Two Social Thinking® Days for Young Children 2019
Kari Zweber Palmer from the Social Thinking Training and Speakers' Collaborative is back in Vancouver with two days of training focused on younger learners.
Day 1 - Teaching Social Thinking through Stories and Play
Day 2 - What Does Play Have to Do with Classroom Learning? Exploring Social Executive Functioning and Social Emotional Learning for Early Learners
New Autism Videos
Part of the Women and Girls with Autism series. Learn from the fascinating insights provided by four remarkable autistic women, or watch a rare opportunity to better understand the perspective of autistic mothers who also have children with autism.
Special Challenges Faced by Mothers with ASD The Experience of Women with ASD – A Panel Presentation by Women with ASD
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.
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Search the Autism Information Database
Search over 1,300 vetted information resources related to ASD, including online articles, videos, and websites.
Practical Strategies for Supporting Mental Wellness of Teenage Girls and Women with ASD
Girls and women with autism are often hard to identify due to their polished rote social skills and internalized ASD characteristics. This presentation discusses clinical techniques to help support girls and women on the spectrum.
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News from ACT on Facebook
“It’s a hub, it’s a community centre, it’s a gathering space. Whether you have a disability or not, you might want to join.” Parents in Maryland are the driving force behind the creation of a 70-unit apartment building, with a quarter of the units reserved for people with disabilities.
A while back we posted a very upsetting story about the use of seclusion rooms in Alberta schools. Here’s an update, with the results of an Inclusion Alberta survey on seclusion and restraint in the province’s schools, and reaction from the Alberta government.
Alberta urged to ban or regulate restraining special-needs children at school
theglobeandmail.com
Survey of nearly 400 families included voices of parents who spoke of the emotional and physical trauma their children suffered as a result of being restrained or confined
No restraints at all.
Even so our government has set general guidelines and leaves it up to the individual 50 districts to set their own policy making the practice across the province of BC still very variable. Policies often still permit restrain and seclusion and like the one in our district do not require staff to be trained in safe use but "offers opportunity to learn" which means a pepper sprinkling of staff have the training. Restraint and seclusion are also related to lack of fully staff of support and lack of alternatives and always always tied to funding to support students who have disabilities in the school. Sadly this is a money issue for training, for adequate staffing, for supports for accommodation and for time to understand and work with kids who have special needs in schools. Yeh Alberta for at least looking at regulation, but it is not enough when the regulation permits it..it simply gives staff the right to do this where as before they did but didn't have the right to! It covers the butt of the staff unless it is backed up with financial support.
Some school districts on vancouver island passed policy to allow seclusion and restraint. The general public here would rather see special needs children abused so there children are not exposed
as with anything, there are 2 sides to every story - unfortunately the side being told is because of mis-use of restraint and seclusion and this has caused a well-deserved backlash. However, I have witnessed both restraint and seclusion being used in order to keep a student safe from self-harm and from harming other students, and from harming staff. It is absolutely a last resort taken, and never decided upon lightly. Involved staff have been trained accordingly with non-violent crisis intervention certification, and our parents are always a part of the 'equation'
“It’s like assigning a standard amount of physiotherapy to every person with back injuries, whether they actually require back surgery or whether they could just benefit from stretching exercises.” A critical look at changes to Ontario’s autism funding, from a professor of health studies who is also the mother of an autistic child.
Changes to Canada autism program could do more harm than good
spectrumnews.org
The Ontario, Canada, government recently announced its intentions to overhaul the Ontario Autism Program, but the changes could leave autistic children without supports.“It’s not like you have to fear me and stay away from me, but a calm tone is always nice. How you say things matters just as much as what you say.” A fourteen-year-old who plans to speak about autism at his former schools shares his lived experience.
Williamsport student to speak about autism to peers
heraldmailmedia.com
WILLIAMSPORT — Since April is Autism Awareness Month, it has become a special one for Williamsport’s Stephen Detrow.Special 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.
View Community Events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