Autism and Related Disorders in New Brunswick: UN CRPD

Wednesday, June 24, 2020

Will New Brunswick Ever Act To Provide Adult Autism Residential Care?

Will New Brunswick Ever Act To Provide Adult Autism Residential Care?

The Question I asked in 2013 has been answered by political corruption and silence, NB and Canada have continued to violate the UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities by sending adults with severe autism disorder challenges to the NB Quebec border far from the bulk of NB population and families and far from any credible autism expertise.

The Ombud investigations and CBC (Karissa Donkin) reporting have made it clear the Restigouche is inhumane at best. The COVID debacle again illustrates the incompetence of care in Restigouche. Nothing has changed since an autistic boy was placed in a jail facility residence in 2005 or since I asked in 2013 Will NB ever Act to Provide Adult Autism Residential Care.

Monday, May 13, 2019

Close the Restigouche Psychiatric Hospital NOW!

Close the Restigouche and Ignore the "Weber" Report.

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. In Campbellton with a declining population (11,000 to 6000) It is as far as possible from the large population in South NB - Fredericton, Moncton, Woodstock and Saint John and its abuse and failure to protect has been recently documented by the Ombud Report "Failure to Protect".

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 not released to the general public was tasked with finding ways to keep it.

Close the Restigouche PH and Close it NOW!

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."