Autism and Related Disorders in New Brunswick: July 2019

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Adult Autism Residential Care and Treatment - Time to GET POLITICAL Once Again.

Time to get political once again.

We Need Some Real Autism Advocacy to advocate for the Residential Care and Treatment for Adults with Autism INCLUDING severe autism with Intellectual Disability and Epilepsy.

I have been advocating, with other autism parents, for almost 20 years for early autism ABA treatment, for autism & ABA trained school aides and for reversal of the decision to close the Stan Cassidy Autism team. We had successes in all these areas but NO success in advocating for an autism village network including an autism centre to provide residential care and treatment as needed for persons on ALL points of the autism spectrum of disorders including the 40-50% with intellectual disability who die 30 years prematurely from seizures. Contact me hlddoherty5463@gmail.com if you want to participate in advocating for the Autism Village & Center needed to address these needs. Following is a video of me being interviewed by Medicare for Autism Now about our efforts for early intervention . LETS ADVOCATE NOW for adult autism residential care and treatment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WzrQWv30dY&fbclid=IwAR2VRnAag74sOV_WfU3IPXhWsyJ5x4AXv7RosPyF2s7_3s9uXB0f_dQ1C6I

Sunday, July 7, 2019

Parents of children with autism and intellectual disability should take note. Seizures can be deadly and many with autism and ID will eventually suffer from seizures.

Parents of children with autism and intellectual disability should take note. Seizures can be deadly and many with autism and ID will eventually suffer from seizures.

Disney Channel star Cameron Boyce died this weekend at 20 from a seizure while sleeping. The young actor had already built an accomplished acting career and was engaged in social issues as well. I am not asserting that he was autistic just that he died from a seizure.

The 2015 Autistica UK Report "Personal Tragedies, Public Crisis" examined studies on premature death in autism. They found that persons with autism and intellectual disability die on average 30 years earlier than persons in the general population with the primary trigger being a seizure. Many with autism and intellectual disability including my son also suffer from epilepsy and seizures which may not appear until adolescence as it did in my son''s case. Parents of children with autism and intellectual disability should ask their family doctors or any health care professionals in their children's lives about epilepsy and seizure risks.

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."