Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Lord, Brewer & Graham Remain Silent on Education of Autistic Children

One week ago I asked whether any of the three party leaders would commit to providing a real education to autistic children in New Brunswick by training a further 400-500 TA's through the UNB-CEL Autism Intervention Training program. The response has been - silence. No substantive response has been received from the parties hoping to form the government on Sept 18.

Many autistic children, particularly those with classic Autism Disorder, require highly structured, individualized instruction. They often have the assistance of untrained TA's to accomplish this. Without the necessary training most of these children will be receiving nothing more than babysitting service. Their opportunity to learn will be squandered.

I ask again, will any of the 3 leaders seeking to become Premier on Sept 18 make a specific commitment to train an additional 4-500 TA's at the UNB-CEL Autism Intervention Training course? 1000 Autistic schoolchildren and their families in New Brunswick would appreciate an answer.

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