Conor Misses His So-Called "Segregated" Autism Schooling BUT Summer Helps A Lot

Conor Doherty, enjoying a summer outing with Dad 

in Fredericton, the green city.

In New Brunswick advocates of extreme, everyone in the classroom, inclusion like to describe my son's accommodations as "segration" as though it could be equated with the racially segregated schools of the old American south.  Conor in fact attends a neighborhood school and has ample opportunity to mix with other students, both challenged students in his High School Resource Centre and throughout Leo Hayes High School.  He is well liked and has friends in both the Resource Centre and in the rest of the school. I have often, and I am mean often, seen kids approach Conor with big smiles and greet him.  His instruction, his ABA based instruction, is received in a separate quieter area and he absolutely loves going to school.  Anyone who has worked with Conor in his high school or previously in middle or grade school can confirm these facts.  

Conor does not receive a "segregated" schooling to use the pejorative terminology of NB's very influential full inclusion activists in the CACL and NBACL.  He receives an evidence based, flexible, inclusive education that accommodates his serious autistic disorder and developmental delay hallenges. Conor loves school. When school ends each year it is a difficult time for him. 

Summer heat and humidity can cause problems too but we do get outdoors, a lot,  in Fredericton, the green city, which we both love and it helps a lot.  The last couple of days we have done some bridge walking to Fredericton's south side for fresh air, exercise and of course ... treats.  (Conor has a new "walking" shirt, one of Dad's old loose fitting shirts to go over his T-shirts).

Conor would like to see September arrive quickly, and resume the "segregated" education that Conor loves and some misguided adults demean,  but he and his ol' Dad will enjoy the summer in Fredericton,  this very habitable green city.

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

Tropic Thunder Helps Those With Intellectual Disabilities

I am the father of a 12 year old boy diagnosed with Autistic Disorder and assessed with Profound Developmental Delays. I was invited to attend a showing of Tropic Thunder and yesterday I did so, albeit with serious misgivings. Having seen the movie I believe that Tropic Thunder actually helps those with intellectual disabilities, and others, by focusing our attention on how the motion picture industry exploits, and presents inaccurate, and false, images of people with intellectual disabilities and other challenges, including obesity and addiction.


Tropic Thunder targets Hollywood for a number of sins, including its exploitation and presentation of distorted images of people with intellectual disabilities. The character portrayed in the movie within the movie, "Simple Jack", does not resemble in any way anyone I have ever met with an intellectual disability or developmental delay. The presentation of the character and the use of the word "retard" in some of the relevant scenes was uncomfortable for me as the father of a son with "profound developmental delays". But I did not find it offensive. and the clear targets are the vain and superficial actors who portray such distortions and the industry which greedily exploits them.

I am not trying to tell others how to feel about this issue. Or whether they should see the movie. For me, Tropic Thunder raised serious issues for discussion in the way that satire does - not by a scholarly dissertation - but by actually showing, and mocking, its target - in this case the motion picture industry.

And it is funny.

autism

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" in any sense of that word. His favorite stim object is the straw which he manipulates in this video.

Conor's stimming is not dramatic, it is not fancy but ... it is real. It is what he does ... whether there is a camera trained on him or not.

2,050 views. If some of those viewers are new to autism then I am glad that they had the opportunity to see autistic stimming, Conor style. No drama, no profound philosophy, not very fancy but very real.

autism

Evil, Pure Evil

This story of abuse and betrayal as reported in the Toronto Star is disgusting and horrifying beyond belief. These are acts of evil, pure evil. The only bright light in this dark and true story? The child is reported to have recovered significantly since being placed with Children's Aid.

Mother, 6 men accused in abuse of girl

Molesters gave crack cocaine to 12-year-old, police allege

May 04, 2007 04:30 AM
Henry Stancu
Staff Reporter

Six men and the mother of a 12-year-old developmentally challenged girl have been charged in what police call a "horrendous" case of child sexual abuse.

Investigators allege the victim was given crack cocaine for various sex acts at her Rexdale home by numerous men over the course of a year.

"It's something I don't think many of us in policing have seen and many in the community are quite frankly going to be outraged," said Toronto police Supt. Ron Taverner.

Youth bureau officers from 23 division station in Etobicoke began probing the case on Jan. 2, focusing on a unit in a housing complex near Rexdale Blvd. and Hwy. 27.

Police learned a developmentally delayed girl living with her mother was being routinely molested in the home that served as a safe haven, or crack house, for users and dealers of cocaine and other drugs.

"It was some very horrendous acts that were taking place on this poor victim. My information is that it was going on quite frequently," Taverner said.

A medical examination of the child revealed cocaine in her system.

"I think we're all outraged that these sort of things are taking place. This shouldn't be happening in our society," added Taverner.

On Tuesday, police arrested the girl's 42-year-old mother, who cannot be identified to protect the child's privacy.

Investigators had to get the provincial attorney general's consent to charge the woman with the rare infraction of corrupting children.

"It took several months to get that permission," Taverner said.

Because police had only street names when they began tracking down suspects, and because it took time to apply for the child corruption charge, investigators were unable to move more swiftly on the allegations.

The young victim is in the care of the Toronto Children's Aid Society and has "has improved immensely" already, said Taverner.

More suspects are being sought in the attacks on the girl, police said.

Those currently charged are:

Harold Cover, 55, of Mississauga; sexual assault, sexual interference, invitation to sexual touching and trafficking cocaine.

Radcliffe Parchment, 19, of Toronto; sexual assault, sexual interference, and invitation to sexual touching.

Muralee Balasubramaniam, 50, no fixed address; sexual assault, sexual interference, weapons dangerous, an assault with intent to resist arrest.

Neil Rose, 44, of Brampton; sexual assault and sexual interference.

Dennis Guthrie, 52, of Whitby; sexual assault and sexual interference.

Linton Lewis, 47, of Brampton; sexual assault and sexual interference.