Autistic Children "Rotting On The Vine" In Ontario - Why Not Consider "the New Brunswick Autism Model"?

In Wait list for autism therapy growing, critics charge the Star.com reports that "the wait list of autistic children who are eligible to receive intensive behavioural intervention therapy, or IBI, reached 1,148 on March 31, up from 985 last year." NDP critics argue that the government is moving at a slow, even glacial, pace resulting in many children "rotting on the vine" in the words of NDP critic Andrea Horwath who was also quoting parents she had met at a town hall meeting. The article describes spending increases by the McGuinty government but does not really describe a plan for getting children off the autism wait lists.When I was in O

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Royal Foodie Joust - Mango Pastry Puffs

Mango Pastry PuffsThis was probably not one of my finest hours. This whole month has been a real challenge for me. I have messed up so many recipes and meals that I was starting to wonder if it was all going to fall back in place! One thing that I have learned from this past month is that everything that I cook or bake has a bit of me in it. If I am not feeling good (too much stress, distracted, busy, worried etc...) nothing I make will turn out right. But on the other hand if I am feeling good (which honestly is my normal state!!!) my food is great. I have never really noticed before the impact that this had on all of our food. Maybe that is b

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RDI Is NOT an Evidence Based Intervention

In New Brunswick several years ago there was little in the way of autism specific services. An interdepartmental committee comprised of representatives of the Departments of Family and Community Services (Now called Social Development), Education and Health, the "IDC", some autism "community" representatives and some professionals met for 18 months before issuing a report which stated that obvious fact. The failure of the IDC Committee, publicly at least, to discuss the need for autism treatments and to identify treatments that should be offered to autistic children in New Brunswick, is what prompted me to become publicly involved in autism advoc

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Autism As Disability and Disorder - NOT Deviance

Leave it to Estee Klar-Wolfond host of "The Joy of Autism" to get it wrong again. This self appointed expert on autism actually celebrates autism - a disorder which impairs and restricts the lives of many with Autistic Disorder. And her absurd views of autism are reflected in her response to the speech by Reverend Jeremiah Wright to the NAACP.In my son's case he can not be left unattended at any time. He can not be left to wander to the end of our neighborhood street unaccompanied without risking his life. Yet this person lectures parents like me that we should find joy in our children's disability. I can not hide my lack of respect for her point of

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Dr. Seuss-ing It Up

Last week my mother in law informed me that my husband's nephew was having an upcoming birthday. She asked if I would be willing to make him a birthday cake. Without hesitation I was happy to do it! I immediately had thoughts running in my mind to make something pretty simple, given the busy weekend I had planned during the nephew's birthday party. But then, a challenge was brought on. Little did I know that this nephew had some unique ideas for his cake!Justin was turning 6 years old and has grown fond of Dr. Seuss books. In fact, my mother in law was explaining to me how much he loved the book, Green Eggs & Ham. This book inspired Justin to have

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Memoirs of a Geisha & Japanese Potluck

Today I hosted our monthly book/movie gathering between girlfriends. This month we read the book, Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden, prior to our get together. At the get together, we be watched the 2005 movie, Memoirs of a Geisha directed by Rob Marshall. We also tied the book & movie with a Japanese inspired potluck. Editorial Review by Amazon.com:According to Arthur Golden's absorbing first novel, the word "geisha" does not mean "prostitute," as Westerners ignorantly assume--it means "artisan" or "artist." To capture the geisha experience in the art of fiction, Golden trained as long and hard as any geisha who must master the arts of music,

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Autism Fun - Conor and Dad at the Circle Place

After a long tough winter it is no problem getting Conor outdoors for a walk, especially if we go to "the circle place", the Lawrence Amphitheatre in Nashwaaksis. The Saint John River has flooded this spring and we have to take a different route. Once there Conor loves to walk around the rings and circle at "the circle place". After Conor relaxes with a watermelon treat.autism

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Autism & Stimming, 2000+ Views for Conor Stimming Video

"Conor Counting and Stimming", Conor's Youtube video showing him stimming while counting from 1 to 100, has now received more than 2000 views (2,050 at present, without CNN promotion).Conor has Autistic Disorder with profound developmental delays. He will not be attending Simon's Rock College for gifted youths. And he will not be writing elaborate screenplays explaining how his stimming is a way of communicating with the physical world around him. His language skills are not that good. As far as I can tell, Conor stims to relieve tension and frustration. He enjoys stimming and we do not try to eliminate stimming behavior. But it is not a "language

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The Daring Bakers do it again! Cheesecake Lollipops!

What a wonderful and fun recipe this was. Out of all of the things that I have made for the Daring Bakers challenges this is probably one of my favorites. The only problem that I had with this one was the time frame. I really thought I had until the end of the month. Thank goodness yesterday I registered with the new Daring Baker Forum and saw that I needed to post today!!! Needless to say I got started right away!This recipe was easy, straight forward and delicious! The only problem I had was the length of time it took to bake. But I had checked out the forum and I was prepared for this. I made mine in a 9 inch square pan and it took close to

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Persian Persuasion & Lebanese Love

Today I hosted an ethnic food tour for my group. This month we focused on Persian cuisine and visited a Lebanese market. I think I've found my new fave restaurant, Noon o Kabab. It was a fabulous lunch of Hummus, Baba Ghannouj, Kash-Ke-Bademjan, Caspian Eggplant, Joujeh Koubideh, Joujeh Kabab and Koubideh (descriptions follow).Unfortunately my camera's battery died shortly after taking pics of some of our appetizers, however here's what I was able to take pictures of... (I'm definitely going back there and will try to get more pics to add here!)Fresh Feta Cheese & Radish PlateHummusBlended chick peas, Tahini (sesame seed oil),garlic and spices top

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