UNBCEL Atlantic Provinces Autism Conference Continues Exclusion of the Voices of Adults with Autism and Intellectual Disability

I received another advertisement message from the Atlantic Provinces Autism Conference which is hosted by UNBCEL this year and is continuing the APAC policy of excluding parents of adults with autism and intellectual disability and I responded again:

Unfortunately "autism" as used by the APAC does not include those with autism and intellectual disability. The APAC is continuing its exclusion of NB parents of adults with autism and Intellectual disability from their speakers list. We speak for our autistic adults with ID who can not speak for themselves. We do so with the knowledge gained from raising and providing 24/7 care for them throughout their lives. We do not draw a salary for our efforts and do not seek financial gain for doing so. We fight for the services they need as we did for the early autism services which resulted in the establishment of the UNBCEL autism program which is hosting this APAC conference (how soon they forget). We fought for autism trained aides and hundreds were trained. We fought successfully for the reversal of the decision to close the Stan Cassidy Centre autism team which now provides services to age 19. NB adults with autism and Intellectual disability have been warehoused at the Restigouche Hospital, where patient abuse is well documented (Ombud Report, CBC ) far from families and contrary to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

NOTE: The UNBCEL Atlantic Provinces ""Autism"" Conference. more accurately described as the Atlantic Provinces Autism Without Intellectual Disability Conference appears to be an accurate reflection of the autism research bias which according to a recent meta analysis excludes subjects with autism AND intellectual disability in 94% of studies assessed. 

See Selection bias on intellectual ability in autism research: a cross-sectional review and meta-analysis.

Current global estimates suggest the proportion of the population with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who have intellectual disability (ID) is approximately 50%. ..... Meta-analysis estimated 94% of all participants identified as being on the autism spectrum in the studies reviewed did not have ID (95% CI 0.91-0.97).

CONCLUSIONS:

We found selection bias against ID throughout all fields of autism research. We recommend transparent reporting about ID and strategies for inclusion for this much marginalised group.