ACT's Summer 2019 Events: Web-streaming or in-person
Social Stories 10.2 with Carol Gray - Register by Friday evening to save $25!
Thursday & Friday, August 15 & 16, 2019
Surrey, BC
New Cutting Edge Strategies to Improve Executive Function Skills with Sarah Ward, MS, CCC-SLP
Wednesday & Thursday, September 25 & 26, 2019
Surrey, BC
New PBS Learning Series
Watch ACT's new Positive Behavior Support in School, Home and Community series. This learning stream of eleven presentations tackles the serious issue of how to work with children with challenging behaviors.
Including Students with Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities in Schoolwide PBS: All Means ALL! PBS – Working Together to Support Children and Families
B.C. Resources
Looking for autism & special needs resources specific to British Columbia? Visit the new B.C. Resources page to find community agencies, recreational activities, service providers, support groups, education & employment, community events, the autism manual, new diagnosis hub, transition to adulthood, and much more!
Mental Health and Autism video series
Latest videos, + 4 more new videos. Part of the Online Mental Health & Autism Project.
Mental Health in Post-Secondary Education: What is It Like for Students with ASD and What Does the Research Say? - Dr. Rashmeen Nirmal Girls and Women with Eating Disorders – Dr. Christopher Gillberg Practical Strategies for Supporting Mental Wellness of Teenage Girls and Women with ASD – Dori Zener
Find Autism Information
Find practical autism resources with the AID search. We've made it even easier to find resources and tools for parents and professionals with a new subject listing. Free and relevant world-wide.
You can also find 自閉症社區訓練協會 (ACT in Chinese), ACT in Punjabi, Online Mental Health & Autism Project: Looking Beyond Autism, and Autism Research.
Latest News
New Video! Visual Support Strategies presented by Dr. Brenda Fossett, BCBA-DGet the latest updates in your email. Subscribe to our newsletter for news, resources, and events:
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Women & Girls with Autism
Researchers are increasingly recognizing that autism affects women and girls differently than males. Delays in diagnosis are common, reducing access to services, with implications for long-term mental health and employment prospects.
These presentations feature recent research, with a focus on the experience and perspectives of women and girls with autism.
Watch NowWeb streaming an ACT Event
ACT’s web streaming is LIVE online video broadcasts, in real time, of autism training events. Visit our web streaming page to find future events with Carol Gray and Sarah Ward, and find details on how your school, organization, or group can receive discounted rates.
Web Streaming DetailsSearch the Autism Information Database
Search over 1,300 vetted information resources related to ASD, including online articles, videos, and websites.
Featured Videos
View all videosSpecial Needs Community Events
ACT lists workshops and conferences in B.C. related to autism and other special needs that are provided by local agencies and organizations.
News from ACT on Facebook
“We don’t need to be prevented or eradicated at all costs; we need better services and better public education than what we have now.” An opinion piece from an autistic woman who lives in Toronto.
Fake autism treatments show the lengths parents will go to "cure" their kids
It’s not just dangerous. It’s insulting to autistic people like me.The Security Council of the United Nations has unanimously adopted a resolution urging that measures be taken to assure the protection of disabled persons who are caught in conflict zones.
UN adopts resolution spotlighting people who are disabled in conflict
The resolution urges all parties in armed conflicts to protect people with disabilities and other civilians and prevent violence and abuse against themA look at emerging research on differences between how typical people and autistic people form memories, and how teaching might take those differences into account.
Children with autism may use memory differently. Understanding this could help us teach them
To understand what we suspect, so far, about the way in which some people with autism may see the world, we need to examine how we use the bank of experiences we have stored in memory.“Such a description could mean those with a diagnosis, not to mention their parents and teachers, might not get all the assistance they need, all thanks to assuming intellectual skills represent an ability to cope in most other areas.”
Why We All Need to Stop Referring to People With Autism as 'High Functioning'
My son explained to me this morning why the ground gets frosty in winter. He did a good job, too. Once, he might have been described as being on the 'high functioning' end of the autism spectrum.This term is confusing for me. I have two on the spectrum and I think we get used to saying high functioning to somehow explain their level of abilities or independence. I have a neice who is 2 months younger than my oldest (17) and just learned to potty train and is non verbal. My oldest doesn't like being called Autistic because she feels people will think she has limitations like her cousin.
At our house we talking about autism a lot! And people need ways to express their diagnosis so the world at large understands them at least a little. ButI really really hate the idea of low functioning autism and high functioning autism. We instead talk about “classical autism” and “autism spectrum “. And that language is helpful with people who have knowledge of the spectrum. Yes getting funding is very tricky and using terms appropriate to describe my sons is important. But in the “typical world” at the park , the grocery store, talking to other parents I often fall back to the high functioning label because my kids are very verbal. Really really verbal. They engage when the environment is manageable , they can “look” typical for short periods of time. So when they have a moment of not so typical behaviour the words high functioning autism are helpful. But parents, professionals, doctors, teachers, class room assistants need to know what the expectations for any given child are. Someone once said “ if you have met one person with autism you have met one person with autism”. We are a wide and broad group. Regardless of what we call people education and training is the solution. Change the name cool but with that lack of knowledge what ever the “new “ title is we will fall into the same problem of grouping children not based on their needs but based on the amount of funding they receive given the title we give them.
I hate this term. I feel it is derogatory and a class system within the spectrum. My twins are considered 'high functioning'. As such people often assume some challenges or behaviours don't apply to them because of this term. Their soon to be elementary school lost them at a kinder event despite my warning the teacher with the principal at my side. One of the EA supervisors staff ran into us at a ball event and stated I didnt have to worry about bolting cause they were so HF. My heart broke- she was there that day and didnt even realize what happened. Terms like these disarm people but still fill them with a false sense of understanding. So sad.
The intellectual ability should not even be an issue.... when you go in with a heart attack they don't say well she's a high functioning heart attack Survivor
All disabilities.
Yes. Exactly.
自閉症社區訓練協會 | ACT in Chinese
ACT 自閉症社區訓練協會，
是加拿大卑詩省內針對家有自閉症兒童的家庭提供諮詢及轉介服務的非營利機構。
ACT in Punjabi
ACT has been able to both create and identify valuable resources for the Punjabi-speaking community in British Columbia.
View Punjabi-language Resources