| AFASE at school Advocate For Appropriate Special Education |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
May 15, 2004
Hello Mr. McTeague,
I live in Pickering, Ontario and I have a 12 year-old son with autism. His
name is Brandon. I also provide special education advocacy services to
parents of children with autism in the Durham Region and the greater
Toronto area.
This is in response to Senator Munson's Press Release and Speech
given yesterday. I have attached the relevant paragraphs at the end of
this e-mail. In addition to what Senator Munson has said, I would like to
make you aware of the issues as I see it.
Hello Mr. McTeague,
I live in Pickering, Ontario and I have a 12 year-old son with autism. His
name is Brandon. I also provide special education advocacy services to
parents of children with autism in the Durham Region and the greater
Toronto area.
This is in response to Senator Munson's Press Release and Speech
given yesterday. I have attached the relevant paragraphs at the end of
this e-mail. In addition to what Senator Munson has said, I would like to
make you aware of the issues as I see it.
- There are far too many preschool children with autism who are
not getting the necessary treatment and programs such as the
research-based, proven effective, Intensive Behaviour
Intervention (IBI), based on the principles of Applied Behaviour
Analysis (ABA), in order to learn skills that normal children learn
naturally...skills that they need to learn in order to function at
home, in the community, in the classroom, and on the
playground. - They are on waiting lists for the government funded IBI
treatment. A treatment that most parents cannot afford to pay for
themselves. Children need treatment as soon as they are
diagnosed, they can't afford to wait...society can't afford for them
to wait. - To add insult to injury, most of the children on the waiting list will
NEVER receive treatment because after age 5 they are no
longer eligible for the government funded treatment, regardless
of their needs. - If a parent decides to register the child in the public school
system while they are waiting, at great risk to their child's
development, and miraculously they are granted funding, the
parent must then withdraw the child from school so that the IBI
instructor can teach the child in a way that he can learn. School
boards do not allow IBI instructors to teach the child at school. - If children with autism were allowed to successfully graduate from
their IBI program by allowing a well designed transition plan into
their grade one curriculum, they WOULD be successful at school
and would eventually no longer require a special education
program that includes IBI. - School administrators refuse to discuss IBI as an instructional
accommodation regardless of whether psychologists have
deemed it to be a necessary intervention for the child,
consequently they are denying children the right to instructional
accommodations to meet their needs during school hours. - In Ontario, the government has hired Autism Spectrum Disorder
(ASD) consultants to provide strategies to teachers and teaching
assistants on a broad basis. Consultative support models have
been found to be ineffective by the courts. It has been
determined that consultative supports do not allow children with
autism to access education. - Research shows that the majority of children with autism,
receiving the generic services that are currently provided by our
public education system, will continue to need special education
programs throughout their public education and continue to
need government support as adults, at an enormous cost to tax
payers. - If children with autism received direct instruction from an IBI
instructor for at least 25% of the instructional time, it would be
comparable to the specialized support and accommodation that
is provided to a child who is deaf or blind. If school boards can
provide specialized support and accommodations for children
who are deaf or blind, why can't they provide the same for
children with autism? - By denying the instructional accommodations that children with
autism need at school, school boards have violated the Human
Rights Code, the Ontarians with Disabilities Act, and the
Education Act.
Please contact me by e-mail or phone to discuss the issues as
they relate to the Federal Government's policies to improve
waiting lists and accessibility for children with autism who need
IBI treatment at home as well as in the public school environment.
Thank you for listening.
Karen Robinson
AFASE at school
www.afase.com
karen.robinson@afase.com
| Ministry Publications |
| Our children deserve the chance to reach their full potential |