Autism and Related Disorders in New Brunswick: To NB Government September 25, 2018: Adult Autism Centre in Fredericton vs Psychiatric Hospital in Campbellton?

Monday, September 24, 2018

To NB Government September 25, 2018: Adult Autism Centre in Fredericton vs Psychiatric Hospital in Campbellton?

To NB Government September 25, 2018.

Congratulations on your victory.

Will your government start working TODAY to end the inhumane practice of banishing autistic adults to live their lives far from the vast majority of families and without expert autism supervision and care?

Adult Autism Centre in Fredericton vs Psychiatric Hospital in Campbellton

As the father of an adult son with severe autism, intellectual disability and seizures living in Fredericton I am not afraid of an autism centre as part of the Autism Village Network proposed to the Liberal government by Paul McDonnell in July, 2015. I am afraid your government will continue the inhumane practice of sending people with severe autism disorders like my son to the Regional Psychiatric Hospital in Campbellton on our Northern Border far from the vast majority of families and far from the autism expertise already developed in Fredericton (UNB-CEL) to provide services to persons with autism aged 2-5, autism trained school aides and consultations to age 19 (Stan Cassidy).

Why abandon our severely autistic adults to life far from home and community instead of building the Autism Spectrum Village Network proposed by Paul McDonnell in 2015 with autism specific group homes in facilities (in addition to assisted individual living already existing) and a centre of autism expertise in Fredericton to provide training and oversight for the homes and permanent residence and care for those most severely impacted by autism and related comorbid conditions of depression and epilepsy made more difficult by their autism disorders? See The New Brunswick Autism Spectrum Village - Satellite Model (Paul McDonnell, 2015)

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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."