Professor Wayne MacKay,  former Human Rights Commissioner Gordon Porter or NBACL official Krista Carr. The credit belongs to educators at School District 18 who have accommodated my son's disability.

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ABA and Autism's Biggest Myth - Conor Counts the Days to Middle School

Conor has been counting down the days to school much of which is based on ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) instruction in a room alone with an ABA trained (UNB-CEL Autism Intervention Training) Education Assistant. Conor loves school, including his ABA, as I have written about several times.

Today at about 6:30 am Conor came and got Dad to tell me "2 more days to Middle School". He has been asking about (Nashwaaksis) Middle School for the past few weeks. Some mornings he gets up and grabs his school lunch bag off the top of the fridge (top picture, above) telling us clearly that he wants to get back to school. He has also been joking about school, making comments about Conor going to Nashwaaksis Memorial where he attended grade school. When we agree he laughs and says "Noooooooo Memorial ... MIDDDDDLE School!".

The bottom picture, above, is a re-post of a perfect attendance record from his first year at Nashwaaksis Middle School, 2 years ago. Last year Conor missed a couple of days because of flu and because of a dental operation so he didn't get the perfect attendance certificate but he still came pretty close.

Those who allege that ABA turns children robotic, or is otherwise abusive, are creating a myth, Autism's Biggest Myth. They have no evidence, no studies, on which to base this myth. It is just the opinion of people with very little real exposure to ABA. Conor has loved the ABA instruction he has received. Because of the determined Autism Advocacy of some dedicated parents here in New Brunswick and a government that listened, both to parents and to the decades of research supporting the efficacy of ABA as an autism intervention, Conor has been able to receive ABA based instruction in school for the past several years ... and he loves every minute of it.

To Michelle Dawson and other spreaders of Autism's Biggest Myth ... you are wrong .... and you have nothing to back up your prejudiced opinions about ABA. Your opinion about ABA effectiveness is rebutted by hundreds of studies and dozens of credible professional reviews. Your myth about ABA abuse of autistic children is rebutted by .... Conor's very expert, very well informed, opinion.

NOTE: Even as I am writing this comment Conor came in to the kitchen from the back step where he is playing with water balloons to say "Middle School Breakfast" to his mother. He wasn't telling her he wanted breakfast ... he was telling her what was on his mind ... getting back to school.

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Autism Education: New Brunswick Educators Plan to Abandon Quality Autism Training for Aides Working with Autistic Students

I have written often, and with great pride, about New Brunswick's Autism Service Delivery model for autistic students and pre-schoolers. NB's ASD model has been presented at a national and international conference. It has been subjected to external review by international autism expert Dr. Eric Larsson of the Lovaas Institute who stated:

"The current AITP is a remarkable and thorough program that has been developed to an exceptional level of quality in the context of limited resources. The province-wide model is one that many other provinces should adopt, as it carries with it many cost-effective features. The curriculum content requires little modification".

You would think that such success would be embraced by civil servants with portfolio responsibility for autistic students but sadly the opposite is true. At the school level the training of teacher assistants and resource teachers working with autistic children at UNB-CEL Autism Intervention Training has met with fierce resistance from the minute that the careerists in the Department of Education learned that the program was being implemented pursuant to discussions between the Autism Society of New Brunswick and the current government of the province.

Premier Shawn Graham and Education Minister Kelly Lamrock committed to funding training for 100 TA's and resource teachers a year for four years at the UNB-CEL AIT program. That commitment was resisted initially be "educators" who prepared 7 alternative proposal outlines with no meat to them in order to stall implementation of the UNB training commitment. When an alternative "plan" was fleshed out it included in house training which carried no assurances of quality or integrity. There were to be no entrance requirements. The course could be completed at the candidates leisure with no time line for completion and no graduation or exam requirements. The plan would be directed by a soon to be retiring Director of Student Services who was one of the most determined opponents of the UNB-CEL training commitment. Presumably he would have received a salary to administer the program in addition to his retirement pension.

As an indication of the ferocity of resistance to the UNB proposal the alternative plan was presented to ASNB at a meeting at which the Department indicated I could not attend or the meeting would not take place. A frivolous conflict of interest allegation was made against me on the grounds that I had a complaint against the Department relating to autism services before the NB Human Rights Commission. In that complaint I was not acting as a lawyer. I brought the complaint on behalf of my autistic son .... as his father. Rather than disrupt the meeting though I agreed not to attend and ASNB simply discussed the proposals afterward with everyone including me.

At a subsequent meeting of the Dialogue on Education Committee the agenda for the day made no mention of an autism training program to be discussed. I attended on behalf of the ASNB on short notice and had to leave at mid day. No mention was made to me before I left by the Department representative chairing the meeting, Brian Kelly, the current Director of Student Services, that the Department wished to again discuss autism intervention training. Despite not being on the agenda and despite not being mentioned while I was in attendance as the Autism Society representative or otherwise receiving any notice of intent to discuss it, an autism training proposal was discussed after I left.

Although the Department complains about expense it has sent teachers to receive autism training in North Texas even though a quality training program, as asserted by Dr. Larsson, is available right here in Fredericton. The union representing TA's has opposed the UNB-CEL training because of the entrance and completion requirements and the seniority claims of older Teacher Assistants. Some of their members are unable to enter or complete the program. The Department in a recent discussion with me acknowledged the Department's concern about TA's not being able to complete the UNB-CEL program.

Apparently Department educators share the CUPE union views that the seniority interests of Teacher Assistants are more important than ensuring that qualified, capable people work with autistic children in New Brunswick schools. CUPE officials have brought grievances on behalf of untrained Teacher Assistants seeking to work with autistic students ahead of UNB autism trained TA's. The Union has recently informed some UNB autism trained TA's that the Department of Education does not intend to continue the government commitment to training Teacher Assistants at UNB-CEL. In the view of the Department officials it is apparently OK for people who can not complete autism training at UNB to work with autistic children.

The other vested interest involved in undermining the NB commitment to a real education of autistic children is the AutismPro Internet autism program offered by Virtual Experts Inc. AutismPro has lobbied extensively and was included as part of the training proposal presented by Department Educators as an alternative to UNB-CEL training. It was marketed to some parents via the Department of Education which emailed them to tell them in very positive terms about the program availability. AutismPro is an interesting concept but there is little quality evidence that the program itself is an effective evidence based autism intervention let alone that it can assist in training of otherwise unqualified Teacher Assistants and Resource Teachers.

Fighting vested adult interests has always been a challenge for parents seeking effective, evidence based treatment and intervention for our autistic children here in New Brunswick.

Unfortunately it appears that our autistic students will once again be sacrificed to adult interests.

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Autism Progress Limited to Children in New Brunswick ...... So Far

I have written often of the great progress we have made in New Brunswick in helping autistic children. Our small province is literally a world leader in providing government funded pre-school autism intervention across our jurisdiction by trained autism support workers and clinical supervisors at autism agencies which did not exist just a few years ago.

Our neighborhood schools provide for the education of autistic children in a variety of settings in the mainstream classroom for some autistic children who function well in the classroom, and smaller locations for those, like my son, who do not. Teacher assistants and resource teachers continue to receive Autism Intervention Training from the University of New Brunswick College of Extended Learning which has been externally reviewed by, and received high praise from, renowned autism expert Dr. Eric Larsson.

New Brunswick's autism service delivery model for our autistic school children and pre-schoolers is not perfect. Much work remains to be done for autistic children, continued improvement in delivery of services for them is necessary, but the basics are in place. The same can not be said for autistic adults.

Some autistic adults can function in independent environments. Some autistic adults, and older youths, live in group homes in the community and can be comfortable and cared in those settings. But for others, more severely affected by the deficits of their autism disorders life is different.

Some of New Brunswick's autistic adults and older youths have lived on the grounds of correctional facilities and on hospital wards. Some have been sent outside of the province to live far from family. Others live at the psychiatric hospital in Campbellton, at present a necessary refuge for those who are too severely affected by autism to live in group homes.

New Brunswick is badly in need of a multi-level autism specific residential care facility for autistic people in Fredericton. Fredericton has the other resources: the Stan Cassidy centre which currently provides tertiary level pediatric care for autistic children with serious health and personal safety issues, the UNB Psychology Department which has been involved with providing some of the expertise which has helped this province, the UNB-CEL Autism Intervention Training program which has been the backbone of the school and pre-school programs. These resources could all provide a real synergy of support for a multi-level care facility for autistic persons in Fredericton, one which could provide decent residential care and treatment for New Brunswick's autistic adults and which would be centrally located.

The world is living through difficult economic times and New Brunswick is no exception. Tough decisions are being made by government. It will not be easy to move ahead with the creation of a multi-level care facility at this time but I remain optimistic that such a facility can be established in New Brunswick.

Parents, professionals and politicians here have all contributed in the past to help autistic children in New Brunswick. Now we must move ahead with a commitment to help New Brunswick's autistic adults.

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Autistic Adult Care Improvements Long Overdue in New Brunswick

I have said often on this blog that I am very happy with the progress that has been made here in New Brunswick in addressing the needs for evidence based autism treatment and in ensuring that autistic children receive a real, quality education. There are still problems that have to be addressed concerning preschool interventions for and education of autistic children but the distance we have traveled in the six years since then Health Minister Elvy Robichaud announced in the New Brunswick legislature that the government was committing funds specifically to autism is remarkable. That progress has, for the most part though, been confined to autistic children. New Brunswick's adults with autism disorders are badly in need of improvements to the barely existent residential care system for autistic adults.

Despite the substantial, and increasing, numbers of autistic adults and the complexity of the challenges they face New Brunswick does not have a residential care system dedicated specifically to adults. New Brunswick adults with autism who require residential care currently live in group homes with persons with other challenges. The problem with a general residential care system is that the staff working in such places will not generally have autism specific training. Nor are the locations necessarily appropriate for persons with autism disorders.

The good will of New Brunswick's political leadership, from either of the two parties that have governed, is no longer a matter of debate in the mind of this autism dad. The path to progress began under the Conservative government of Premier Bernard Lord and has taken some major leaps forward under the Liberal government of Premier Shawn Graham. It would be dishonest for me not to acknowledge what both leaders and their parties have done for New Brunswick's autistic children. Far from slamming these leaders and their parties I personally thank them for what they have done to help our children with autism spectrum disorders.

The story is different though when it comes to New Brunswick's autistic adults where all aspects of autistic life have been largely neglected or mishandled. While there are many pressing needs at the adult level the fact is we have long been in desperate need of an autism specific residential care system with properly trained personnel. Such a system would require autism specific residences in each region of the province with autism trained staff.

There is also a need for a central adult autism treatment and residential care facility in Fredericton. That need is proven by the fact that New Brunswick has sent its more severely affected autistic youths and adults to facilities outside the province including to Maine in the United States. We currently have autistic adults living in the psychiatric facility in Campbellton. I know of at least one instance in Saint John where an autistic adult was living on a hospital ward. In the past an autistic youth, charged with no crime, convicted of no crime, was housed on the grounds of a youth correctional facility in Miramichi while awaiting a spot at the Maine facility.

The talent reservoir for the establishment of an adult care centre already exists in Fredericton which is centrally located providing relatively convenient access compared to more remote locations. The Stan Cassidy Centre which provides pediatric tertiary care services is located in Fredericton on the grounds of the Chalmers Hospital. The main campus of the University of New Brunswick and its excellent, community involved, psychology centre is located in Fredericton. The UNB-CEL Autism Intervention Training program is located in Fredericton and has already indicated that it foresees no problem in developing a training program for adult care workers. All of these resources could be drawn on to supplement and support a modern, secure community based and autism specific residential care and treatment facility.

New Brunswick needs a publicly operated, not for profit, community based residential care system for autistic adults with facilities in each region and a central facility in Fredericton capable of providing in house residential care and treatment for the more severely autistic adults for whom the group homes have already been proven not to be a solution. The political leadership of this province has shown a conscience, substantial good will, and determination in helping autistic children. The time to help autistic adults is overdue though ... long overdue.

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ABA, the Autism Spectrum and Conor's Schoolwork

There are some who forget that "autism" as that term is now used refers to a spectrum of disorders that reflect deficits in social, communication, behavioral ... and intellectual skills. Not everyone with an autism spectrum disorder will attend Simon's Rock College for gifted youth, collaborate with neuroscientists or appear on CNN and CBC to promote an agenda for all "autistics". But success is relative.

Conor has autistic disorder assessed with profound developmental delays. He did not receive 40 hours per week of ABA from ages 2 to 5. He has received ABA intervention in school for the past 4 years and he has an excellent aide trained at the UNB-CEL Autism Intervention Training program. Unlike some who appear in the media regularly and bash ABA Conor has actual first hand exposure to ABA. Conor enjoys ABA intervention, looks forward to school where he receives ABA and to visits from his therapist. And Conor has learned a great deal via ABA methods.

The pictures above are pages from Conor's school work that came home recently in his lunch bag. As you can see he has been doing a lot of work on subtraction. Today he is scheduled to be in the school kitchen making nachos.

We appreciate all of Conor's support at Nashwaaksis Middle School, especially his excellent aide and resource and methods team, and from School District 18.

We commend the government of New Brunswick which is making our small province one of the best places in North America for an autistic child to attend school.

Most of all we are proud of Conor and the progress he has made. Conor is happy when he attends school and for that we are very, very happy.

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AutismPro Still Promoting But Where Oh Where Is The Evidence It Works?

I have commented on several occasions on this site about AutismPro, the Internet based autism "resource" usually after reading the latest PR release, about what an innovative product it is or what an excellent business opportunity it is. This past week the Daily Gleaner featured AutismPro, again, in its nbbusinessjournal section.

Virtual Experts Clinics, which developed the AutismPro product, has stated in the past that it uses several different autism "interventions" which range from interventions that are "somewhat" ABA based, a well researched effective evidence based autism intervention, to some interventions with no evidence basis of their effectiveness. Although respected autism expert Dr. Jeannette Holden, an advisor to VEC, had indicated two years ago that trial studies of the product were being run the results of those studies have not, that I have seen, been made public.

There is a need for autism support services in New Brunswick schools but those services should not be based on unproven Internet products. Premier Graham committed to funding training for 100 Teacher Aides a year for 4 years at the UNB-CEL Autism Intervention Training Program. The second of two classes of that 4 year commitment is currently proceeding and hopefully the full 4 year commitment will be honored. UNB-CEL Autism Intervention Training Program provides the quality and integrity to ensure that autistic children in New Brunswick schools, including Conor, my 12 year old son with Autistic Disorder, assessed with profound developmental delays, receives a real education.

There is much pressure on Education Minister Lamrock to abandon Premier Graham's commitment. Some of that pressure comes from CUPE Local 2745 and its President Sandy Harding who insist that unqualified, untrained aides with greater seniority have the right to work with autistic students in place of the UNB-CEL Autism trained aides.

Some of that pressure also comes from VEC Inc which has worked with some senior education department officials to promote AutismPro as an internet based training tool which would have permitted the Department of Education to train teacher aides in house, with no entrance requirements for the autism training, work at your own pace training requirements and no completion exams. The in-house training would have been overseen on a project basis by an about to retire Director of Student Services who would have been able to , "double dip", to draw a pension while earning a salary as the project manager.

Hopefully Premier Shawn Graham will continue to honor his commitment to train 100 teacher aides per year for four years at the UNB-CEL Autism Intervention Training Program. The UNB-CEL AIT Program has been subjected to external review and received a very positive evaluation by Dr. Eric Larsson of the Lovaas Institute:


"The current AITP is a remarkable and thorough program that has been developed to an exceptional level of quality in the context of limited resources. The province-wide model is one that many other provinces should adopt, as it carries with it many cost-effective features. The curriculum content requires little modification".

Hopefully the results of studies assessing the effectiveness of AutismPro in educating autistic children will be publicly disclosed at some point. And hopefully those studies will have been conducted using ethical, objective and professional standards. We know that VEC Inc is effective at Promoting AutismPro but is AutismPro an effective tool for educating autistic children?

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Autism In New Brunswick Schools - The Globe & Mail Gets It Wrong

In Ontario parents continue battle for accessible autism therapies the Globe & Mail reports on documents submitted to the Supreme Court of Canada by families involved in a class action lawsuit who are arguing for access to ABA and IBI therapies for their children in public-school classrooms. In comparing the situation in Ontario to British Columbia and New Brunswick schools the Globe & Mail stated, incorrectly with regard to New Brunswick, that:

In British Columbia and New Brunswick, funding is available for children with autism to bring support workers specially trained in IBI and ABA therapy into public-school classrooms. In Ontario, the government will only pay for teacher's aides, and IBI and ABA therapists are not allowed in the classroom.

In New Brunswick we do have ABA instruction, for autistic children, in our schools but it is not provided by therapists brought in to the school. What we have done in New Brunswick is provide autism intervention training to teacher aides/assistants. The training is provided at the UNB-CEL Autism Intervention Training Program. The TA's receive essentially the same training as provided by UNB-CEL to pre school Autism Support Workers. The TA's must meet UNB's entrance criteria to enter the program and must pass both academic and practicum components of the course - which not all of them do. Resource teachers have also been trained as Clinical Supervisors.

Apart from the TA training, New Brunswick has accommodated the needs of those autistic children like my son who require a quieter setting outside the regular classroom to learn. My son receives his ABA based instruction in a small room with his TA. He goes to the school gym and pool and outdoors for physical activity, to the school library, and to a kitchen to learn some kitchen skills. Conor also helps with tasks at the school such as lowering the flag. Other children see him in the common areas mentioned and in the hallways and some say hello to him by name as I walk with him in the halls to take him home at the end of the day. Some autistic children do well in the regular classroom and their aides are permitted in the classroom.

The Autism Society New Brunswick lobbied hard for autism specific training for aides working with autistic children. ASNB also fought hard to move away from a philosophy based total classroom inclusion for all approach to an evidence based approach which focuses on teaching autistic children where, and how, they learn best, an approach that looks at the needs and abilities of the individual child.

This is how ABA is used to teach autistic children in New Brunswick schools.

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Canada's Autism Secret - Part 1

Canada has an autism secret.

It's too bad really because this is a not a dark, horrible secret. It is a good news secret. The secret is New Brunswick's autism service delivery model for children.

Nova Scotia and Ontario have made negative autism news recently because of long treatment waiting lists in Ontario and a lottery system in Nova Scotia that is forcing some families to move elsewhere looking for early intervention for their autistic children and ABA based education for autistic children in Ontario schools. Here in New Brunswick all is not perfect but we are doing well with little ... so far. We have had success which has drawn some attention at events like the CAUCE Conference 2008 and the ABA International Symposium in Chicago, 2008.

In New Brunswick we have an agency system for delivery of pre-school autism interventions. The agencies are monitored by government and have trained Autism Support Workers and Clinical Supervisors providing pre-school intervention to autistic children. The ASW's and CS's receive their training though the UNB-CEL Autism Intervention Training Program. No model is perfect but New Brunswick does not have the severe waiting list problems experienced by so many in Ontario.

In education New Brunswick has avoided the fights over whether ABA can be practiced in the schools. My son, Conor, has been receiving ABA instruction in a separate room for over 3 years. New Brunswick has begun training teacher aides and resource teachers to provide ABA based learning in our schools during this time period. They also receive Autism Intervention Training at UNB-CEL.

Conor is in a separate classroom, at our request, because, for him, the mainstream classroom is not an appropriate learning environment. He was overwhelmed in the classroom, coming home with bite marks on his hands. He is not on the same learning level as his chronological peers and it made no sense to have him being taught a radically different curriculum by different teaching methods. He does go to the field house or gym for physical activity and the school's swimming pool. He also learns skills such as cooking or helps around the school with small tasks like lowering the flag. New Brunswick has moved away from a rigid inclusion model of dumping everyone into the same classroom to one of accommodating different learning styles for students with serious learning challenges.

The swimming pool at Conor's school is also the community pool, the Fredericton Indoor Swimming Pool. We have an annual family pass and use it frequently; 3 to 5 times a week. Last night we were at the pool and the teacher aide who worked with Conor last year was also there. Conor was excited to see him. Afterward, as he has periodically as the summer wore on, Conor was again asking for school. A pretty good recommendation for New Brunswick's autism education model.

New Brunswick's autism service model is not perfect. There is a need for more funding to retain trained personnel in the pre-school years and to increase the number of hours of therapy received per week. If Canada ever elects a federal government that gives a damn about autistic Canadians then we might some day see federal health care dollars for autism received by the provinces which could help enhance our services here in New Brunswick.

New Brunswick should be proud of what it has done for autistic pre-schoolers and students. When it comes to autistic adults ... that is another story.

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Autism Rising in Newfoundland and Labrador

The Telegram, St. John's Newfoundland, reports in Autism on the rise that a new, as yet unpublished, study by Queen's University says Newfoundland and Labrador has higher-than-normal rates of autism. Newfoundland Health Department officials have taken part and seen the study findings which, according to Health Minister Ross Wiseman, "suggest that the incidence in this province would be higher than in other jurisdictions, and that's obviously something that has gotten our attention."

The article goes on to report the same issue that some provinces, including New Brunswick, have already come to grips with is still a problem in Newfoundland and Labrador - the continuation of ABA services for autistic children in the school system. The truth is that ABA can be used in schools. My son has received ABA instruction here in Fredericton, New Brunswick for the past 4 years. New Brunswick to its credit has taken a focused, practical approach to providing ABA training in school environments. Teacher aides and resource teachers have been, and are being, trained at the University of New Brunswick - College of Extended Learning Autism Intervention Training Program. The location of instruction is evidence based. My son receives Discrete Trial based ABA in a quiet environment outside the classroom - at out request. He enters common areas for engagement in other activities according to his ability to handle the task involved and the location.

Newfoundland and Labrador should consider various models in trying to solve their "ABA in the schools" issues. But they should not fail to consider what their fellow Atlantic Province of New Brunswick has been doing right for a few years now.

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