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Nov. 29, 2004
Announcing a New ACT Initiative!
ACT - Autism Community Training Society is pleased to announce that we have been successful in winning a provincial contract from the Ministry for Children and Family Development (MCFD) to provide information, training and vital support services to parents across British Columbia who have children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder.
ACT will begin providing this service early in January 2005.
"The need is enormous. Families are looking for a wide range of positive and practical information on everything from sleep problems and diet to more core issues such as diagnosis, and aspects of intervention, including information on setting up programs for their children." explains Clair Schuman, ACT's newly appointed Executive Director, adding: "We are moving quickly to recruit and train staff - we are committed to meeting the challenge of providing the information and support families so desperately need."
While developing its proposal in August and September 2004, ACT consulted a diverse group of parents and professionals across BC on their priorities and concerns. Many of those consulted are now on either ACT's Advisory Council or its Board of Directors. They represented a powerful voluntary resource as ACT developed its proposal and they continue to steer ACT as it prepares to dramatically expand its work.
"The message we received during the course of these consultations was clear. Families told us that they want a wide range of information on best practices in autism treatment to empower them to help their children achieve their best outcomes. Professionals told us that they needed help to support parents in the post-diagnostic period. Both parents and professionals raised concerns that there is a province-wide shortage of qualified professionals and that families need more help in finding who is available and knowing how to assess their qualifications." explains Deborah Pugh, ACT's founder and its new Director of Research and Training.
ACT will be posting a MCFD-approved Qualified Service Providers List on our website once we have received the necessary information from professionals. The list will be searchable by region and profession. ACT will offer professionals the opportunity to provide profiles that include their training to enable parents to make informed decisions.
In addition to hosting the Qualified Service Provider List, ACT's redeveloped website will also provide "Frequently Asked Autism Question", and "How to Assess the Qualifications of Professionals - Tips for Parent", as well as a wealth of other information and links to reputable websites. Most of this will be available by the end of January, but development and updating the website will be an ongoing process. As soon as possible ACT will also move to have important documents translated into major languages, beginning with Chinese.
"Our senior staff and several of our board members have children affected with ASD. As parents, we approach our mandate having experienced the challenges of coming to grips with the diagnosis at the same time as having to research a rapidly developing field for objective information on treatment", explains Dr. Kevin Berman, a medical practitioner and the President of ACT's Board
of Directors.
As the parent of a young daughter with ASD, Dr. Berman stresses the need for personalized support: "We recognize that the website will be a powerful tool for many families; however, ACT will also offer telephone support and mail out information packages to families and community professionals. We need to raise awareness of autism and treatment options. A critical part of this new service will be providing parent training outside the Lower Mainland starting in the spring of 2005."
Background Information on ACT-Autism Community Training Society
ACT began in May 2003 as a community response to the great need throughout British Columbia for a wide-range of training opportunities on Autism Spectrum Disorders. In its first 20 months, ACT has provided nearly 15,000 hours of training to workshop participants, including parents, para-professionals and professionals who have come from all over BC, across Canada and the US. ACT's workshops have won the respect of families and the professional community by providing high quality training opportunities that respect the individuality of children while inspiring both parents and professionals to upgrade their skills.
ACT - Autism Community Training Society is a registered not-for-profit society.
ACT has been self-supporting through workshop registrations which are re-invested into further training opportunities. Funding from MCFD for parent training will allow us to expand training offerings outside the Lower Mainland. We are exploring the possibilities of video conferencing and web-casting. If you have ideas or suggestions, contact ACT's Director of Research and Training: Deborah Pugh at dpugh@autismcommunitytraining.bc.ca.
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CT gratefully acknowledges the Consortium for the Advancement of Child Health - Simon Fraser University for co-sponsoring our more academic programs and providing meeting spaces. The website for the SFU Psychology Department is www.psyc.sfu.ca
Mission Statement
The mission of ACT - Autism Community Training Society is to provide excellent information and training, in accordance with international best practices. Our goal is to enable parents, professionals and para-professionals to support children and adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder to live productive, satisfying lives within their families and communities.
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