Liberal Senator urges feds and provinces to work out better way to handle autism

In an article that appeared in the Ottawa Citizen on April 2, just after the federal election was called, Liberal Senator Jim Munson called for active cooperation to address autism in Canada.

It isn't much to ask that a federal minister sit down with provincial counterparts and representatives from autism organizations to devise a better way to operate. It is time for federal politicians to take a leadership role.

Two recommendations from the report that I consider most crucial are national standards for treatment and research, and a national strategy for equal treatment and services across the country. Courageous actions are now needed to deal with this emerging crisis.

More to come on the federal election and special needs.

Family of four ordered deported from Canada because daughter has cerebral palsy

A family of four with a daughter who has cerebral palsy is fighting a deportation order. They were refused permanent resident status and ordered deported last year. The girl was judged to be an undue burden on the Canadian Health system.

Their only recourse now is an appeal to Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, which was launched yesterday.

Another great year for REACH and the McGill University Double Challenge program

It's one sign of spring that we don't like to see - yesterday was the final day for the year of  REACH and McGill University's "Double Challenge Program". In this program, all REACH students spend one morning a week at McGill, taking advantage of the specialized equipment, facilities, including the gym and pool, and teaching expertise, available at McGill.

The way the program works, all the REACH students and accompanying staff get on a school bus in the morning and are transported to McGill. Then, each student is paired with a McGill special education student, who puts together a program based on the student's level and aptitude. 

For the past few years, the REACH Governing Board and volunteer parents have organized a spaghetti lunch when the bus returns from McGill. This is enjoyed by all and definitely helps to streamline the balance of the day.

Alberta's Wildrose Alliance Party's interesting education platform

Alberta's provincial Wildrose Alliance Party has been making headlines of the past year or two most notably for running up their polling numbers to present a clear and present challenge to the ruling Progressive Conservatives.

Although Wildrose has that 'breath of fresh air' sort of naivety to it, one soon realizes that the party is of the extreme right variety.

Nonetheless, they do have some interesting platforms and leader Danielle Smith brings mojo not seen for quite a while in Alberta provincial politics. Wildrose currently has four sitting members in the Alberta Legislature and threatens to increase that number significantly in a future election.

Of special interest to this blog would be some of Wildrose's education policies, especially its special needs policy.

Following are some of the party's talking points:

Parents and teachers have a limited say in how special needs funding is best used, and there is a movement under to force special needs children into regular classrooms whether the supports are there for them or not.


It's not clear whether the motivation is cutting costs, or a misguided ideology - either way it needs to stop...


...We would then mandate that adequate funding follow each special needs student wherever their parents want to send them.

Below I've copied the full text of the Alberta Wildrose Alliance education policies, as they appear on the party's website on today's date.

One very interesting aspect of this policy is that, unlike Quebec's ~further right~ party, the Action Democratique, Wildrose advocates a return to virtually full local control of schools at the local school board and school level. You may remember that the Action Democrtique under Mario Dumont had floated a concept where they would remove local school boards entirely and run everything from Quebec City. What a nightmare that would have been (and still could be...).

• Empower individual public, Catholic and public charter schools by implementing a funding model that sends per-student operational and maintenance funding directly to the school each student attends. Individual schools will then be able to determine how to allocate those resources most appropriately (i.e. more teachers, new equipment, etc).
• Transfer decision-making authority concerning the building of new schools away from the provincial government and place it squarely in the hands of locally elected school boards. This would be done by implementing a publicly disclosed and objective funding formula that grants capital funds directly to local school boards based on student enrollment, school utilization rates, student growth projections and other relevant factors.
• Establish multiple pilot projects across the province where open-enrollment and tuition-free public, Catholic and public charter schools are permitted to opt into a competency-based learning and assessment education model. Students in these schools will have the opportunity to learn at a pace and in a way that is tailored to their individual needs and will not move on to more advanced material until they have demonstrated strong understanding of previously taught subject matter. Students who learn at an accelerated pace under this system will also be able to obtain college and university level course credit while still in high school.
• Grant public, Catholic and public charter schools more flexibility to offer a specialized curriculum track in the trades, arts, music, physical education and business.
• Protect a parent’s right to choose what school their child attends (public, Catholic, public charter, private or homeschooling) and continue the current Alberta Education practice of permitting a fixed percentage of regular per pupil funding to directly follow a student to a private school of the parent’s choice if desired.
• Mandate the public reporting of each school’s graduation rate and overall subject-by-subject assessment results so parents have the information they need to make informed decisions regarding their child’s education.
• Work with teachers and other educational professionals to replace the outdated and inadequate Provincial Achievement Tests (PAT) with a new standardized assessment model that evaluates a student’s actual improvement and comprehension of subject matter and more effectively identifies where further learning is required. It is also important to ensure teachers are provided with the professional development training necessary to implement such a model.
• Ensure students are properly assessed and any special learning needs identified as early as possible in a child’s development. Mandate that adequate funding follow each special needs student to the institution of that child’s parent’s choice to be used in a way that the parent and the school’s learning support team feels will best meet the individual needs of the child.
• Give special needs students the opportunity to attend the same classrooms as regular students where appropriate. In such cases, it is critical that adequate supervision and support be provided to the special needs student in order to ensure the classroom remains a healthy learning environment for all students.

Lakeshore Soccer has a special needs program

Lakeshore Soccer's special needs program offers soccer for kids with special needs from ages 4-16. The program is called the "Super Sonics".

More information can be found at this article in the Montreal Gazette or on the Lakeshore Soccer website.

We are not aware of any opportunities open to one and all for special needs kids on the south shore to play soccer. (if you are aware of anything - please leave a comment to that effect)

"Disable Bullying" U.S. group targets bullying of special needs kids

Glee star Lauren Potter, an actress with Down syndrome, is featured in a video that is part of a campaign to reduce bullying of special needs kids, launched by a coalition of U.S. groups .

The campaign, nicknamed "Disable Bullying", has been developed in response to rising evidence that special needs kids are 2-3 times more likely to be bullied than other kids. As detailed in the report Walk a Mile in Their Shoes, kids with special needs have consistently been identified as more likely to be targeted by bullies at school, in cyberspace and even among siblings.

Disable Bullying is a national campaign in the U.S. aimed at raising awareness of this problem and helping parents to gain the tools to alleviate it.

The campaign expands on five simple steps that parents can use to disable bullying of their special needs kids:

1. Educate
2. Ask Questions
3. Speak Up
4. Build Community
5. Disable Bullying

"It was the best day of my life!"

Yes, Eric Stitzenberger of Drayton Valley, Alta., who has Down syndrome, had an amazing day this past weekend when he scored three baskets in a high school basketball game against another school.

There is a very cool video on the link, which is a CTV News story.