September 21, 2010
District ABA Advisory
Meeting called to order 7:06
Attendance – 10
Welcome from Nancy Robins
Nancy opened the floor asking if people if they had issues. One parent will need an ABA SW in March.
Several parents need Bell to Bell coverage – the number one thing that will get you Bell to Bell is if the teacher finds the child disruptive or if the child is a flight risk. The teacher needs to push for the time. Safety should always be paramount. Write letters and make deadlines telling them where you will go next. The normal order of raising the issue Teacher – Integration Teacher – Principal – Ann Turner – Assistant Superintendent.
Nancy Walton – announced that Richmond is having its first ABASN meeting and has asked that anyone who can attend please do – there will be examples of what ABA can look like in the classroom.
Notice has been sent out on FEAT looking for therapists to join the ABA Support Network and therefore more sharing of presentation and job opening information can be shared. http://www.abasupportnetwork.com
Pacific Autism Family Centre – is still in the works – they are looking for nominations for people to be on the steering committee for the centre – it is important for parents to be involved. They are doing a tour of BC starting next month.
Nancy R – There are children who are doing without SEA’s because there are cut backs in the funding to SEA’s. There is some angst because the hours for ABA SW’s are not cut.
Nancy Walton started a discussion that we motion that any proposed cutback to a children’s hours be reviewed through the ABA data before it is approved. Based on the Hewko decision; any changes to hours need to be reviewed with the Multi Disciplinary Team (Teacher, IT, Parent, and Consultant) and be based on the ABA data. Following the Hewko decision parents have the right to meaningful consultation about changes to the supervision provided for their child, including but not limited to hours of coverage. NR suggested that we meet with Ann Turner and discuss this issue. Can you be more proactive with parents in recommending hour changes prior to September.
Where are we in setting up a process for letting parents know that an ABA SW has been hired?
Continues to be a problem in High School that ABA SW’s are child specific and the school has not been aware of it.
IEP questions – Is the IEP a legal document – answer not in Canada – however there is a requirement to have one written
Are parents entitled to have 3 IEP reviews annually?
What written reports are to be provided and how many times are those to be provided through the year? Do they coincide with report cards? Is there a requirement for report cards for typical kids? Then how does that follow for non typical kids?
There are some significant differences between how schools do this reporting.
Positive Social Interaction Program at North Surrey – mixed PE and social skills for hi functioning ASD kids in the normal population – this program seems to be secret – children in this class need to be without an aide – why are programs not listed publicly so that parents can select to join those programs – are these programs available in other schools? Why is it hard to find programs?
Pro D’s for support workers – someone suggested that it may be possible to offer SW’s the ability to view videos from ACT or other sources – there are not many professional development activities that support their learning
NW – Surrey Parks and Rec – after 13 you are not supported with typical peers – they have “disabled” programs only – can they run programs where typical kids pay less and they are mingled with non typical kids
Adjourned 8:48
District ABA Advisory 