Autism and Related Disorders in New Brunswick: The Weber "Report" Is No Magic Wand - It's a Government Paid For Rush Job -Close the Restigouche and Close it NOW!

Sunday, June 16, 2019

The Weber "Report" Is No Magic Wand - It's a Government Paid For Rush Job -Close the Restigouche and Close it NOW! - Open the Autism Centre & Village

The Restigouche Psychiatric Hospital has been developed as a tool for economic development over the protests of the Autism Society New Brunswick, parent autism advocates and UNB Professor Emeritus (Paul McDonnell) for over 15 years. It lacks the Psychiatric Expertise of Moncton and the Autism Expertise of Fredericton. Adults with severe autism disorders are sent to Campbellton with a declining population (11,000 to 6000). They are sent there as part of a failed economic development strategy for the declining population in Campbellton. They are sent there as political bargaining chips in exchange for votes.

Contrary to Article 25 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (to which Canada is a signatory) it is as far as possible from the large population in South NB - Fredericton, Moncton, Woodstock and Saint John and their families and its abuse and failure to protect has been recently documented by the Ombud Report "Failure to Protect". The Weber Report is a Paid For Rush Job that tells the government what it wanted to hear.

The Resitigouche PH is a clear contravention of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to which Canada is a signatory. yet the Weber Report now released to the general public was tasked with finding ways to keep it.

Close the Restigouche Hospital and Close it NOW!

Open the Autism Centre & Village!

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NB Needs an Adult Autism Center and Network

"Paul McDonnell, September, 2010 "Our greatest need at present is to develop services for adolescents and adults. What is needed is a range of residential and non-residential services and these services need to be staffed with behaviourally trained supervisors and therapists. In the past we have had the sad spectacle of individuals with autism being sent off to institutional settings such as the Campbellton psychiatric hospital, hospital wards, prisons, and even out of the country at enormous expense and without any gains to the individual, the family or the community. We need an enhanced group home system throughout the province in which homes would be linked directly to a major centre that could provide ongoing training, leadership and supervision. That major centre could also provide services for those who are mildly affected as well as permanent residential care and treatment for the most severely affected. Such a secure centre would not be based on a traditional "hospital" model but should, itself, be integrated into the community in a dynamic manner, possibly as part of a private residential development.The focus must be on education, positive living experiences, and individualized curricula. The key to success is properly trained professionals and staff."