With a Perfect Storm Approaching for NB Autistic Students Some Tips for Obtaining an Autism Trained Education Assistant

If your child with autism is moving into the school system you may want a trained TA to continue the progress achieved in the pre-school years. If your autistic child is already in the school system and you believe he/she would benefit from the help of an autism trained TA these tips might also help. No matter where you are in New Brunswick whether in Saint John, Moncton, Fredericton, Bathurst Miramichi or Edmundston do not hestitate to email me at AutismRealityNB@gmail.com if you have a question.

I  have been an active member of autism advocacy  organizations in New Brunswick for over a dozen years. I say advocacy because the focus of   efforts I have been involved with have been to obtain effective, evidence based help for children and adults with autism.  I have received no salary or income of any kind for my autism advocacy and I have never sought a pat on the head from government officials (not that they would have wanted to anyway) Mostly I am the father of two boys one of whom is severely  autistic. Like everyone else, I am continually advocating  for a trained Education Assistant to work with my autistic son.  

I once again offer an article I first published in 2006 in the Autism Society New Brunswick newsletter to give parents some ideas to consider in advocating for an Education Assistant for their child. It is offered at a time when I believe it will be increasingly difficult to obtain a quality autism trained Education Assistant to work with a New Brunswick autistic student.

In Conor's case his mother and I have sought Education Assistants with the UNB-CEL Autism Intervention Training program.  This New Brunswick developed program has received recognition from international autism experts like Dr. David Celiberti and Dr. Eric Larsson. Between 500 and 600 TA's as they were then called, were trained at UNB-CEL before the Department of Education in order to reduce costs and increase department control over training of assistants, abandoned the program in favor of a watered down version taught in house without the quality and integrity assurances provided by the UNB-CEL training.  

Whatever you hope for in the Education Assistant working with your child it will be more difficult now with cuts being made this year in the numbers of Education Assistants.  Unfortunately the  new collective agreement entered into between CUPE Local 2745 and the Province of New Brunswick continues the promotion of adult interests, over the interests of children with autism and other disabilities requiring accommodation.  The situation is worse now with the Alward government and its unofficial Education Minister Gordon Porter and his unofficial branch of the Education Department ... the New Brunswick Association for Community Living. 

Despite doing good work in many areas, and making many  positive contributions, Mr. Porter and NBACL have for decades  promoted a mainstream classroom inclusion for all model of inclusive education and have resisted accommodations sought by NB autism advocates.  They have at times resisted with open hostility efforts by autism advocates seeking learning accommodation in separate quieter areas of local schools from autism trained TA's.  Their ideas have changed or modernized very little during the past decades.   

There is currently a review of New Brunswick's inclusive education system being conducted by Mr. Porter and those who have participated in NBACL.  The review will undoubtedly result in a report which confirms their decades old ideology, cuts costs to the Department of Education, and protects the interests of untrained  Education Assistants over the interests of children with autism.  There will probably be fewer and fewer Education Assistants with quality autism training. They will increasingly be pressured to work in mainstream classrooms which will not necessarily be appropriate for some students with autism disorders. Mainstream classroom inclusion will make it less likely a student with autism will receive an EA  with proper autism training and the individual instruction required in some instances. 

These factors will make it very easy for local education authorities to justify, even glorify, cutting proper training and retention of autism trained Education Assistants. There is a perfect storm brewing and parents will have to fight even  harder to ensure their autistic children receive the education services they require. 

Following are some tips I originally posted in an Autism Society New Brunswick newsletter in 2006. They are my advice as a parent (not as legal advice), and as general information.  For those seeking help in obtaining an Education Assistant you may want to give them some consideration. You may also want to seek     assistance from other parents with an autism advocacy background. I did. They were a big help in getting an   Education Assistant  for our  son.

1. Document your child’s condition and school requirements. If your child is diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder make sure that the school has a copy of the diagnosis. This may seem obvious but in some cases the school and district have been able to point out that they were unaware of any actual diagnosis of autism disorder.

2. Medical, Psychological or Therapeutic Assessments – If you think your child needs a Teacher's Assistant to learn in the school environment you should ask any pediatrician, psychologist, occupational therapist, speech language therapist or behavioural interventionist who is working with your child if they agree and would provide a written recommendation for a TA and present their recommendations to the school.

3. Be a Parent Advocate – Most parents know their autistic child better than most professionals. Do not be afraid to speak up – politely – but without fear - to express your view of what your child requires.

4. Autism Advocates – If you know an autism advocate or fellow parent of an autistic child who would be willing to attend a meeting with the school you should bring them along. They can provide you with moral support and confirmation of your experiences as a parent in describing what your child requires.

5. Safety – For many autistic children a TA is a must for safety reasons alone and this must be stressed if it is true for your child. An autistic child may not appreciate the many dangers posed by school, playground and nearby streets.

6. Individual Learning Method – If your child requires an individual based learning method using Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA) techniques, or other individual based instructions, emphasize this with the school. For ABA in particular there is a great deal of professional literature about the need for one to one instruction for autistic children.

7. IEP or SEP – If the school or district refuse a TA for your child do not sign off on the IEP/SEP for your child unless you agree with that decision. Or if you do sign put a note beside your signature stating that you still require a TA for your child. Otherwise the school and district will argue that you agreed that a TA was not necessary.

8. Appeal – If a TA is denied for your child be ready to appeal right away under the Education Act. The School should have informational pamphlets available and forms explaining the appeal process to you. You might also want to consider hiring a lawyer to work with you on the appeal process.

Conclusion – Preparation, pressure and persistence are all required to obtain and keep a TA for your autistic child. It is a long tough fight and it is one that almost all of us have to go through to one extent or another. Do not overreact emotionally or unduly antagonize school officials. You need their help and most want to help. Getting overheated gives an excuse to the few who do not want to help to refuse what you are looking for. Stay calm and persist.

Harold L Doherty

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Autism and Education: CACL Promotes Discrimination Against Autistic Children

The Canadian Association for Community Living, and its provincial counterparts like the New Brunswick Association for Community Living, have done much to help persons with disabilities. Unfortunately despite their many good deeds they have also, for many years, been actively and intentionally promoting discrimination against some children with Autistic Disorders and other children for whom education in the mainstream classroom is not in their best interests because of their disabilities.

The message of the CACL is clear, consistent, and made without regard to the best interests of some children: No excuses for educating children outside the mainstream classroom, no accommodation of children whose disabilities require alternative learning environments, no concern for the best interests of children, like some children with Autistic Disorder, if their best interests require education in a setting outside the mainstream classroom. No excuses, no accommodation, no concern.

As a parent who has long ago requested that my son with Autistic Disorder and profound developmental delays be removed from the mainstream classroom I am offended by the message, relentlessly pushed by the CACL, and here in NB by NBACL, that portrays any request to educate children outside the classroom as an "excuse". My son began his education in the mainstream classroom where he was overstimulated by noise and other conditions in the classroom. He would come home each day with self inflicted bite marks on his hands and wrists. Those bite marks, were evidence. Those bite marks were Conor's way of telling us that education in the mainstream classroom was not in his best interests.

Conor was removed from the classroom and educated primarily in a separate room for academic purposes. He also visits some more social settings for appropriate purposes and for defined activities with an Autism trained, very competent Teacher Assistant. He goes to the school gym (see videos on sidebar of this blog), the kitchen, the pool, the library, the cafeteria and so on but his academic learning takes place in a separate room.

Conor has not suffered socially. Although he does not generally inititiate conversation, and in fact has limited verbal skills, he has been well liked by many children over the past several years. I drive Conor to school and on arrival I have seen several boys and girls approach Conor to greet him, say hi and show real joy at seeing him. More than one child has actually sought Conor out at our home.

The "education system" has accommodated Conor's disability, his special needs. The educators we deal with have sought our input and worked to help Conor; taking into account the realities of his Autistic Disorder including the fact that Conor was overstimulated in the mainstream classroom, was learning a different curriculum using different methods than other students. Conor has received this accommodation because of some conscientious educators and because we fought to get that accommodation. We did so despite the NBACL which is very well entrenched and influential. NBACL carries the CACL message that says that such accommodation is wrong, that the benefit Conor has received is not a sufficient excuse for education outside the mainstream classroom. The CACL message is discriminatory, harmful and offensive.

CACL has been told in the past that the full inclusion model for all is probably discriminatory. In Canada discrimination can be direct, intentional discrimination, or it can result from a failure by service providers to reasonably accommodate the needs of persons with disabilities. Yude Hentellef,Q.C. has been legal representative for many disability organizations and persons with disabilities. In 2004 he presented a paper The Fully Inclusive Classroom is Only One of the Right Ways to Meet the Best Interests of the Special Needs Child at the C.A.C.L. National Summit on Inclusive Education in Ottawa, Ontario. Mr. Hentellef reviewed studies, and case law, which indicate that full classroom inclusion is not appropriate for all special needs children and stated:

Page 7:

"The Supreme Court of Canada has categorically rejected the kind of contextual analysis that rests on group stereotypes of what is presumed to be in the best interest of a group of persons, regardless of their disability. The proposal that full inclusion will meet the needs of all special needs children is such a group stereotype. In other words, what may be good for one group is therefore good for all groups, no matter their disability. The Supreme Court of Canada has rejected this approach, which, because of its very nature, is discriminatory. "

Page 8:

"To suggest that even with everything in place in the inclusion classroom, it will be the best place for all children regardless of their need, is group stereotyping at its worst. It denies the absolute right of special needs children to be placed other than in the full inclusion classroom, when their parents and qualified professionals view a different placement as one that best meets their interests. In Eldridge, a 1997 decision, Mr. Justice LaForest who gave the unanimous decision of the Supreme Court of Canada, stated that persons with disabilities have too long been subjected to insidious stereotyping.

For anyone to insist the inclusion classroom can be the best place for all children regardless of their needs is by its very nature stereotyping and discriminatory.

The CACL philosophy summarized in its recent "No Excuses "campaign is stereotyping and discriminatory. With the emphasis on "no excuses" it implies that concerned caring parents, and competent professionals, who seek education settings outside the full inclusion classroom for a special needs child are in some way morally deficient, making excuses instead of doing what is best for the child.

In New Brunswick the NBACL and other full inclusion for all advocates like Gordon Porter, the current chair of the NB Human Rights Commission, have insisted that their way is the only way. They have dominated NB education for more than a quarter century and they are celebrated around the world. What the world may not know is that our full inclusion model has in fact itself been discriminatory and harmful. In the past 10 years changes have begun to be made on the ground by activists parents of some special needs children, including some autistic children, by conscientious educators and by the undeniable evidence that education in the full inclusion classroom is NOT in the best interests of ALL special needs children.

Hopefully some day CACL, NBACL, and other promoters of the Full Inclusion for All model will come to their senses and cease trying to impose their deeply held beliefs over the evidence and over the best interests of special needs children.

Hopefully someday the CACL and NBACL will cease promoting discriminatory practices in education.

autism

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Hi Conor

Conor is diagnosed with Autistic Disorder, with profound developmental delays. In school he was overwhelmed and came home with self inflicted bite marks on his hands and wrists. At our request he was removed from the mainstream classroom and his education in a separate room began. The bite marks were no longer present and he began to actually like school. We very much appreciate the accommodation of Conor's autism disability by educators in our schools and district.

This "segregation" that we requested as his parents has been of great benefit to him in many areas including his own health and his learning. And, despite the concerns of the total inclusion advocates from the New Brunswick Association for Community Living and the New Brunswick Human Rights Commission (the current NBHRC Chair is a very prominent, decades long advocate for New Brunswick's total inclusion model) it has not harmed, and may in fact have helped, Conor socially.

Today, in grade 7 his primary instruction area is still a small separate room. But the education assistant who works with Conor takes him into the gym and other common areas of the school for specific activities and for limited periods of time. The Youtube videos on the sidebar of this site include two short clips of Conor in the middle school gym. Although no other children are visible there were many children in the gym that day when I video'd some of Conor's gym activities while being careful not to capture other children in the videos.

When I take Conor to school each day there is a boy who often speaks directly to Conor and asks me questions about him. Last week as I approached the entrance doors to the school with Conor a girl approached and walked towards the school beside him, saying "Hi Conor" playfully trying to tickle him and engage him in small talk.

Conor's experience at middle school is consistent with his experience at grade school. Having Conor in the local neighborhood schools but not in the mainstream classroom all day has not prevented other children in the schools from getting to know him or wanting to get to know him.

I don't know if the children would be as nice to Conor if he was in their classroom all day, overwhelmed by the noise, sights and activity and suffering periodic meltdowns.

Now they see Conor when it is best for him. His periods of public interaction with other children are designed to succeed. A simple principle of ABA ... and common sense ... that is often ignored by the ideology of the total inclusion advocates.

autism

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