Tuesday, January 10, 2012

AUTISM FUNDING FOR BRITISH COLUMBIA

AUTISM FUNDING (A Resource for Parents)
By Dr. Ron Unruh

This synopsis of government funding for families of an autistic child is specific to British Columbia with some occasional links to other Canadian provinces for follow-up by readers.

1. There is Autism Funding in British Columbia. The Ministry of Children and Family Development provides two funding programs, one for children under 6 years of age and another for children 6-18. These programs provide the means by which children may benefit from intervention to facilitate communication, social and emotional development as well as functional and academic skill development. The Funding is available in all regions of B.C. and is intended to assist parents to purchase the intervention services most suitable to their child, providing families maximum choice and flexibility.

2. If your child has received an ASD diagnosis, a parent may apply and enroll in the Autism Funding Program by contacting a local office of the Ministry of Children and Family Development to complete the funding agreement. Here is the MCFD page for regional office contact numbers.

3. For a child under the age of 6 (six), the funding must be used for those autism intervention services deemed to be eligible, such as behaviour consultants, speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists and physiotherapists who are listed on the Registry of Autism Service Providers (RASP). Also the funding is used for behavoural interventionists, administrative costs (as much as $100 per month) and other applicable employer expenses like Canada Pension Plan, Employment Insurance, Employee Income Tax and Workers Compensation Board Premiums and 4% vacation pay.

4. For a child over the age of 6 (six) and up to age 18 (eighteen) the funding must be used for the following: Behaviour consultants, Speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, Behaviour interventionists, Life skills and social skills programs, Out-of-school support/tutoring (not part of regular school program), Specialized therapeutic activities and camps designed to address your child’s ASD, Dietary or nutritional counselling from a registered dietician/nutritionist, Family counselling/therapy, Other interventions recommended by a professional/specialist* (pre-approval suggested), Administrative costs (up to $50 monthly), applicable employer costs (e.g. employee income tax, Canada Pension Plan, Employment Insurance and Workers Compensation Board premiums, 4% vacation pay).

5. ‘A Parent’s Handbook: Your Guide to Autism Programs’ is available upon request at 1 877 777-3530. Here is the online version.

6. The handbook clarifies that not all interventions and equipment are eligible funding expenses and among these are such things as Home repairs/renovations/swimming pools/ hot tubs/trampolines/playground equipment; Household items, including appliances; General recreation and sports enrolment fees; Sports/fitness equipment, including bicycles; Electronics, including televisions, CD players, stereos, MP3 players, game systems, video games, tracking devices, and cellular phones/palm pilots; Non-ASD specific CDs, DVDs, and videos; Musical instruments; Vitamins/medical supplies/incontinence supplies/orthotics; Clothing/helmets; Food (small reinforcers for Applied Behaviour Analysis therapy may be eligible).

7. Autism Handbook is available in other languages than English:
  1. Farsi
  2. French
  3. Korean
  4. Punjabi
  5. Simplfied Chinese
  6. Traditional Chinese
  7. Vietnamese
8. The Autism Funding Unit contact Information:
Autism Funding Unit, PO Box 9776 STN PROV GOVT
Victoria, BC V8W 9S5
Telephone in Greater Victoria: 250 387-3530
Elsewhere in BC call toll free: 1 877 777-3530
Fax: 250 356-8578
Email: MCF.AutismFundingUnit@gov.bc.ca

9. ASD or Autism Spectrum Disorder must be Properly Assessed and Diagnosed in order to quality for Funding.
In British Columbia assessment and diagnosis is conducted at no cost by British Columbia Autism Assessment Network (BCAAN) to which you are referred by your family doctor. For more information on ASD diagnosis and testing, visit the BCAAN website or contact BCAAN at 604 453-8343. If they so chose, parents may purchase a private diagnostic assessment but this must meet the same standards and guidelines as the BCAAN.

10. Children previously Diagnosed out of Province or out of Country or before April 1, 2004, must have a qualified BC specialist complete a Confirmation of Diagnosis form in order to apply for Autism Funding Programs.

11. The amount of the funding is substantial.
  1. Autism Funding for a Child Under Age 6
  2. The Under Age 6 program provides families up to $22,000 per year per child to assist in purchasing eligible autism intervention services and therapies. An intervention program for a young child with ASD must be based on a plan that takes into consideration the child’s unique strengths and needs and best practices. This behavioural plan of intervention is written by a Behaviour Consultant. Parents must select Behaviour Consultants, Physiotherapists, Speech Language Pathologists and Occupational Therapists from the Registry of Autism Service Providers.
  3. The Autism Funding for a Child Between Ages 6-18
  4. The 6-18 program provides families up to $6,000 per year per child to assist them with the cost of purchasing eligible autism intervention services and therapies outside of school. This funding is in addition to the educational program and special education services provided through school boards.
12. The List of Forms and the PDF files that a Parent May Require are posted at Forms You May Need.
  1. Forms for Funding for Under 6
  2. Forms for Funding Between 6-18
  3. Specialist Assessment Forms
  4. Service Providers
 13. Parents have Certain Responsibilities when Receiving Autism Funding and it begins with the Autism Agreement, then submitting a Behavioural Plan of Intervention.

14. Again I refer you to the Ministry’s webpage entitled Autism Spectrum Disorder where I encourage you to scroll down the left hand index.

15. To make Yourself aware of the Tax Implications see this Canada Revenue page, T2201 Disability Tax Credit Certificate For additonal reading on this topic see J.C. Boyd’s BC Family Law Resource called Child Support Guidelines.

16. News Articles of Particular Interest
  1. B.C. Government axes intensive therapy program for autistic children, Sept 17, 2009 Kelowna report also CBC story
  2. A very dated 1997 Brief to Members of Parliament called ‘Solution to the Human Suffering and Social Cost of Autism’ by Families for Early Autism Treatment in BC (FEAT)
  3. Autism Funding in B.C. (or, Autism Funding for Dummies) not my subtitle but the website’s. This is a site about money and administration. A well-run therapy program will cost $50,000 per year. Where will the money come from?
  4. Milburn Drysdale, formerly a banker by trade, moved to BC a few years ago. He has one child with autism who has not yet reached school age. He has established a website that has fully developed a user-friendly informational approach to topics a parent of an autistic child will ask. Autism Funding in B.C. or, Autism for Dummies.
17. Some Approximate Cost Factuals
  1. A Behavioural Consultant will cost $110-$150 per our.
  2. A Behavioural Consultant’s observation of your child at school and a subsequent report will cost $500-$00.
  3. A Behavioural Interventionist can charge $16-$25 dependent upon experience.
  4. Speech Therapy is $110 per hour.
  5. Occupational Therapists cost $110 per hour.
  6. Consultation by a Naturopathic Doctor and all relevant testing is out of pocket.
(Image is taken from the cover of a book entitled 'Children of Autism - a Parent's Guide' authored by Michael D. Powers, with a foreword by Temple Grandin)

3 comments:

  1. Thank you for posting all the information Ron. It is no surprise to me to find that the bulk of the money goes into the pockets of the various professional people who contract to work with autistic children. I think you will find that little, if any, finds its way into the pockets of parents. Nor do they get much choice as to how the money will be spent. Did Derek get financial help to fence his yard? Did they offer to build him a higher fence? I doubt it. This would have been much cheaper than snatching the child, putting her in hospital and drugging her. What does the foster home get? Several thousand dollars a month no doubt. Plus all the special help at school. Add it all up against the cost of a fence. What about respite care in the home? Is that ever offered?
    However, this is not my main concern. Is there any reliable research which can specify the sort of help which works and that which does not? Are there any reliable diagnostic criteria to help decide which children can learn to manage their own behaviour and those who cannot? How much money is spent on trying to teach penguins to fly?
    Are we dealing once more with unproven hypotheses? Remember my mention of the the University of Syracuse NY and its multi-million dollar programme for facilitating communication with autistic children. This programme proved to have no value at all. Don't get me wrong. I am all in favour of helping children with all sorts of handicaps and of course their parents. However, I think we need to make sure that we are spending the money wisely and effectively. I am not in favour of spending money on activities which may be no more than the result of wishful thinking. Anyone care to comment?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Parents who follow the biomedical approach to addressing their child's autism seem to have the best results. For example this inspiring, encouraging recovery of Edwards ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtHvtWBv7aM )

    People should be asking why are we seeing more and more cases of autism with such immense impact on the child(ren) and families, especially parents.

    In many cases you will hear the parents reporting the child's regression following the MMR shot. What is it about the MMR that it seems to be more peculiar than other vaccines regarding causing children who were perfectly normal before the vaccine to regress into autism?

    Well, Dr. Helen Ratajczak, a highly respected senior scientist formerly with Boehringer-Ingelheim, suspects it's the human fetal tissue used in vaccines. ( https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B_dmFgP1OdBiMTUyN2RhYjgtNDYyMi00OTlkLTk4NDctNDU3YmE2MmIwMDlm&hl=en )

    You read that right -- some vaccines are actually grown in cells from aborted unborn babies.

    And if that's not ghoulish enough, consider this: Ratajczak believes human DNA that remains in the vaccine can cause the body to attack its own brain cells, leading to the inflammation linked to autism -- especially in children already prone to the condition.

    To back her theory up, Ratajczak points to spikes in autism rates when human DNA was added to the MMR II vaccine in 1983, again in 1988 when a second MMR II shot was added for some children, and yet again in 1995 when they began using a chicken pox vaccine grown in human fetal tissue.

    You can see the graph that clearly shows these spikes here: http://www.wnd.com/2010/04/146669/

    Autism used to be rare. Now the rates are so high that about 1 in 100 children have autism. In the case of Derek, two of his three children have autism. The question is whether they were autistic from the beginning or regressed into autism.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The Rubella vaccine (included in MMR), produced by Merck & Company was taken from an aborted baby during the 1964 rubella epidemic. It was from the 27th baby aborted and immediately dissected that the active rubella virus was finally found.

    It was commonly referred to as RA27/3, where R=Rubella, A=Abortus, 27=27th fetus, 3=third tissue culture explant. The abortionist collaborated with the Wistar Institute to collect the aborted babies in order to isolate the virus. The vaccine virus was then cultivated in the lung tissue of another aborted female baby, approximately 3 months gestation. (WI-38) This abortion was done for the mother because "the parents felt they had too many children." (American Journal Diseases of Children, Vol. 118, 1969).The new vaccine was developed in Philadelphia, Pa. and tested on orphans. (American Journal Diseases of Children, Vol. 110, Oct. 1965)

    Considering that there was already two licensed rubella vaccines on the market and considering that they could have done exactly what the Japanese did in order to isolate the rubella virus (they swabbed the throat of an infected child), it is obvious this vaccine was created in order to justify fetal tissue research.

    It is also important to note that Rubella is basically a harmless childhood disease that is only considered to have possible serious effects on the unborn child when a pregnant woman is exposed to the virus during her first trimester. Should this occur, some cases will develop some form of Congenital Rubella Syndrome, which may cause minor malformations of the heart, eyes or deafness.

    ReplyDelete

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