(Thanks to one of our readers for passing this info along)
There is always a link to Parrainage Civique Champlain's website on the sidebar also. The website is in French only however the organization has indicated an interest in offering services to anglophones.
Programmation d’automne
Bonjour chers parents,
L’été tirant à sa fin, nous profitons de l’occasion pour vous faire part de notre programmation d’automne. Nous vous demandons de réserver vos places le plus rapidement possible puisqu’elles sont limitées.
Soirées gardiennage
Les temps de répit sont rares? Nous vous offrons une soirée de congé parental en amusant vos jeunes au Parrainage civique! Pour la session d’automne, nous vous proposons deux dates soit :
*Le vendredi 30 septembre, de 18h à 22h
*Le vendredi 4 novembre, de 18h à 22h.
Coût par jeune, par soirée, 20$.
Cafés-rencontre
Puisque pour la deuxième année consécutive, les cafés du mardi ont été populaires, nous proposons aux parents deux dates à l’automne ou nous ferons un petit brunch pour se rencontrer et jaser, en tout simplicité. Encore une fois, réservez vos places dès que possible!
*Le dimanche 16 octobre, de 10h à 12h,
*Le dimanche 20 novembre, de 10h à 12h.
À noter que vos jeunes sont aussi les bienvenus! Une activité sera planifiée pour eux pendant que vous relaxez!
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Monday, August 15, 2011
Another View on Autism Treatment Methodologies
As anyone with any interest in the subject is aware, ABA has become a very widely used and accepted method for treatment of autism spectrum disorders. Many jurisdictions have created substantial budgets to provide ABA early intervention for increasing numbers of children. Nonetheless, the success of the treatment does vary among patients, as the following suggests:
In a 2009 review of 11 studies published from 1987–2007, the researchers wrote "there is strong evidence that EIBI (a type of ABA) is effective for some, but not all, children with autism spectrum disorders, and there is wide variability in response to treatment." Furthermore, any improvements are likely to be greatest in the first year of intervention.[91]
So there is definitely always room to look at alternatives to ABA, especially in cases where its results have appeared to be limited.
One such alternative out there is the "Son-Rise" Program offered by the Autism Treatment Center of America. There is an interesting comparison of the two approaches on the link. According to their material, Son-Rise's strategy builds on relationships whereas ABA addresses behaviors more directly.
Son-Rise was the title of a book written in the '70s by Barry Kaufman, the father of an autistic boy. Kaufman and his wife Samahria went on to found the Autism Treatment Center of America and the techniques they use are based on what they developed to treat their autistic son.
In a 2009 review of 11 studies published from 1987–2007, the researchers wrote "there is strong evidence that EIBI (a type of ABA) is effective for some, but not all, children with autism spectrum disorders, and there is wide variability in response to treatment." Furthermore, any improvements are likely to be greatest in the first year of intervention.[91]
So there is definitely always room to look at alternatives to ABA, especially in cases where its results have appeared to be limited.
One such alternative out there is the "Son-Rise" Program offered by the Autism Treatment Center of America. There is an interesting comparison of the two approaches on the link. According to their material, Son-Rise's strategy builds on relationships whereas ABA addresses behaviors more directly.
Son-Rise was the title of a book written in the '70s by Barry Kaufman, the father of an autistic boy. Kaufman and his wife Samahria went on to found the Autism Treatment Center of America and the techniques they use are based on what they developed to treat their autistic son.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Hyperbaric Therapy Expensive But Many Believe it is Effective
Hyperbaric therapy is a treatment that is available, with multiple claims regarding its effectiveness in a variety of special needs situations.
Many believe it is effective.
The claims of some private clinics offering the treatment are quite extensive.
They say it is useful in treating ADD, autism, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome (and trisomy 13), dysphasia, fetal alcohol syndrome, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's, and stroke, among other diseases and conditions.
Yet, it is not covered by Medicare in Quebec.
There is plenty of anecdotal evidence to suggest that the treatment at least has a temporary effect on patients.
Hyperbaric therapy was looked at in a recent news story on CTV News. They say that a round of 40 treatments can cost $5,000 in Quebec and that some parents have noticed improvements and have returned to continue with more treatments. Obviously there is little way of knowing whether these improvements would have occurred without the treatment. Neither is it certain how permanent they will be.
In the U.S., hyperbaric therapy is indicated for 14 applications with medicare coverage, mostly physical healing enhancement situations such as skin grafts, etc.
One small double-blind study in 2009 showed hyperbaric therapy to be effective for treating certain aspects of autism, particularly social interaction and eye contact.
However a randomized study for the Center for Autism Related Disorders (CARD) found that the therapy had no effect. (Doreen Granpeesheh, Jonathan Tarbox, Dennis R. Dixon, Arthur E. Wilke, Michael S. Allen (2009). The lead researcher is also the founder of CARD.
Many believe it is effective.
The claims of some private clinics offering the treatment are quite extensive.
They say it is useful in treating ADD, autism, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome (and trisomy 13), dysphasia, fetal alcohol syndrome, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's, and stroke, among other diseases and conditions.
Yet, it is not covered by Medicare in Quebec.
There is plenty of anecdotal evidence to suggest that the treatment at least has a temporary effect on patients.
Hyperbaric therapy was looked at in a recent news story on CTV News. They say that a round of 40 treatments can cost $5,000 in Quebec and that some parents have noticed improvements and have returned to continue with more treatments. Obviously there is little way of knowing whether these improvements would have occurred without the treatment. Neither is it certain how permanent they will be.
In the U.S., hyperbaric therapy is indicated for 14 applications with medicare coverage, mostly physical healing enhancement situations such as skin grafts, etc.
One small double-blind study in 2009 showed hyperbaric therapy to be effective for treating certain aspects of autism, particularly social interaction and eye contact.
However a randomized study for the Center for Autism Related Disorders (CARD) found that the therapy had no effect. (Doreen Granpeesheh, Jonathan Tarbox, Dennis R. Dixon, Arthur E. Wilke, Michael S. Allen (2009). The lead researcher is also the founder of CARD.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Mike Reid Memorial Softball Tournament this Weekend
The tournament begins tomorrow evening in Greenfield Park and continues right through the weekend. In the past there have been over 30 mens teams and a good number of womens teams as well.
The tournament is held annually in the memory of Mike Reid, who grew up in Greenfield Park and died in 1984 at age 20 after a courageous battle with Duschenne Muscular Dystrophy. Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been raised for charity over the years.
Here's the link to their Facebook group.
The tournament is held annually in the memory of Mike Reid, who grew up in Greenfield Park and died in 1984 at age 20 after a courageous battle with Duschenne Muscular Dystrophy. Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been raised for charity over the years.
Here's the link to their Facebook group.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Quebec Releases Interactive IEP Tool
The Quebec Ministry of Education, Leisure and Sport (MELS) has released an interactive IEP (Individualized Educational Plan) tool that can be used in any school in Quebec.
IEPs are used to help describe and organize the support measures and personalized follow-up that are necessary to help students with special needs progress in their schooling and to foster their success.
The benefits of using this standardized IEP according to MELS, include
IEPs are used to help describe and organize the support measures and personalized follow-up that are necessary to help students with special needs progress in their schooling and to foster their success.
The benefits of using this standardized IEP according to MELS, include
- a common understanding (especially by parents) of the individualized education plan
- closer cooperation among personnel
- a focus on the process and the student's needs
- better preparation of personnel
- rapid transfer of information between school boards
- easier management of a school's individualized education plans
- archiving of and ready access to any individualized education plans developed for a given student
- updating of common definitions of the needs, capacities and objectives recorded in the individualized education plan
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Team Canada Will Participate in Abilympics for the First Time this Year in Seoul
The International Abilympics is a world-wide competition that showcases vocational skills of persons with disabilities in skilled trade and technology areas.
The games have taken place every three or four years since the first edition was held in Tokyo in 1981, but Canada has not participated until now.
According to the Abilympics Canada Association website, the members of the Canadian team going to Seoul will come from Quebec, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador. They will compete in such events as computer assembly, painting, photography, digital poster design, cake decoration and desktop publishing.
Four years ago the Abilympics were held jointly with the World Skills Competition, however this year the two events have been separated for whatever reason. This year the skills will be in London. There is also a Canadian team going to this event however it does not include people with disabilities.
According to the website, Abilympics Canada is an initiative of the Nova Scotia branch of Skills Canada and the organization seems to be more or less centred in Nova Scotia, with most of the particpants originating there. However there is a national board of directors, which includes a representative from the Montreal English School Board.
The games have taken place every three or four years since the first edition was held in Tokyo in 1981, but Canada has not participated until now.
According to the Abilympics Canada Association website, the members of the Canadian team going to Seoul will come from Quebec, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador. They will compete in such events as computer assembly, painting, photography, digital poster design, cake decoration and desktop publishing.
Four years ago the Abilympics were held jointly with the World Skills Competition, however this year the two events have been separated for whatever reason. This year the skills will be in London. There is also a Canadian team going to this event however it does not include people with disabilities.
According to the website, Abilympics Canada is an initiative of the Nova Scotia branch of Skills Canada and the organization seems to be more or less centred in Nova Scotia, with most of the particpants originating there. However there is a national board of directors, which includes a representative from the Montreal English School Board.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Down Syndrome: Technological Advances Raise Soul-Searching Questions About the Meaning of Life
Within a matter of months, the progress of science has outstripped our ability to process consequences and, unnoticed by most everyone, stands on the precipice of redefining human life.
Ever since the rise of humanity, Down syndrome, or trisomy 21, has been an integral part of the human condition. Despite all the efforts of medicine and therapy, Down syndrome has always been present. The population with Down syndrome plays a considerable role in almost all communities around the the globe. This may not be the place to discuss the extent of this role. Suffice to say that it is significant, it has existed since time immemorial and it provides a window into the human soul that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to find. Sooner rather than later, it is going to be left up to us to decide what value this role has to humanity.
Now, as has become widely known over the past number of weeks, the possibility of non-invasive prenatal testing for Down syndrome in the first trimester is imminent. This in itself is a development that pushes the philosophy and boundaries of human reproduction in a new direction that could take decades to assess and understand. It also represents an idea that will be controversial and contentious for all foreseeable time.
Then, just as this bombshell has landed right in our philosophical kitchen, science has launched another barrage on another front. As discussed here yesterday, drug therapies that can be expected to improve memory and other cognitive abilities in people with Down syndrome, are in human trials. And, even if this particular drug isn't as effective as hoped, there is plenty of reason to believe that some other drug will be identified in the near future.
Where does this all leave Down syndrome?
The fact is that the new prenatal testing regime is just around the corner and its use will spread prolifically. After all, it seems inconceivable that society would forcibly put the responsibility of raising and caring for Down syndrome children onto people who do not feel able to accept this destiny. At the same time, many people will work to slow the effect of this testing. Pro-life advocates and religious fundamentalists will be front and centre. There are countries, even in the advanced western world, such as Ireland, that don't even have prenatal screening because abortion in any form is illegal.
So things will take some time to unfold completely. Who knows? The possibility of effective cognitive therapies may even give more people the courage to see Down syndrome pregnancies through to term even when screening comes out positive.
Yet, even with that outcome, we may find that Down syndrome as we know it will eventually come to an end as drug and other therapies mitigate the effects of the condition to a point where it becomes beyond recognition.
Which brings us back to the original question - do we have the right to interfere with this process?
Considering that, as it is, as many as 90% of Down syndrome pregnancies end in miscarriage, it could be understood that any birth of a child with Down syndrome is a minor miracle of nature all by itself. Something like the salmon that leap raging waterfalls to make their way upstream to spawn. Only a small few make it through. But do they have an important job to do? Virtually everyone who has had contact with Down syndrome people inevitably declares that their lives have been changed and that Down syndrome people have brought them joy, insight, empathy and even some kind of magic.
Many many people have tapped into the metaphor (or is it a cliche?) of Down syndrome children as "angels". You may or may not understand this in a religious sense.
Yes, having a child with Down syndrome is painful in many ways. But is this a necessary pain for humanity? Is it the price we pay to have messengers of unconditional love living amongst us?
Is this one kernel of the essence of humanity that we cannot do without?
Ever since the rise of humanity, Down syndrome, or trisomy 21, has been an integral part of the human condition. Despite all the efforts of medicine and therapy, Down syndrome has always been present. The population with Down syndrome plays a considerable role in almost all communities around the the globe. This may not be the place to discuss the extent of this role. Suffice to say that it is significant, it has existed since time immemorial and it provides a window into the human soul that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to find. Sooner rather than later, it is going to be left up to us to decide what value this role has to humanity.
Now, as has become widely known over the past number of weeks, the possibility of non-invasive prenatal testing for Down syndrome in the first trimester is imminent. This in itself is a development that pushes the philosophy and boundaries of human reproduction in a new direction that could take decades to assess and understand. It also represents an idea that will be controversial and contentious for all foreseeable time.
Then, just as this bombshell has landed right in our philosophical kitchen, science has launched another barrage on another front. As discussed here yesterday, drug therapies that can be expected to improve memory and other cognitive abilities in people with Down syndrome, are in human trials. And, even if this particular drug isn't as effective as hoped, there is plenty of reason to believe that some other drug will be identified in the near future.
Where does this all leave Down syndrome?
The fact is that the new prenatal testing regime is just around the corner and its use will spread prolifically. After all, it seems inconceivable that society would forcibly put the responsibility of raising and caring for Down syndrome children onto people who do not feel able to accept this destiny. At the same time, many people will work to slow the effect of this testing. Pro-life advocates and religious fundamentalists will be front and centre. There are countries, even in the advanced western world, such as Ireland, that don't even have prenatal screening because abortion in any form is illegal.
So things will take some time to unfold completely. Who knows? The possibility of effective cognitive therapies may even give more people the courage to see Down syndrome pregnancies through to term even when screening comes out positive.
Yet, even with that outcome, we may find that Down syndrome as we know it will eventually come to an end as drug and other therapies mitigate the effects of the condition to a point where it becomes beyond recognition.
Which brings us back to the original question - do we have the right to interfere with this process?
Considering that, as it is, as many as 90% of Down syndrome pregnancies end in miscarriage, it could be understood that any birth of a child with Down syndrome is a minor miracle of nature all by itself. Something like the salmon that leap raging waterfalls to make their way upstream to spawn. Only a small few make it through. But do they have an important job to do? Virtually everyone who has had contact with Down syndrome people inevitably declares that their lives have been changed and that Down syndrome people have brought them joy, insight, empathy and even some kind of magic.
Many many people have tapped into the metaphor (or is it a cliche?) of Down syndrome children as "angels". You may or may not understand this in a religious sense.
Yes, having a child with Down syndrome is painful in many ways. But is this a necessary pain for humanity? Is it the price we pay to have messengers of unconditional love living amongst us?
Is this one kernel of the essence of humanity that we cannot do without?
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
New Treatment to Improve Cognitive Function in Down Syndrome with Drug in Clinical Trials
A drug that is effective for improving cognitive function in mice with Down syndrome is in final stages of a clinical trial on human Down syndrome patients..
“We are hoping to enhance memory and learning in those with Down syndrome,” said Alberto Costa, MD, Ph.D., an associate professor of medicine and the neuroscientist leading the effort. “We have been studying this drug for three years and are now ready to analyze the data on our trial. Our team at the University of Colorado and Children’s Hospital Colorado expects to have the results in the next two or three months.”
As explained in detail in an article in the New York Times Magazine this past weekend, Down syndrome is the result of such a complex over-representation of genetic material (an extra chromasome containing some 500 genes in each and every cell in the body), that scientists had long despaired of ever finding meaningful treatment or cure.
However, recent developments in genetics and other realms of science have opened the door to some interesting possibilities.
For one thing, Down syndrome has come to be closely associated with Alzheimer's disease. Another huge development was the creation in the 1980s of a mouse exhibiting many characteristics of Down syndrome.
Enter Dr. Costa. The drug he is currently testing is Memantine, which was approved for use in treating Alzheimer's in Europe in 2002 and the U.S. in 2003. The same drug, under the name Ebixa, has been conditionally approved by Health Canada for treatment of moderate and severe Alzheimer's.
More information on Memantine as an Alzheimer drug can be found here.
“We are hoping to enhance memory and learning in those with Down syndrome,” said Alberto Costa, MD, Ph.D., an associate professor of medicine and the neuroscientist leading the effort. “We have been studying this drug for three years and are now ready to analyze the data on our trial. Our team at the University of Colorado and Children’s Hospital Colorado expects to have the results in the next two or three months.”
"Hoping to enhance memory and learning in those with Down syndrome"
As explained in detail in an article in the New York Times Magazine this past weekend, Down syndrome is the result of such a complex over-representation of genetic material (an extra chromasome containing some 500 genes in each and every cell in the body), that scientists had long despaired of ever finding meaningful treatment or cure.
However, recent developments in genetics and other realms of science have opened the door to some interesting possibilities.
For one thing, Down syndrome has come to be closely associated with Alzheimer's disease. Another huge development was the creation in the 1980s of a mouse exhibiting many characteristics of Down syndrome.
Enter Dr. Costa. The drug he is currently testing is Memantine, which was approved for use in treating Alzheimer's in Europe in 2002 and the U.S. in 2003. The same drug, under the name Ebixa, has been conditionally approved by Health Canada for treatment of moderate and severe Alzheimer's.
More information on Memantine as an Alzheimer drug can be found here.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Special Needs Charity Energized by Founder Robert Pio Hajjar
The charity, which operates mostly in Ontario, based in London and Toronto, is called Ideal-Way. They take a progressive approach to their work, creating opportunities for people with special needs to participate in art shows, poetry contests and other activities.
The similarities with other organizations ends with the founder, Robert Pio Hajjar, a man with Down syndrome. Check it out...
The similarities with other organizations ends with the founder, Robert Pio Hajjar, a man with Down syndrome. Check it out...
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