 |
ACT News Roundup - February 2012
|
|
|
ACT's 2012 Events, Videos and Information ServicesWe are proud to announce that our entire 2012 Live Event Calendar is now available online. Some of the highlights include a major conference in Nanaimo, two POPARD events, PEERS training for professionals and Michelle Garcia Winner & Carol Grey appearing at the Vancouver Convention Centre August. Check our events page to see what's coming, register online and to make plans now. Coming soon: Emotion Management, Relationships, Healthy Sexuality (March 30 & 31, Vancouver) and ACT's 8th Annual Focus on Research (April 13 & 14, Vancouver), including presentations on the Early Start Denver Model, lessons from the Baby Sibs Project and helping families build the team. Grant from Autism Speaks Supports ACT Volunteer Training ProjectACT is very pleased to announce that our Parent Volunteer Training initiative has received a $25,000 grant from Autism Speaks Canada – one of only two community-based organizations in British Columbia to receive a grant this year. The purpose of this project is to encourage a sense of community engagement by providing volunteer parents in underserved communities with facilitator training, to provide a local community focus for families who have children with ASD and associated conditions. ACT will work with these volunteers to provide training on autism, and to identify resources in their communities that we can share as part of our online resource database to identify gaps in service. We are particularly interested to identify families living in rural and remote communities, as well as members of EAL (English as an Additional Language) and aboriginal communities. More information will be available over the next month. If you would like to be a parent volunteer or to recommend someone, please contact Anjela Godber at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Diagnosis of ASD in B.C. and the DSM-5There is some concern internationally that when the diagnostic categories for autism change with the implementation of the DSMV, this could exclude children who now have a diagnosis of Asperger’s Syndrome. The DSMV, the diagnostic and statistical guidelines, 5th edition, will be (eventually) published by the American Psychiatric Society. Fortunately, B.C. diagnosticians have been using Autism Spectrum Disorder as the broad descriptor for the past decade and Asperger’s Syndrome is accepted as an Autism Spectrum Disorder in B.C. The Ministries of Children and Family Development, Education and Health all include diagnoses of Asperger’s Syndrome, Pervasive Developmental Disorder and other conditions under the ASD umbrella. For more information:
BC-ABA Conference at UBC March 2 & 3, 2012On March 2 & 3, 2012 the British Columbia Association of Behaviour Analysis (BC-ABA) is holding their annual conference at the University of British Columbia. ACT is a co-sponsor of this event. There will be a number of interesting speakers including Dr. Mark Durand, well known to professionals and parents for his ground-breaking work in the area of children with special needs with a variety of behavioural issues – including serious sleep disorders. For more information on the conference and to register see www.bc-aba.org or their conference program The early bird deadline is February 24, 2012. Conference: On the JobDeborah Pugh, ACT’s Executive Director went to Toronto earlier this month to a conference sponsored by Autism Speaks, the Sinneave Foundation and Neurodevnet. The title of the conference was “On the Job” and was about finding employment for adults with autism. One speaker was Randi Lewis, Vice-President for Walgreen, who has a son with ASD. To see what he’s been doing, here is a video of him speaking to business leaders and giving testimony to the American Senate in March 2001 (start watching at 75 minutes). Another speaker was Thorkil Sonne, who is also the father of a teenage son with ASD. He set up a company to employ adults with ASD to work in the IT sector. What both these men have demonstrated is that employers working in the ‘black and white’ do not adapt to supporting those with disabilities/autism which requires accepting shades of grey. Each of them are approaching the need to providing employment for those with disabilities quite differently, as they are supporting a different profile of worker, but both motivated by understanding the importance of employment in providing us with status, friends, income – in short, a life. J.A. Tan Artwork to be on United Nations StampThe United Nations, in its search for inspiring artists with autism from around the world, has chosen a work by J.A. Tan, a member of the B.C. autism community and winner of ACT’s 2011 art competition. His work will be featured in a series of stamps that the U.N. Postal Administration (UNPA) will issue on 2 April 2012, in recognition of World Autism Day. Congratulations, J.A.! Books: Have you read 'The Panic Virus'?The Panic Virus discusses the controversy over the vaccine scares, and deconstructs how facts can be distorted and how fear can trump logic. If you have read it, we invite you to write a short review or share your impressions (three or so lines, that’s all!) for the ACT Online Learning Community books discussion (requires login to the AOLC). Coco Café in NanaimoThe next time you are in Nanaimo, make a visit the Coco Café. This is a café that employs adults with developmental disabilities to make coffee, bake muffins and accept payment and make change. These adults are learning and using real-life, transferable skills. You can read more or view a news clip to see it in action. This is a great example of parents making opportunities for their children to transition into adulthood. Do you know of more examples like this? Tell us, or share with the ACT Online Learning Community (AOLC).
ACT's Autism Manual for BC – a new chapter on "Contracting with Professionals on the RASP"ACT has recently updated and reorganized the Autism Manual for BC with new information.
Chapter 5 – “Contracting with Professionals on the RASP”. In addition to information on MCFD’s services for all children with special needs, the Manual has chapters on advocacy, the B.C. education system, transitions from school to work and estate planning. These are relevant for parents of children with special needs in general. We would be delighted if other organizations link to them so these resources can be used more widely. ACT's New Diagnosis Parent Package – newly designed and available online!Over the past two years ACT has sent out over 2,000 "New Diagnosis Parent Packages" to parents, agencies and diagnosticians, both public and private, around B.C. These are provided in distinctive red folders with the ACT logo to catch the attention of families in that crucial diagnostic period when many feel very overwhelmed. ACT's goal is to provide basic information to empower parents to feel more confident when making important decisions around their child's treatment. We have recently completed redesigning the package which includes a letter and Chapters 4 & 5 from the Autism Manual for B.C. Additional resources are included in "ACT's Guide for Parents in British Columbia Whose Children Receive Autism Funding", including:
ACT Personnel Update
ACT - Autism Community Training Society Please do not reply to this email; we cannot receive messages sent to this address. |
