Nice To See Autistic Twin Sons of Toronto Family Receiving Autism Treatment In New Brunswick

PHOTO BY MARC GRANDMAISON / THE CANADIAN PRESS

The headline of the Toronto Star article Toronto family chases autism treatment across the country  doesn't mention the province to which the family in the Toronto Star article seeking early autism treatment for their autistic twin sons moved  - New Brunswick. Nor does the article itself delve into how the province usually mentioned as a financial disaster could have become a Canadian leader in early autism treatment as it was described by David Celiberti, Ph.D., BCBA-D, President of  the Association for Science in Autism Treatment in an October 23, 2010 commentary "ASAT Responds to Canadian CBC's N.B. Can Be a Leader in Autism Services" and again in his  interview with Dr. Paul McDonnell in the 2014 ASAT summer newsletter.  The essence of the Association of Science in Autism Treatment's commentary was that NB was already a leader; one whose autism service model was worthy of consideration by other Canadian jurisdictions. 

So how ... and why .... did New Brunswick develop an early intervention model worthy of consideration by other Canadian provinces seeking to provide early autism treatment to the autistic children of their province?  Without going over it again in detail intense parent advocacy focused specifically on request for  an early autism intervention prompted the NB government of day to to put out tenders for agencies to provide early autism treatment.  That call was answered successfully by Paul McDonnell and UNB-CEL. who developed the UNB-CEL autism training program in both French and English.

We have previously heard unconfirmed rumors of families in national organizations seeking relocation to NB so their autistic children could receive treatment. It felt good for this autism parent who was part of that very focused, committed parent advocacy team that prompted development of the made in NB autism program  to see the be benefits of the program being received by the children of the Toronto family in the Toronto Star article. 

Alward Conservative Government Has Cut Off Funding for Early Autism Intervention Staff Training

Photo by Harold L Doherty: David Alward at the 

NB Power Protest, NB Legislature March 20, 2010

Premier Alward Has Proven to be NO Friend to NB 

children, youth and adults with autism

As expected when it appeared the Alward Conservatives might win the last provincial election in NB our provincial autism services are facing hard times.  The rough trails that I feared were ahead of NB's children, youth and adults with autism now appear downright rocky as indicated in this commentary by Ashley Weaver on the Newschaser Facebook page reacting to the Alward Conservative government cutting elimination of funding for Early Autism Intervention Training:

NB Government Crying to Keep People HERE?? Check this out!

I work for a private company funded by the Department of Education to provide Applied Behavioural Analysis based intervention to preschoolers in New Brunswick who have been diagnosed with Pervasive Development Disorders. These services provide a chance for preschool aged children with these developmental disorders to have the opportunity to have intense intervention prior to going to school in order to prepare them for a smooth transition to school.

Two weeks ago the Department of Education notified all 6 New Brunswick Centers providing these services that the funding would be cut as of June 1st, 2014. We no longer have funding for any staff training nor do we receive funding when a client cancels. This means, our staff will be expected to have ZERO paid sick days, they need be ok with having ZERO job stability as clients could cancel at a moments notice and they will no longer be paid during this time. They are also expected to, with no training at all, to conduct programming and follow the principles of ABA.

With this being said I believe that staff in this field will not be able to sustain their job, in turn they will have to find consistent employment elsewhere and we will no longer have qualified staff to offer these services and will not have the funds to train any new staff to replace them. As a result we are doing an injustice to ALL children in New Brunswick who have a Pervasive Development Disorders, we are taking away their chance to augment their skills and bring them to their age appropriate developmental level. We are taking away their opportunity to have qualified staff who know them well present during their school transition. And finally, we are losing educated passionate people who in turn will have to move elsewhere, taking away from New Brunswick’s already diminishing population and giving other provinces our wonderful Autism Support Workers, Lead Therapists and Clinical Supervisors.