special needs education
 

Hi guys, getting the hang of this now. Currently in Dundee Scotland, huge opportunity for my husband to transfer to Waterloo. Still a few things we need to figure out before we decide.

My son, aged 5, is diagnosed as being on the Autistic Spectrum. Currently in P1 mianstream school here, with special support. Doing very well, but will continue to need educational support.

Where do I start???????? Suport networks available??????Registering at school????Would he still be in mainstream or would he need to attend a special school????Do I just get letters from all his support workers and Doctors and visit the schools in the area???More to the point can Canada handle us

Advice greatly appreciated.
Fae Bonnie Dundee

Re: special needs education
 

Hi Vonny

That won't be a problem. If he is in mainstream schooling now, he will very likely be in mainstream schooling over here. Just make sure you bring all the assessments etc. so that he can get the extra support he needs asap.

You could always phone up a few possible schools and see what kind of reaction/info you get. The principal should be able to answer all your questions, but if you need further answers, ask to speak to the SERT (Special Education Resource Teacher).

Good luck,

Chris

Re: special needs education
 

I suppose it depends if this is DSM IV Autism or Yuppie Autism.

I have a daughter who is nineteen and is a low functioning non-verbal autistic. Based on out experiences with her and the education system in Ontario I would have to say that this advice is completely and dangerously inacccurate. To start with, I think it unlikely that immigration will allow the child to come to Canada. I think people who have expensive permanent medical conditions are specific excluded. If you can come as a family I don't think you'll find school boards will welcome an expensive and potentially disruptive student with open arms; you'll have to beg, cheat and steal to find a place and the place may be inconvenient; my daughter currently commutes to hers by taxi, the fare is $156/day.

If, on the other hand, being "on the spectrum" just means that the child is a bit bratty then it's less of an issue but it's not autism.

Re: special needs education
 

God you make me cross. How dare you say her son may be just a bit bratty and isn't autistic? Surely she should know. If you can't give helpful advice then don't bother.

Re: special needs education
 

I have read dbd's response a few times, and I cannot find a place in which he said that the original poster's son wasn't autistic.

Re: special needs education
 

After nearly twenty years of exposure to people who are "on the spectrum" I think I'm well placed to know that not all people so described meet the criteria in the DSM IV. Autism is a completely disabling condition, there are no formerly autistic people and no autistic people, with the possible exception of Temple Grandin, who can communicate at anything more than the most basic level. The level of communication possible between an ordinary person and someone who has autism is at the level of a person and a cat. The person understands some of what the cat does and may have some influence over the cat's behavior but the person cannot negotiate with the cat and the cat does not conceive that the person has an opinion, never mind considering behaving to influence that opinion.

That's autism.

The "autistic spectrum", on the other hand, encompasses the "sitting in the corner banging the head" autistic person at the one extreme and the two year old who won't sit still at the other. Spectrum disorders are a murky world, there's a lot of money at stake in dealing with them and there's also prestige involved. There are an incredible number of con artists in the world of spectrum disorders and almost any child will be diagnosed as having such a disorder if there's a buck in it. For a primer look at www.quackwatch.org or search on Kaufmann + autism. There's also a great deal of politics involved, obviously people who are dealing with autism resent government money being used for the benefit of people they don't consider disabled.

I use the term Yuppie Autism to describe the perception of rich parents that their child has a disorder when, were the child poor, the "disorder" would be considered part of normal life; things like having an imaginary friend, or some twirling of a favourite object. The sort of parents who cause autism clusters to match demographics (Silicon Valley being the obvious example).

I think telling someone who is considering emigration that autism is a red flag for the Canadian authorities is useful advice. As for a mother knowing that a child is autistic I don't think that need be the case, professionals often can't decide if even extreme case are autism or some other syndrome.

Re: special needs education
 

Haven't heard the term 'Yuppie Autism' before but it brought a smile to my face. I can understand your cynicism though, in this day and age it is true to say that many people are indeed jumping on the bandwagon so to speak. However I did not mean to upset anyone, or in anyway trivialise what I see as a very complex and misunderstood condition. Yes my son IS Autistic. As I previously explained he is in mainstream school. He is 'HIGH' functioning, if there is such a term, and can communicate very well, he is in no way 'disruptive' or 'bratty', and is a very likable little boy, with very specific difficulties, ADHD, NOT being one of them. I'm sure to someone who has a child with low functioning autism that I may appear to be somehow 'better off', but in my experience, this can work against him, with some narrow minded individuals, thinking that we are crying wolf. Inevitably this usually means fighting very hard, with the full support of our Doctors, to obtain all the help and support to which my son is entitled and needs. To that end however, at least I am experienced enough to, as you suggest, fight,beg,and steal. I see no reason why he can't contine to do well in mainstream either here or in Canada. May I ask, was your daughter diagnosed in Canada, or was the diagnosis given in the UK. What sort of support network, aside from school, do you have over there to help you and the family cope. Many thanks for everyones comments, very much appreciated. Watch this space and I will let you know if indeed they do 'let my son into the country.' If nothing else it may help others in my situation.

Re: special needs education
 

<aims for brevity>

My daughter was born here, in Ontario, and so is eligible for the gamut of services from A to, well, A. If she were to move provinces she would lose these benefits. At one year the doctors decided she was autistic but wouldn't make that a formal diagnosis "it's a death sentence, no one will treat her for anything else" they said, at Sick Kids. We knew at that time that early intervention was critical so we took her all over the place, Phildelphia, La Jolla, some place in Germany, Boston, no one knew what to do. Today, early intervention is still said to be critical and still no one knows what to do.

The school situation for her has been rather good but only due to happenstance. We have two older children and, through them, the school principal heard of the autistic one, he approached us. He had a large budget for disabled children but no disabled children so she could have most anything, two full time TAs, a Snoozelen room, therapy balls, yadda, yadda. This came about not because Ontario has money but because the school system is bizarre. There are four state funded school boards and they get special needs funding according to the ratio of special needs students in one board. Our daughter happened to be classified under another board and there weren't any other nominally Catholic, nominally francophone, disabled children starting that year.

The lesson here is that Canada is massively bureaucratic, if you have the time and persistence to work the system, become Catholic, become French, or whatever the government currently wants, and lots is available. Don't work the system and you're doomed. There's an excellent state funded school for disabled children in suburban Toronto complete with a kitchen and car wash for work experience but to get in you have to either be connected or put your child's name down before birth.

I'm not aware of any support networks within our budget. Most of the autism related groups here have a connection to a commercial service or "cure", there's an association for people who hang their children upside down (called AND), one for facilitated communication, one linked to Andrew Wakefield the disgraced, and disgraceful, former doctor from the UK and many connected to herbal remedies. They're all a bit dodgy. I did use to post on a Toronto based autism talkboard run by the Geneva Center but it went subscription only.

Services and benefits we do use are :

- "looney day" at the trampoline club. On Sunday mornings the warehouse full of trampolines is turned over to an army of kids who are on the spectrum. The music is loud, the lights flash, hundreds of children are gleeful, it's no place to take a hangover.

- federal government tax credit. (Each year they ask for proof that the child is "still permanently disabled".)

- Ontario government respite program. Parent signs that third party looked after child, goverment pays third party just above minimum wage. This is a good deal all around if you're the parent of one disabled child and provide respite to a couple of others. At least, it is, if you have a backyard, a trampoline and a paddling pool.

One thing I have to say is pleasing about North America is that in all the years of traveling and eating out I recall one really nasty comment and one instance of being refused admission to a place on account of being with an autistic person. I think that's an impressive level of acceptance. Often people even step up with informed comments about autism or disabilities in general. (Please note that while I was delighted when that restaurant, the Wave on Queen St E in Toronto, burned down, I didn't torch it.)

Re: special needs education
 

I think you'll find that my advice was to talk to possible schools in the area that Vonny is planning on moving to - hardly dangerous!

Re: special needs education
 

Well we are Catholic, so that could be a plus. French - No, but I do look good in a beret. Well thanks for the info, as I say nothing is decided yet, we won't decide until we have all of the information we need, particularly concerning my son. We will be coming over again and at that stage, aswell as looking at houses and areas, we will be visiting schools, I have a 10 year old daughter too. Only then will we make a decision.

Re: special needs education
 

If I can ask...where would you say Asperger's Syndrome fall on the autism spectrum? My (almost 9 year old) nephew keeps getting diagnosed as having Asperger's, then having it recanted, then being diagnosed again, seemingly in tune with when his school are applying for special grants for special needs kids. He can communicate very well, but pretty much since babyhood does not make eye contact, and has a lot of difficulty socialising. Of course, this could also be down to the environment in which he is raised (no siblings, no real contact with other children until he started school, etc.)

Re: special needs education
 

That could be indicative of a number of issues - has anyone looked at other possibilities or are they all stuck on the Aspergers syndrome.

Re: special needs education
 

As I understand it, Asperger's overlaps the high end of the Autism Spectrum.

Re: special needs education
 

You said "That won't be a problem."

I suggest that it will be a very large problem both in terms of qualifying to move to Canada and in terms of finding a school board willing to take on either of the children. "Dangerous" might be a bit strong but there's certainly a risk of raising false hope.

Vonny, there's a good Catholic school in Hamilton that has an integrated program, I don't have the name here but it would be possible to work in Waterloo and have children attending school there.

Re: special needs education
 

Thanks for that, I'll look into that, not sure where Hamilton is in relation to waterloo, geography isn't my strongest point, even over here in the UK, or my own hometown for that matter. If you could at some stage get the name for me it would be much appreciated.

On the point of Aspergers ; is not one of the predominant characteristics an obsession with a particular subject, or reluctance to talk about or involve themselves with anything other than that subject, basically their life revolves around it. Certainly it is seen to be on higher end of the spectrum. My son displays this characteristic, but I was told by his consultant that he is too young to diagnose Apergers.