I Am Hoping for NDP Voices in the NB Legislature to Help Families Advocate for An Adult Autism Care Facility

The picture above is from Conor's 2nd Birthday on February 2,  1998.  The next day we received his autism disorder diagnosis, described initially as Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified,  six months after various tests and six months after requesting medical attention because we did not understand his lack of development and we were concerned.  Shortly thereafter as his deficits became more obvious and pronounced the diagnois was changed to Autistic Disorder now part of the DSM-5 Autism Spectrum Disorder. An age 2 diagnosis was rare in those days.

Conor at 3.  Over the first year, post autism diagnosis, we had attended at the  very limited information sessions provided to families with autistic children by the Province of New Brunswick. We had also heard much rhetoric about just accepting your child as he is, accepting his autism, be happy.  Then I attended a parents group meeting (in the pre government funded Autism Community centre days)  At the meeting I found myself surprised to be lectured directly and sternly, by Dawn Bowie,  the mother of an autistic child who also happened to be a registered nurse). From those meetings and connections with other concerned parents in Moncton, Miramichi, Oromocto, Fredericton, and a Saint John family (Heather and Don Chamberlain) began a parent advocacy movement that resulted in an April 1, 2003 announcement of funding for unspecified autism services by then Health Minister Elvy Robichaud. By the end of the Lord government's term the UNB-CEL autism program had been established with early intervention centres. Autism training began for teacher aides and resource teachers and under the Graham government more were trained.  An ill considered decision to close the Stan Cassidy tertiary care team who worked with autistic children under the age of 16 was reversed ... again as a result of advocacy led by parents. 

Conor, still our happy boy, is now 18 and will require decent adult autism care 

 for the rest of his life once his parents grow old and pass  on. 

I am asking in this post for all families with autistic children and adults to consider voting tomorrow for the NDP.  I make this request in order to encourage you to vote for MLA's in the legislature who are committed to advocating for a badly needed adult autism care facility.  Beginning in 1999 parents advocated with some success for early autism intervention and autism trained teacher aides and resource teachers.  Progress in adult autism care has been virtually non existent with autistic adults shipped out of province in some cases, to the Regional Psychiatric Hospital in Campbellton and some have resided for periods of time at least on general hospital wards.  

The fight for adult autism care in NB will not become any easier with the election of one of the 2 parties, Red or Blue, that have governed NB during my entire life and during the last 15 years of autism advocacy.  But at least if some NDP voices are elected, unlike the Blues and Reds,  we will have voices from a party that has publicly committed in its election platform to an adult autism facility.   

If you are voting tomorrow, I respectfully ask you to  please consider voting NDP. 

What an Autism Training Commitment Actually Looks Like

Above former Premier Shawn Graham, a true friend of autistic kids in NB,  and the late Fredericton MP Andy Scott a tenacious advocate for autistic children in Ottawa enjoying some time with the kids at Autism Intervention Services Fredericton

Some parents of autistic children in the Fredericton area are satisfied with statements from some EECD civil servants that commitments for funding autism training for autism intervention centres in NB will take place in Phase 2 of the new autism intervention centre requirements.  ASNB parent advocates never relied on such vague, low level assurances in advocating for the autism intervention services enjoyed by autistic kids in NB today.   

Above former Premier Shawn Graham and the late Andy Scott, former Fredericton autism advocate in Ottawa and Fredericton MP spend some fun time with kids at the Fredericton Autism Intervention Services Centre and Autism Connections Frederictoon community centre.  Below is the commitment made by then Liberal Opposition Leader Shawn Graham with respect to autism services, particularly UNB-CEL Autism Intervention Training for TA's and Resource teachers in NB schools.   Shawn Graham, a true friend of NB's autistic children honored the autism commitments he made ... to the letter.

See paragraph 2, this is what an autism training commitment actually looks like:

Graham, Shawn (LEG) <Shawn.Graham@gnb.ca> 9/6/06 to HAROLD	9/6/06

Dear Harold:

Thank you for your letter and for sharing your concerns with me.  In our
Liberal election platform that will be released later this week, we are
committing to the implementation of the recommendations of the
Interdepartmental Committee on Autism released in November 2001.
Although we realize this document is now nearly five years old, it does
provide a basis on which to develop, in partnership with the
stakeholders, a strategy that will assist children with autism from
early childhood and into adulthood.

As well, we will take two concrete steps to address the immediate needs
of children with autism in two areas:  a case management process and
UNB-CEL autism training.

A new Liberal government will:

1.                  Integrate services for young children and their
families by enhancing and expanding the Early Childhood Initiatives
Program to ensure a smooth transition into public school for children
identified as at risk or those with special needs, such as autism.

2.                  Provide UNB-CEL autism training for 100 additional
teaching assistants and Methods and Resource teachers each year for four
years.

I commend you and the members of the Autism Society of New Brunswick on
your tireless advocacy on behalf of children with autism.  You are truly
making a difference in many lives.  Please feel free to contact me at
any time.

Yours truly,


Shawn Graham

Leader of the Official Opposition

Will New Brunswick Ever Act To Provide Adult Autism Residential Care?

The Campbellton Based Restigouche Psychiatric Hospital

 is the Only NB Based Residential Care Option for Severely 

Autistic Adults in New Brunswick

June 22, 2013

David Alward, Premier's Council on Status of Disabled Persons 
Hugh J Flemming, Minister of Health 
Madeline Dube, Minister of Social Development 
Dorothy Shephard, Minister of Healthy and Inclusive Communities 

Dear Premier Alward and Honourable Ministers:

Re: Residential Care and Treatment for NB`s Autistic Youth and Adults

I am the father of a 17 year old son with severe autism, developmental delays and epileptic seizures.  If his mother and I were to perish in an accident tomorrow my last thoughts would probably be filled with the knowledge that New Brunswick lacks anything resembling adequate residential care and treatment facilities for youths with severe autism and related disorders.  In that regard nothing has changed since the attached 2005 Toronto Star article, in which I am quoted,  concerning the youth who was housed on the grounds of the Miramichi youth correctional facility solely because he was severely autistic.  Shortly thereafter, in part at least because of Toronto media attention, he was moved to the Spurwink facility in Maine. 

As our son ages into adulthood we, his parents, will likely grow feebler and ultimately will die. No adult care facilities for severely autistic adults who require permanent residential care and treatment exist in New Brunswick.  I have worked on this issue over the past decade and met on several occasions during the Lord and Graham government eras with Ministers and even with former Premier Graham.  Even before the Miramichi youth situation arose I advocated with other parents to move an autistic adult out of the Saint John Centracare facility.  I have visited Centracare on more than one occasion and I have also been given a tour by the operators of the Campbellton psychiatric hospital where some autistic adults live out there lives.

With that lengthy advocacy involvement on adult autism care, and lack of government response,  I did not honestly expect this administration, which repeats community and inclusion cliches in many government and official statements, and even pays for a new "community" government department, to actually take action on the issue of adult autism care and treatment.  I say this in the interests of candor not confrontation.  

Despite my skepticism about your philosophically driven approach to government I still have to hope, in the best interests of my severely autistic son and others, that you will, as the Lord and Graham governments did on early autism intervention, autism trained education assistants and reversal of the decision to close the Stan Cassidy tertiary care autism team, look realistically at the issues of adult autism care.  I ask you to take an evidence based approach to adult autism care issues. I ask you to take action.  I ask you to do something about the problem.

In that regard I refer you, once again, to an interview with  New Brunswick autism expert Dr. Paul McDonnell, UNB professor emeritus (psychology) and clinical psychologist, in 2010 in which Dr. McDonnell commented on the need for an enhanced adult residential care network:

Autism services needed for N.B. adults

"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."

The professor, who has spent 20 years studying children who have autistic spectrum disorders, said New Brunswick could look to the programs being implemented in the United States where local governments have funded facilities that provide independent living options for people with disabilities. 

These facilities can be expensive, but McDonnell said the costs can be even higher in terms of the "human costs" if these reforms are not implemented. "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," he said. 

Enhanced network 

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."

The 2005 Toronto Star Article follows. It demonstrates clearly how long these autism youth and adult problems have been festering in New Brunswick. Please take steps now to address these issues that torment so many with autism and their families in New Brunswick.

Respectfully,


Harold L Doherty
Fredericton, New Brunswick

cc. Brian Gallant, Leader of the Official Opposition Liberal Party of NB
     Dominic Cardy, Leader, New Democratic Party of New Brunswick
     David Coon, Leader, Green Party of New Brunswick
     Facing Autism in New Brunswick
     Media

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Autistic boy kept in New Brunswick jail

No other place for him to stay 13-year-old must go to U.S. hospital. 

The Toronto Star, KELLY TOUGHILL, ATLANTIC CANADA BUREAU, Oct. 19, 2005

HALIFAX—A 13-year-old autistic boy now living in a New Brunswick jail compound will be sent out of Canada because there is no home, hospital or institution that can handle him in his own province.

Provincial officials confirmed yesterday the boy is living in a visitor's apartment at the Miramichi Youth Centre and will be moved to a treatment centre in Maine by November.

They stressed he is not under lock and key, has no contact with other inmates and is living outside the high wire fence that surrounds the youth detention centre.

Nevertheless, the jailhouse placement and the transfer to Maine have outraged mental health advocates and opposition critics.

"They put this boy in a criminal facility because he is autistic," said Harold Doherty, a board member of the Autism Society of New Brunswick.

"Now we are exporting our children because we can't care for them. This is Canada, not a Third World country.

"We are supposed to have a decent standard of care for the sick and the vulnerable, but we don't."

Liberal MLA John Foran echoed his concern. "This boy has done nothing wrong, is not the subject of any court order, but is in a penal institution."

Provincial officials yesterday insisted critics are misrepresenting the nature of the boy's situation and that in fact the province has done everything it can to help him.

"This individual is not being held, and is not incarcerated," said Lori-Jean Johnson, spokeswoman for the family and community services department.

"He has housekeeping, bath and a separate entrance. We are just utilizing existing resources."

Privacy laws prevent officials from discussing anything that would reveal the boy's identity, including details of his previous living situation and the whereabouts of his parents.

This much is known: He suffers from a severe form of autism and is a ward of the state, under the guardianship of the minister of family and community services. He was living in a group home until recently, but became so violent that he was judged a danger to himself and others. At a psychologist's recommendation, he was moved to a three-bedroom apartment on the grounds of the Miramichi Youth Centre, a prison for about 50 young offenders. Two attendants from a private company watch the boy around the clock, at a cost to taxpayers of $700 a day.

Johnson said she does not know any details of his care.

Doherty said the jailhouse placement and move to Maine highlight the desperate need for better services for autistic children in New Brunswick and across Canada.

He said staff at most group homes in New Brunswick aren't trained to deal with autism and don't understand the disorder.

"If you don't understand autism, things can become very bad very quickly," said Doherty, who has a 9-year-old son with the disorder.

"We have been pushing for (better facilities) in New Brunswick for several years. This is not a crisis that has popped up in the last two days. Residential care is a critical element for these people and it is not being provided."

Johnson said the provincial system of group homes and institutions that care for children and adults with psychiatric disorders and mental disabilities works for most people.

"We do have existing resources, but once in a while, there will be an exception. Here, we are looking at a very extreme case."

The boy will be moved to an Augusta, Me., treatment centre at the end of the month, said Johnson.

The centre, run by a non-profit group called Spurwink, specializes in dealing with autistic adolescents.

A Spurwink representative did not return a phone call from the Toronto Star.

Provincial officials could not detail the cost to keep the child at Spurwink, nor did they have information about why he's being sent to Maine, rather than a Canadian facility in another province.``

Thank You Again Shawn Graham For Helping NB Children With Autism

In the pictures above Shawn Graham makes a financial commitment to helping NB's autistic children and signs the cast of then Autism Society New Brunswick President Lila Barry.  In the bottom picture he and former Fredericton MP Andy Scott, also a strong advocate for autistic children,  participated in the grand opening of the Autism Connections Fredericton Community Center. 

Walking across the intersection at the corner of King and Carleton Street in Fredericton today I saw former New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham coming from the opposite direction. I was very happy to see him and took advantage of the opportunity to shake his hand and thank him in person for the outstanding contributions he made to the lives of children with autism disorders in New Brunswick. I have thanked him publicly in the media and on this blog site but I appreciated the opportunity to thank him face to face.  

Shawn Graham built on the autism programs started during the Bernard Lord government in provision of quality autism early intervention.  He expanded significantly the number of education assistants and resource teachers with autism training at the UNB-CEL Autism Intervention Training program.  

It was a high point of my day to be able to say thank you in person to Shawn Graham on behalf of my son Conor and the other many children with autism disorders in New Brunswick who enjoy quality early intervention and accommodation of their challenges in achieving meaningful access to an evidence based approach to inclusive education. 

Thank you again Mr. Graham!

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.

Thank You To All Who Were Involved With NB`s Incredible Autism Success Story: The UNB-CEL Autism Intervention Training Program

The foundation for the autism service gains that have been made in New Brunswick over the past several years has been dismantled and shut down for good. The screen image above is what I found when I did a search of the University of New Brunswick web site looking to see what, if any, course would still be offered by the UNB-CEL Autism Intervention Training program.  The content section of the screen, however, was literally blank. The UNB-CEL Autism Intervention Training Program is no more.

I was aware for some time that the Alward-Carr-Porter team would not continue to train education assistants and resource teachers through the program.  Autism training will be done "in house" by an education department hierarchy that resisted the program in the first place because it wasn't their project and because they thought it cost too much.  Now pre-school early intervention autism workers will no longer be trained at UNB-CEL either.  Apparently Minister Carr and his combined education-early childhood development team feels that it can do better by consulting experts to instruct our autism intervention agencies on how to provide their own versions of in house early autism intervention.  Minister Carr and Gordon Porter  will call the services they oversee evidence based but an evidence based autism intervention requires a level of quality and integrity that in house training subject to conflicting adult interests is unlikely to meet.

The UNB-CEL Autism program arose as a response to determined advocacy by parents of autistic children.  The program provided NB`s autistic children and students with quality and integrity in the intervention and instruction they received.  Former Premier Bernard Lord responded very personally, and very constructively,  despite the at times combative nature or our advocacy, to our requests.  His government looked for service providers that could provide the necessary early intervention services.  Rather than import and pay huge fees to import services from Ontario a steering committee of various autism professionals, academics and parents involved with autism issues thought it would be a good idea to develop a program using local expertise.  Premier Lord, and after him Premier Graham,  agreed and UNB-CEL provided the autism training for the services our children needed.

Anne Higgins, a brilliant administrator who at that time was with the University of New Brunswick was a key part of the group that founded the UNB-CEL Autism Intervention Training program.  She put a tight organizational plan together and implemented it  with incredible efficiency.  UNB Professor Emeritus (Psychology) and clinical psychologist Paul McDonnell and UNB Psychology professor Barb D'Entremont led the team at UNB that developed the content for the program.  Private autism agencies were established and the UNB-CEL Autism Intervention Training program was used to train early autism intervention and clinical supervisors for New Brunswick's two official language groups.

New Brunswick parents of autistic children advocated for an extension of the UNB autism training to the school system with requests that teacher assistants and resource teachers working with students with autism also receive the UNB autism training.  Both Premier Lord and Premier Graham, in direct discussions with representatives of New Brunswick's autism community, responded positively.  

The training of early intervention and education personnel working with autistic children and students met with fierce resistance, some of it from career bureaucrats in the higher echelons of the Department of Education and some of it from New Brunswick's inaccurately characterized "inclusion" and "community" movement.  Now with Minister Carr and NBACL inclusion icon Gordon Porter in charge of both early childhood development and schools the UNB-CEL autism training is no longer wanted.   The foundation of our autism gains in recent years has been abandoned. My comments are gloomy but they reflect current realities under this administration. 

I would like to end this comment on a positive note though by thanking all persons involved with the UNB-CEL Autism Intervention Training Program, particularly Anne Higgins, Paul McDonnell and Barb D`Entremont.  I would also like to thank all the parents whose efforts in advocating for early intervention and education assistance for our autistic children led to the establishment of the UNB-CEL autism training.  Without determined, focused autism parent advocacy there would have been no UNB-CEL autism program. Thank you all.

Autism Services in New Brunswick 2010 Update

I would like to thank Fredericton's Daily Gleaner for publishing my letter to the editor concerning the state of autism services in Canada, and more specifically in New Brunswick, in October 2010.


Many do not know that Autism Awareness Month is recognized in October in Canada not April as in the US.


I have been blogging about autism issues for four years and it is easy enough to publish my own comments on this humble blog. It is a big boost though when the assistance, and reach, of a long established local paper is provided.


As stated in the Daily Gleaner today:



Adults with autism need help


Re: Autism


October is Autism Awareness Month in Canada.


Autism is a disorder which is diagnosed based on communication, social and behavioral challenges.


Approximately 75-80 per cent of persons with the most severe form of autism, Autistic Disorder, also have intellectual disabilities.


When my son was diagnosed with Autistic Disorder 12 years ago, the Center for Disease Control in the U.S. estimated that 1 in 500 persons had an autism disorder. Today that CDC estimate has risen to 1 in 110.


Many autistic children and adults can't function on a level which would permit them to live independent lives.


Despite these realities, our federal government has done nothing to deal with Canada's growing autism crisis, preferring to leave autism as a provincial responsibility.


Across Canada provincial governments have provided varying levels of responses. Fortunately for my son, New Brunswick has actually been a leader in developing early intervention and school services for autistic children.


The government-funded early intervention services, provided by competent trained staff at the autism intervention centres, makes New Brunswick a leader in that area.


The UNB-CEL Autism Intervention Training Program, which has received high marks by the most expert professionals on external review, has provided training to staff at the early intervention centres and to approximately 500 teacher assistants and resource teachers in New Brunswick schools.


Severely challenged autistic children like my son are able to receive instruction in quieter environments within neighborhood schools, while visiting common areas of the schools like gyms, pools and kitchens for socializing purposes.


As a long time advocate for these evidence-based services for autistic children I thank former premiers Bernard Lord and Shawn Graham for their rich contributions to New Brunswick's autistic preschoolers and students.
And I thank the many parents who fought so hard to draw attention to the need for these services.


I also thank professionals who have led the way like Dr. Paul McDonnell, Dr. Annie Murphy, Dr. Tara Kennedy, all the directors and staff of the autism intervention centers and Ann Higgins of the UNB-CEL Autism Intervention Training Program.


We have all failed, however, to improve the living conditions of autistic youth and adults, some of whom live in desperate conditions on hospital wards, with over-challenged and increasingly elderly parents and in psychiatric hospitals.


Autistic adults, as Professor Emeritus Paul McDonnell has recently stated, are badly in need of a modernized residential care and treatment system. We must act now to help autistic adults in New Brunswick.


Harold L. Doherty
Fredericton

New Alward Carr Government Will Roll Back Autism Progress in New Brunswick

Congratulations to New Brunswick's new Premier David Alward and all members of his team who were elected.  Congratulations also to those Liberals who were elected despite the obvious backlash against the Liberal government of Shawn Graham. I offer all these congratulations sincerely even though I know that the election of this government and the likely cabinet role to be played by Jody Carr and possibly his brother Jack Carr will spell the end of the progress that has been made in helping autistic preschoolers and students in New Brunswick over the past 4 years.  We live in a democracy and the people have spoken. Those elected, including the Carr brothers in their ridings, have received the endorsement of the people.  For this they deserve the hearty applause of all NBers including me.

Having offered these sincere congratulations  though I must also state that the Carr Family will exercise a profoundly  negative influence on the future of autistic preschoolers and students in New Brunswick. Their prominence will threaten existing programs of early autism intervention, autism trained Teacher Assistants and accommodation in alternative learning environments within neighborhood schools for autistic children and other children whose severe disability challenges make the mainstream classroom a negative, and in some cases, a harmful environment.  I know these things because I was actively involved, along with other well informed, determined parents of autistic children,  in the struggle to establish the preschool and school programs and policies that have made New Brunswick an autism leader in early intervention and education in Canada.  I know these things because throughout the years of struggle we were steadfastly opposed by the New Brunswick Association for Community Living to which both Jody and Jack Carr are intimately tied.

The NBACL has done much good in raising public awareness about disabilities generally, promoting acceptance of disabilities generally, and acceptance. The problem is that the "community" and "inclusion" principles of the Community Living organizations in Canada and in New Brunswick have hardened into resistance to accommodation of those with severe autism challenges and other individuals whose disabilities require accommodation and learning in different environments ... a separate quieter environment outside the mainstream classroom ... than that which NBACL and CACL insist upon for ALL students regardless of their specific disability and their specific challenges and needs. The fine principles of the NBACL have deteriorated into dogma and ideology and Jody Carr, his wife Krista Carr and Jack Carr have all , in the past, resisted  efforts of parents seeking to help their autistic children.  The Carr's have resisted evidence based approaches to early intervention and education of all children with disabilities, including autistic children, in favor of cliches. There is no room for compromise or accommodation in the Community Living based ideology which the Carrs  promote. For them It is the community cliche way or the highway.

Adult autism residential care is one of the areas in which little progress has been made in New Brunswick.  5 years ago the Bernard Lord Conservative government sent an autistic youth to the Miramichi Youth corrections facility for several months while he waited a place at the Spurwink residential treatment facility in Maine.    When Jody Carr vetoes efforts to create a professional, evidence based and compassionate residential care and treatment facility in New Brunswick he says that "we will not send them away" do not be fooled, do not believe him.   In 2005 the Lord  Conservative government sent them, autistic youths and adults,  away to Maine and to outmoded psychiatric facilities, even to hospital wards and Jody Carr, a Conservative MLA at the time,   said nothing .... absolutely nothing.  

For New Brunswick children and adults with autism the Alward Carr years will not be pretty. There is a rough trail ahead, a very rough trail.

.

Autism Promise 2006: Liberals Kept Their Word and New Brunswick Became a Leader in Educating Children with Autism

If you are the parent, family member, or family friend of a child with autism who is being educated  or assisted at a neighborhood school by an autism trained Teacher Assistant and autism trained Resource Teacher, as I am, please remember that these services resulted from an extraordinary promise made ... and kept .... by  Liberal leader Shawn Graham who kept that commitment as Premier once his Liberal party formed the government. My son Conor, and many other autistic school children in New Brunswick,  received the benefits of that promise and the UNB-CEL autism trained Teacher Assistant instruction and individual instruction program put together with the help of autism trained Resource Teachers. 

Tomorrow as you cast your ballots please remember the following autism commitment  made to then Autism Society NB President Lila Barry on behalf of autistic children and their families. The commitment was made,  and honored, by  Shawn Graham and his Liberal government. The fulfillment of that commitment has helped many autistic children in New Brunswick, including my son Conor.  The fulfillment of that autism commitment has made New Brunswick a leader in educating children with autism :

From: Graham, Shawn (LEG)
Sent: Wednesday, September 06, 2006 2:37 PM
To: lila barry
Subject: Liberal Platform

Dear Ms. Barry:

Thank you for your letter and for sharing your concerns with me. In our Liberal election platform that will be released this week, we are committing to the implementation of the recommendations of the Interdepartmental Committee on Autism released in November 2001. Although we realize this document is now nearly five years old, it does provide a basis on which to develop, in partnership with the stakeholders, a strategy that will assist children with autism from early childhood and into adulthood.

As well, we will take two concrete steps to address the immediate needs of children with autism in two areas: a case management process and UNB-CEL autism training.

A new Liberal government will:

1. Integrate services for young children and their families by enhancing and expanding the Early Childhood Initiatives Program to ensure a smooth transition into public school for children identified as at risk or those with special needs, such as autism.


2. Provide UNB-CEL autism training for 100 additional teaching assistants and Methods and Resource teachers each year for four years.

I commend you and the members of the Autism Society of New Brunswick on your tireless advocacy on behalf of children with autism. You are truly making a difference in many lives. Please feel free to contact me at any time.

Yours truly,

Shawn Graham

Best Autism Tweet of the New Brunswick Election From Liberal Kelly Lamrock

  " klamrock: Still more to do on #autism file. We'll work w/parents to address adult care incl community-based residential care #nbvotes

4 days ago via Mobile Web · Reply · View Tweet "

Over the last 4 years the Liberal government honored a commitment by Premier Graham to provide  4 years of UNB-CEL Autism Intervention Training to classes of approximately 100  teacher assistants and resource teachers a year over the objections of some senior Education officials, who actually knew little about autism. They also faced opposition from some union officials who opposed autism specfiic training for TA's. I was involved in many of the discussions and I can tell you from personal knowledge that it was a very tough fight to do the right thing for New Brunswick's autistic students. I can tell you from very direct, personal involvement that Kelly Lamrock and the Shawn Graham Liberal government honored their commitment and put the interests of NB's autistic students ahead of vested adult interests.

When Kelly Lamrock says that a Liberal government will work with the parents to address the address adult care including community based residential care this father of a severely autistic 14 year old son, who has been involved very intensely with the changes that have made New Brunswick a leader in pre-school intervention and education of autistic children says ... I believe Kelly Lamrock and a Liberal government will keep their word. I believe it because I have already seen them do it.  

 

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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Is Ontario's Autism Shame Contagious?

Ontario NDP health critic France Gelinas has blasted Dalton McGuinty's Liberal government, in an article in the Sudbury Star, for its shameful, on-again, off-again commitment to providing treatment to autistic children, leaving many of them languishing on waiting lists where some never actually graduate to receive treatment.


Ms Gelinas accuses the McGuinty government of closing the door on autistic children in Northern Ontario and leaves no doubt where she, and the Ontario NDP, stand on the issue:

Families have actually left Ontario altogether for Alberta where programs are fully funded. That western province and its comprehensive funding for autism attracted a world autism expert from Ontario. More could follow.

We have a choice to create the kind of Ontario we want. In my Ontario, autism treatment would be fully funded and the children's needs addressed. Along with my MPP colleague, Ontario's NDP Critic for Autism, Andrea Horwath, I believe there should be an immediate increase to the funding of autism services so regional centres can respond to the needs of these children.

To hold back on funding while children and families continue to suffer and struggle is inexcusable.

Each day children with autism languish on waiting lists and are denied access to services is another day that their potential for progress and success is thwarted by the McGuinty government's inaction. We can -- and must -- do better.

Hopefully, the lack of concern for autistic children exhibited by the Ontario government is not contagious. Here in New Brunswick a praiseworthy autism service delivery model for children has been built. But we are hearing rumblings that the next budget will see funding for autism services cut. Hopefully the rumours are wrong and Premier Shawn Graham will continue to back up his expressed concern for autistic children by providing the required funding as he has during the first two years of his term.






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Shawn Graham's Autism Promise - A Promise Kept

[Above Premier Shawn Graham; Premier Graham, MP Andy Scott, Autism Connexions director Lana Thomson and some young helpers at the Autism Connexions grand opening]

Since the election of the Shawn Graham led Liberal Party as the government of New Brunswick in September I have made several different comments on the subject of Premier Graham's autism training promise that he made during the election campaign. The tone and substance of my comments varied depending on other developments that were taking place. During the campaign Mr. Graham promised that a Liberal government would train 100 Teachers Aides and Resource Teachers a year for 4 years at the UNB-CEL Autism Intervention Training program. The Autism Society New Brunswick has trust and confidence in the quality and integrity of the UNB-CEL AIT program. Fulfillment of this commitment will place New Brunswick in the forefront of delivery of real education services to our autistic students.

Despite Mr. Graham's well known commitment there was continued resistance by some officials responsible for oversight and delivery of such programs. In the last two weeks that resistance reached a previously unimaginable ferocity with an alternative proposal still being pushed very aggressively by some civil servants. The alternative proposal was, putting it politely, fundamentally flawed. Fortunately, Premier Shawn Graham and Education Minister Kelly Lamrock stepped in and confirmed beyond any doubt that the 400 in 4 years UNB-CEL AIT training commitment for TA's and Resource Teachers would be implemented. Yesterday I participated in a Dialogue on Education Committee meeting with other "stakeholder" representatives and Education Department officials at which that commitment was confirmed with the first 100 persons expected to begin the course in October.


I am very happy that Premier Graham is keeping his autism promise and implementing the training commitment he made on behalf of autistic students in New Brunswick. In some provinces opposition leaders made promises to autism parent advocates and then abandoned those promises and used the power of government to fight the very parents and their autistic children they had promised to help. During his time as opposition leader in New Brunswick Shawn Graham stood with those of us who were protesting outside the New Brunswick legislature seeking evidence based autism interventions for out children and lent his voice and support. In government Premier Graham has not abandoned us. He has kept his word. He is honouring his commitment.

Thank you Premier Graham.