"The government's solution to the waiting list is to move more autistic kids into the school system where they can receive therapy and an education. With the right supports, kids 6 or older could be in school, thereby freeing up spaces for the younger kids on the therapy wait list.
It is a promising plan, but implementation of it has proven to be difficult. Tens of millions have been spent preparing and training 13,000 teachers, principals and other staff; yet only 170 autistic kids have been brought into the school system under the program.
In time, those numbers will undoubtedly rise, but there is still great uncertainty about whether the schools are being prepared to offer what these kids need. School boards have not generally welcomed autistic children or their therapists into classrooms, and the province has refused to force the issue. Meanwhile, parents argue that the less intensive therapy offered in schools is a cheap imitation of the real thing and falls well short of what their kids need. This lack of trust will undermine the success of the school-based solution going forward."
The Star opinion on April 4/2010
Please browse the blog at your leisure. You are welcome to comment on the posts. If you are a parent, an autism consultant, counselor, teacher with information on autism resources available in our area, please email your information to benziesangma@gmail.com. Your information will be added within 24 hours.
At School Social Stories
Local Autism Support Groups
Parents Engaging Autism Quinte (PEAQ), an autism parent support group, meets once a month on the first Tuesday of the month (no meetings in January, July and August) at Kerry's Place, 189 Victoria Avenue, Belleville at 6:30 to 8 p.m. If you have questions or suggestions for autism topics that are important to you please go to our FaceBook account and post your suggestions so that we can invite appropriate autism professionals to speak at these meetings.
Autism parent support group meeting hosted by Mental Health Agency, Trenton and Military Family Resource Centre (MFRC) is on every second Thursday of the month (from September to June) from 6 to 7:30 pm. For more info, please contact Bryanna Best, Special Needs Inclusion Coordinator at 613 392 2811 ext 2076 or email at bryanna.b@trentonmfrc.ca
For info on Community Living Prince Edward County Parent Support group, contact Resource Consultants @ 613 476 6038
Central Hastings Autism Support Group meets in Madoc at the Recreation Centre. Contact Renee O’Hara, Family Resource & Support, 613-966-7413 or Tammy Kavanagh, Family Resource & Support, 613-332-3227
Parenting your child during Covid-19 pandemic
Monday, April 5, 2010
In it for the long haul...
I created this blog with my sincere wish that those of you reading this will want to share your own stories, both good and bad, what worked for you and what didn't and together, we can make it easier for the next family beginning their own journey of discovery. By posting what you know, where you have recieved certain services, who you have talked to, whose expertise you trust, how you navigated the school education services and by responding to questions in the discussion thread, know that you have helped a family in need. So, parents, experts in the field, counsellors, teachers and everyone who has any information on resources available, please feel free to post on this blog.