Auton Spin & strategy - from FEATBC

[Guest guest]

This FEAT board is getting weirder by the day...... The autistic voice is

still silent (silenced?) in Canada pretty much, as well as the pro-autistic

voice.

As we celebrated Friday with my Turtle Cheescake no doubt those who " know

of " were assuming, as they are constantly being told in the media,

that & I are devastated with the Auton decision.

Yesterday the founder of the PEI Autism Society told CBC's audience that

" The point is that it is a medically necessary treatment, no matter what

way you look at it, and it is the only thing they have. And if the

provinces don't pay for it, the children are going to pay for the rest of

their lives. " (PEI pays for 20hrs/week of ABA until a kid is 12 I think).

That was the same day my 16 year old autistic son had his graduation

pictures taken at school and brought home his report card - 89.5% average.

He can run a half marathon in 1:40:50 and 10K in 40:58. He was on his

school's cross country team and helped them win the provincial

championships. He had his wisdom teeth out on the 12th and in the weeks

following followed his post-op care instructions to the letter, rinsing his

mouth hourly with salt water which he hated, 3 times a day with an

antibacterial rinse he hated a little less and learned to swallow pills

(he's a healthy kid and has never needed meds since his early ear

infections so he never learned to swallow pills).

Seems to me it should be really easy to convince people that the " problem "

is not with kids like (who, if you read the reports written on him

when he was little show a little boy much like those these parents have

(but do note the difference in those reports between my attitude towards

and the professional who's writing the report's attitude towards him))

but with parents like these:

" It felt like a death sentence when I got the diagnosis for my son. Money

for ABA treatment provided hope. But when I heard the supreme court of

canada decision, I got the death sentence all over again. "

-jypsy

Hi all!

While collecting signatures for our petiton, I was surprised to find how

many people don't know what autism is and how effective treatment exists

but is denied to our kids. I made a one-page quick educational letter by

using most of the information and text from FEAT- web site. I've found this

very helpful in providing people with facts and getting their signatures.

Please be free to stick or share this letter at any public place you go, to

create more awareness:

ATTENTION TO ALL CANADIAN CITIZENS:

EFFECTIVE, SCIENTIFICALLY BACKED TREATMENT FOR AUTISM EXISTS!

Effective, scientifically backed treatment for autism exists (the " Lovaas "

Method - a form of Applied Behavior Analysis, also known as ABA/IBI

therapy). Lovaas behavioural treatment for autism is medically necessary

and prescribed by physicians because it is the only treatment available

that significantly improves this neurological disorder. Thirty years of

research have documented the " Lovaas Method " of behavioural treatment for

Autistic children. The method, pioneered by Dr. Ivar Lovaas (U.C.L.A.), is

now widely used throughout the world and is remarkably successful.

Scientific studies document a 47% recovery rate from autism and a near 100%

improvement rate for children who receive Lovaas early treatment. The cost

of Lovaas-style therapy for autism is not covered by the B.C. Ministry of

Health's provincial health care plan (British Columbia, Canada).

Educational institutions in B.C. do not train therapists in this treatment

method. This is serious discrimination against mentally disabled children.

The prognosis of untreated autistic children is bleak. Autism has an

organic biological base. This terrible condition affects 1 in 165 children

in B.C. Lovaas behavioural treatment allows the child to overcome the

dysfunction, similar to the treatment of individuals who have suffered a

brain injury or stroke. With these individuals, the brain is capable of

compensating for the injury with appropriate therapy. Skills are learned or

relearned in a slow and methodical process.

Catastrophic medical costs are devastating B.C. families who choose to

fight autism with the only scientifically proven treatment currently

available. They must privately pay for their child's therapy and also

import experts from the U.S., at their own expense, to train a staff of

therapists. Many families can not afford to pay for this therapy.

Children with autism are currently excluded from a so-called universal

Canadian health care system, during the critical, early years of their life

when a real difference can be made towards recovery from autism. The right

to Medicare, as one of the defining features of Canadian Nationhood, must

extend to medically necessary autism treatment for all children who require it.

It is fundamental that an autistic child's access to medically necessary

autism treatment be solely based on need and not individual ability to pay.

Lovaas behavioural treatment of autism must be covered by the government

health insurance plan because it is medically necessary care (63 B.C.

psychiatrists have endorsed the Lovaas autism treatment method as medically

necessary intervention that should be funded under Medicare;).

When an effective Autism therapy exists, yet treatment is not funded by the

Government in a universal, accessible manner, young children become victims

of a serious crime of omission -- they are condemned to live a life

imprisoned by the condition of Autism. The cost in terms of human suffering

is not to be measured.

A civilized society cannot allow this type of neglect of special needs

children, nor can it allow families who struggle against Autism to fight

alone, with devastating family and financial consequences. It takes only a

signature of yours to change this terrible injustice to most vulnerable

citizens.

For more information please visit www.featbc.org or phone FEAT of B. C. at:

(604)534-6956

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of pageLink to this

message By Avery Raskin (Raskin) on Tuesday, November 23, 2004 - 11:03 pm:

*************

Our illustrious webmaster is a little busy today so we have some

new files in a new location for you for now. We'll move them to

the main FEAT pages later on:

http://homepage.mac.com/araskin/

From the menu you can click through the photos from Ottawa,

on CKNW yesterday and Geoff Plant on CKNW earlier

tonight...minus all the ads and other extraneous audio. From

any of the pages you can access the others in the text links at

the top of the page. From the menu you can click the little arrow

button to go to the page. Enjoy.

You need QuickTime Player for the audio files - if you don't have

it yet, it's a free download at:

http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/

Cheers,

Avery

****************

FYI to all letter writers. On Saturday I too sent a Letter to the Editor,

framed as an open letter to Gordon and Geoff Plant. The letter was

sent to the Globe and Mail, Vancouver Sun, National Post, and my local rag.

The local paper is picking it up (Maple Ridge Times). I also directly

contacted the columnists responsible for writting articles on autism in the

Globe and at the Post.

I has happy this morning to get a call back from the Post, they seem to

intend to publish my letter and some of the contents of my note to the

columnist ( Ivison). An important piece of information to remember in

your letters is the URL address for the online petition or for FEAT of BC.

Find a way to work it in.

Lets save ourselves some effort collectively. Email me (address in this

post) as many email addresses for letters to the editor as you can find for

local, provincial, and national papers. I will put together a mailing list

and get it up on FEAT web site. Then we will all be able to send every

Letter to the Editor that we write to (hopefully) hundreds of newspapers

from coast to coast with the push of a button.

Here's another idea. Find a newspaper website, any one. Search the site for

" autism " and track down the email addresses for the reporter(s) involved in

the stories. Email those to me. Keep them seperate from the Letters to the

Editor email addresses. I will build a mailing list of reporters across the

country who have written on autism. As with the Letters to the Editor, all

of your future notes can be sent to every one of them with the push of a

button.

Keep these mailing lists (letters to the editor, reporters) handy. When you

are tired and out of ideas, sit down and write 5 lines. Drag it into a

mailing list and send it off. You have done your part for today.

We need a champion in Ottawa. I think Jack Layton and the NDP would like

nothing better to come out collectively swinging on this issue. They have a

nothing to loose and a lot to gain by being the first off the blocks. Check

out the website...focus on TOmmy DOuglas, investment in kids etc. If you

are with me on this one, post an email mailing list for all the NDP MP's

and lets start mailing them too.

Show me the email......

________________________________

Ooops....Wrong Planet! Syndrome

Autism Spectrum Resources

www.PlanetAutism.com

jypsy@...

[Guest guest]

> This FEAT board is getting weirder by the day..

No joke. This makes me wonder where Lenny Schafer really comes

from. When I confront him with this kind of stuff by FEAT groups, he

disavows it and calls them " ABA Nazis. "

..... The autistic voice is

> still silent (silenced?) in Canada pretty much, as well as the pro-

autistic

> voice.

Well, start your own voice. Maybe you already have? It needs

to be something with a name a little more hopeful than " no autistics

allowed " but people like you and would certainly be great

founders.

That letter from the ABA people was pathetic but at least I

had some fun with them last week. I was in Montreal for a conference

of the Miriam Foundation. I mentioned the court decision and that I

approved of it. That got a group hush so I followed it up by

relating how I spent six years working one building away from Loovas

and just know better; that it is over-rated, pricey and in fact,

will really hurt some kids. I guess that wasn't what they expected

but they got it.

I think they liked me better when I said I like french fries.

Interestingly, the lady who picked me up at the airport knew of

and seemed to support her. I tried to call her but we never

got a chance to talk.

Jerry Newport

>

> As we celebrated Friday with my Turtle Cheescake no doubt those

who " know

> of " were assuming, as they are constantly being told in the

media,

> that & I are devastated with the Auton decision.

>

> Yesterday the founder of the PEI Autism Society told CBC's

audience that

> " The point is that it is a medically necessary treatment, no

matter what

> way you look at it, and it is the only thing they have. And if the

> provinces don't pay for it, the children are going to pay for the

rest of

> their lives. " (PEI pays for 20hrs/week of ABA until a kid is 12 I

think).

> That was the same day my 16 year old autistic son had his

graduation

> pictures taken at school and brought home his report card - 89.5%

average.

> He can run a half marathon in 1:40:50 and 10K in 40:58. He was on

his

> school's cross country team and helped them win the provincial

> championships. He had his wisdom teeth out on the 12th and in the

weeks

> following followed his post-op care instructions to the letter,

rinsing his

> mouth hourly with salt water which he hated, 3 times a day with an

> antibacterial rinse he hated a little less and learned to swallow

pills

> (he's a healthy kid and has never needed meds since his early ear

> infections so he never learned to swallow pills).

>

> Seems to me it should be really easy to convince people that

the " problem "

> is not with kids like (who, if you read the reports written

on him

> when he was little show a little boy much like those these parents

have

> (but do note the difference in those reports between my attitude

towards

> and the professional who's writing the report's attitude

towards him))

> but with parents like these:

>

> " It felt like a death sentence when I got the diagnosis for my

son. Money

> for ABA treatment provided hope. But when I heard the supreme

court of

> canada decision, I got the death sentence all over again. "

>

> -jypsy

>

>

> Hi all!

> While collecting signatures for our petiton, I was surprised to

find how

> many people don't know what autism is and how effective treatment

exists

> but is denied to our kids. I made a one-page quick educational

letter by

> using most of the information and text from FEAT- web site. I've

found this

> very helpful in providing people with facts and getting their

signatures.

> Please be free to stick or share this letter at any public place

you go, to

> create more awareness:

>

> ATTENTION TO ALL CANADIAN CITIZENS:

>

> EFFECTIVE, SCIENTIFICALLY BACKED TREATMENT FOR AUTISM EXISTS!

> Effective, scientifically backed treatment for autism exists

(the " Lovaas "

> Method - a form of Applied Behavior Analysis, also known as

ABA/IBI

> therapy). Lovaas behavioural treatment for autism is medically

necessary

> and prescribed by physicians because it is the only treatment

available

> that significantly improves this neurological disorder. Thirty

years of

> research have documented the " Lovaas Method " of behavioural

treatment for

> Autistic children. The method, pioneered by Dr. Ivar Lovaas

(U.C.L.A.), is

> now widely used throughout the world and is remarkably successful.

> Scientific studies document a 47% recovery rate from autism and a

near 100%

> improvement rate for children who receive Lovaas early treatment.

The cost

> of Lovaas-style therapy for autism is not covered by the B.C.

Ministry of

> Health's provincial health care plan (British Columbia, Canada).

> Educational institutions in B.C. do not train therapists in this

treatment

> method. This is serious discrimination against mentally disabled

children.

> The prognosis of untreated autistic children is bleak. Autism has

an

> organic biological base. This terrible condition affects 1 in 165

children

> in B.C. Lovaas behavioural treatment allows the child to overcome

the

> dysfunction, similar to the treatment of individuals who have

suffered a

> brain injury or stroke. With these individuals, the brain is

capable of

> compensating for the injury with appropriate therapy. Skills are

learned or

> relearned in a slow and methodical process.

> Catastrophic medical costs are devastating B.C. families who

choose to

> fight autism with the only scientifically proven treatment

currently

> available. They must privately pay for their child's therapy and

also

> import experts from the U.S., at their own expense, to train a

staff of

> therapists. Many families can not afford to pay for this therapy.

> Children with autism are currently excluded from a so-called

universal

> Canadian health care system, during the critical, early years of

their life

> when a real difference can be made towards recovery from autism.

The right

> to Medicare, as one of the defining features of Canadian

Nationhood, must

> extend to medically necessary autism treatment for all children

who require it.

> It is fundamental that an autistic child's access to medically

necessary

> autism treatment be solely based on need and not individual

ability to pay.

> Lovaas behavioural treatment of autism must be covered by the

government

> health insurance plan because it is medically necessary care (63

B.C.

> psychiatrists have endorsed the Lovaas autism treatment method as

medically

> necessary intervention that should be funded under Medicare;).

> When an effective Autism therapy exists, yet treatment is not

funded by the

> Government in a universal, accessible manner, young children

become victims

> of a serious crime of omission -- they are condemned to live a

life

> imprisoned by the condition of Autism. The cost in terms of human

suffering

> is not to be measured.

> A civilized society cannot allow this type of neglect of special

needs

> children, nor can it allow families who struggle against Autism to

fight

> alone, with devastating family and financial consequences. It

takes only a

> signature of yours to change this terrible injustice to most

vulnerable

> citizens.

>

> For more information please visit www.featbc.org or phone FEAT of

B. C. at:

> (604)534-6956

> Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of pageLink to this

> message By Avery Raskin (Raskin) on Tuesday, November 23, 2004 -

11:03 pm:

>

>

> *************

>

> Our illustrious webmaster is a little busy today so we have some

> new files in a new location for you for now. We'll move them to

> the main FEAT pages later on:

>

> http://homepage.mac.com/araskin/

>

> From the menu you can click through the photos from Ottawa,

> on CKNW yesterday and Geoff Plant on CKNW earlier

> tonight...minus all the ads and other extraneous audio. From

> any of the pages you can access the others in the text links at

> the top of the page. From the menu you can click the little arrow

> button to go to the page. Enjoy.

>

> You need QuickTime Player for the audio files - if you don't have

> it yet, it's a free download at:

> http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/

>

> Cheers,

>

> Avery

>

> ****************

>

> FYI to all letter writers. On Saturday I too sent a Letter to

the Editor,

> framed as an open letter to Gordon and Geoff Plant. The

letter was

> sent to the Globe and Mail, Vancouver Sun, National Post, and my

local rag.

> The local paper is picking it up (Maple Ridge Times). I also

directly

> contacted the columnists responsible for writting articles on

autism in the

> Globe and at the Post.

>

> I has happy this morning to get a call back from the Post, they

seem to

> intend to publish my letter and some of the contents of my note to

the

> columnist ( Ivison). An important piece of information to

remember in

> your letters is the URL address for the online petition or for

FEAT of BC.

> Find a way to work it in.

>

> Lets save ourselves some effort collectively. Email me (address in

this

> post) as many email addresses for letters to the editor as you can

find for

> local, provincial, and national papers. I will put together a

mailing list

> and get it up on FEAT web site. Then we will all be able to send

every

> Letter to the Editor that we write to (hopefully) hundreds of

newspapers

> from coast to coast with the push of a button.

>

> Here's another idea. Find a newspaper website, any one. Search the

site for

> " autism " and track down the email addresses for the reporter(s)

involved in

> the stories. Email those to me. Keep them seperate from the

Letters to the

> Editor email addresses. I will build a mailing list of reporters

across the

> country who have written on autism. As with the Letters to the

Editor, all

> of your future notes can be sent to every one of them with the

push of a

> button.

>

> Keep these mailing lists (letters to the editor, reporters) handy.

When you

> are tired and out of ideas, sit down and write 5 lines. Drag it

into a

> mailing list and send it off. You have done your part for today.

>

> We need a champion in Ottawa. I think Jack Layton and the NDP

would like

> nothing better to come out collectively swinging on this issue.

They have a

> nothing to loose and a lot to gain by being the first off the

blocks. Check

> out the website...focus on TOmmy DOuglas, investment in kids etc.

If you

> are with me on this one, post an email mailing list for all the

NDP MP's

> and lets start mailing them too.

>

> Show me the email......

>

>

> ________________________________

> Ooops....Wrong Planet! Syndrome

> Autism Spectrum Resources

> www.PlanetAutism.com

> jypsy@i...

[Guest guest]

> Well, start your own voice. Maybe you already have? It needs

> to be something with a name a little more hopeful than " no autistics

> allowed " but people like you and would certainly be great

> founders.

Yes, more hopeful. Not like:

No Taxation Without Representation

That one never accomplished anything. They should have said

" Representation plus taxes equals happy democracy " and focused on the

positive, not the negative!

or Mothers Against Drunk Driving

After all, they should have been " Mothers For Sober Driving " . MFSD is a

much better acronym...

I do think it is okay to call oppression and violation of human rights and

existing law by those words. After all, oppression, violation of human

rights, and violation of good laws *are* negative things, and should be

called as they are. Yes, the " I have a dream " speech was a wonderfully

positive message that *did* resonate. But that isn't the only way of

doing advocacy. In the black civil rights movement, it was important for

the " negative " Birmingham attacks by police on peaceful demonstrators to

be shown on the news, talked about, and even focused on. You need to say

evil is " evil " , even labeling it " evil " to overcome that evil.

--

[Guest guest]

>

> > Well, start your own voice. Maybe you already have? It needs

> > to be something with a name a little more hopeful than " no

autistics

> > allowed " but people like you and would certainly be great

> > founders.

>

> Yes, more hopeful. Not like:

>

> No Taxation Without Representation

>

> That one never accomplished anything. They should have said

> " Representation plus taxes equals happy democracy " and focused on

the

> positive, not the negative!

>

> or Mothers Against Drunk Driving

>

> After all, they should have been " Mothers For Sober Driving " . MFSD

is a

> much better acronym...

>

>

> , both of your examples are more effective than "

autistics allowed " ever will be. But if people want to prove me

wrong, ( like make " no autistics allowed " a viable organization ),

more power to them.

Jerry Newport