Facebook Reminds Me: No Progress On Adult Autism Care in New Brunswick During The Last Year, The Last 6 Years, Or The Last Decade

I received a Facebook "Memory" post today which  reminded me that yet another year had passed without any progress in adult autism care in NB. Parents in New Brunswick who advocated for early intervention did so knowing our children would be too old for any program if the government decided to establish an early intervention program.   We focused on that as an ethical matter though, that much good would result from early Applied Behavior Analysis for young children with autism.  We also succeeded in getting some autism trained teacher aides (now education assistants/aides) trained though the UNB-CEL Autism Training Program and we were able to persuade our government to reverse its decision to cancel the Stan Cassidy Center Autism services which provided consultation up to age 16.  Despite these accomplishments no progress has been made in estalishing an ADULT autism network with a center in Fredericton and group facilities around the province.  

Some of us have been advocating for adult autism care for over a decade. In September 2010 Professor Emeritus (Psychology) and Clinical Psychologist Paul McDonnell made the following statement in of what was most badly needed as of that date,  a statement which is still true today 6 years later:

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."  (Bold highlighting added - HLD)

In the absence of any progress at all on the enhanced group home system linked directly to a major center as stated by Paul McDonnell in 2010 it appears more and more likely that my severely autistic, cognitively challenged, now 20 year old son Conor, will be sent to the Restigouche psychiatric hospital in Campbellton on NB's northern border with Quebec, far from his family in Fredericton, and without proper treatment, care and expertise, when I can no longer care for him in my home.

 I don't like to think that I scare easily but when I see the refusal of New Brunswick governments to construct a badly needed autism care and treatment network over the last decade ... I grow frightened, very frightened ... for my autistic son Conor  and the life that awaits him.

Restigouche Psychiatric Hospital

10 Gallant Street, Campbellton, NB
Far from most families in NB's major 
population centers in the South