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ONTARIO ADULT AUTISM RESEARCH AND SUPPORT NETWORK NEWS BULLETIN 6 January 2003 |
OAARSN offers a rich and expanding collection of up-to-date information and communication tools that can put you in touch with others. We can all benefit from the opportunities for mutual support, encouragement and information sharing. We hope that OAARSN's efforts to promote positive approaches and best practices in supporting adults with autism can help all who live and work on the front lines. Click on OAARSN's main page Send news, announcements and comments to gbloomfi@uoguelph.ca We welcome news items, announcements of autism events, new information, discussion questions and comments, and accounts of experience.
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NEWS BULLETIN 6 January 2003 SOBERING THOUGHTS FOR THE NEW YEAR At the start of another new year, we note what a long way we still have to go--for people who live with autism to be better understood and supported as members of our communities. We think this applies particularly to teenagers and adults, but the families of young children can also feel alienated. Our mail and e-mail bring us word every day of adults and families in acute need of understanding and support.
Recent public inquiries have pointed to defects in “the system” more than to failures by individual carers. The inquest into the death of Stephanie Jobin, under restraint in a Brampton group home, recommended that services that should be made available to all children with complex special needs and their families must include: full-time residential support, professional in-home support, respite care in residential facilities, shared parental and foster care, and improved access to education programs for special-needs children. The inquest into the suicide deaths of a single mother and her son in Durham, England, called on agencies to develop a "despair-proof" support system for children and adults "with complex and challenging behaviour". It should not take tragedies like these for us to see and do all we can. The Ontario Ministry of Community, Family and Children’s Services requires its funded agencies to provide “investment supports and services” early, before an individual or family reaches crisis and to avoid or alleviate the personal costs of a prolonged delay in receiving services. May 2003 be the
year when we all try to make a real difference for all people who live
with autism spectrum disorders! NOTES: Death leap may
prompt reforms: changes urged to aid care of disabled
children ___________________________________________________________________
TIMELY CALLS FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE AND CITIZENSHIP “Our citizenship is on the rocks: We must shed real light on the fates of those who flounder outside our society, says activist CATHERINE FRAZEE in The Globe and Mail, Saturday, December 28, 2002 – Print Edition, Page A15. She comments on Stephanie Jobin’s life and death. JUDITH SNOW of Toronto announces the formation of the International Association for Inclusive Citizenship ______________________________________________________________________ PLEASE NOTE GSA’S NEW MAILING ADDRESS The Canada Post
outlet, where Guelph Services for the Autistic used to have a mailbox, has
been closed. GSA’s new address, effective immediately
is: Important information for GSA members and for individuals and families interested in the ASPIRE project (or you may leave a message at 519-821-7424). This is the address to which you should send completed adult autism needs surveys by mail (or you may complete and submit by email, through the OAARSN website). ______________________________________________________________________ NEW CONTENT ON OAARSN SITE ADULT ISSUES IN
WATERLOO-WELLINGTON, joint newsletter of WWAS and
GSA _________________________________________________________________________
AUTISM IN THE NEWS 1. Is there an epidemic of autism?
See an editorial
by Dr Eric Fombonne from the same issue of JAMA, commenting on the
article and placing it in perspective of most past epidemiological
studies. 2. New Jersey Takes Lead In Confronting
Autism 3. Rhode Island has a disproportionately large number of
children with autism 4.'My music helps healing' 5. No Ordinary Village 6. Computational Autism - Hope Lies In Flair For
Logic 7. Asperger's syndrome: the invisible
disability 8. American Normal: The Hidden World of Asperger
Syndrome _________________________________________________________________________
ANNOUNCEMENTS OF EVENTS See details of
more events on our Bulletin Board and Calendar:
just posted....
_________________________________________________________________________
ISSUES AND ADVOCACY See also: Funding Issues--new OAARSN Discussion Boards and Topics. Press the Communications bar on OAARSN’s main page then choose Discussion Area Speak up for individualized funding as a basis for a good life and a more secure future for our friends who are vulnerable because of disability. INDIVIDUALIZED FUNDING IN ONTARIO: STATEMENT OF PROBLEMS AND RECOMMENDATIONS presented to the the Hon. Brenda Elliott, Minister of Community, Family and Children's Services, by the Peel Family Network on Nov. 19, 2002. All families and friends with an interest in individualized funding as a basis for a good life and a more secure future are urged to write to the Minister, saying something about your own circumstances and how you know IF will help your daughter or son or friend. It's important to do that very soon---this week---as budgets will soon be set for the 2003-2004 fiscal year. Quite brief letters of support for IF, from hundreds of families across Ontario, will have an impact. The address of the
Minister is: Note that you may
email your letter directly to the Minister. _________________________________________________________________________
FROM THE FRONT
LINES: News about adults with autism is usually negative. We receive many appeals for advice on where to turn for help--with diagnosis and assessment, advocacy, planning for the future, alternatives to approaches that are not working. There are virtually no obvious sources of help for isolated adults with autism and their caregivers. We know that some adults and their families and caregivers are heroically using what resources they have to achieve some successes with their challenges. Some can report remarkable progress. We invite you, as an adult or caregiver living with autism, to share your problems and your success stories, if you think others might help or benefit. If you wish, we will not publish your name or email address. You may send a message to ebloomfi@uoguelph.ca for OAARSN. Or you might use the OAARSN Discussion Board, reached by pressing the Communication bar on our main page Enjoy photographs
of the wonders of nature by OAARSN network member, Minna Mettinen of
Whitefish. Ontario. Minna has also shared instructions for making a weighted blanket. Some Internet resources by and for folks who live on the front lines UNLOCKING
AUTISM offers the UA-ADULTS-WITH-AUTISM group
at Yahoo! Groups, a free, easy-to-use email group service for adults and
older teens with Autism Spectrum Disorders, or for their parents or direct
caregivers. To learn more, please visit: ENZYMES AND AUTISM FORUM for the discussion of digestive enzymes (and many other types of supplements) and how their supplementation affect those dealing with conditions of the autistic spectrum/PDD, attention deficit, digestion/malabsorption, food sensitivities/allergies and other uses. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/enzymesandautism/ DANA'S
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