National Autism Rally – Saturday May 26 – Dartmouth NS

[L to R - Andy Scott, Jim Munson, Peter Stoffer, Shawn Murphy]

The Supreme Court has spoken folks – twice. In Auton and Deskin-Wyneberg the Supreme Court of Canada has made it crystal clear that the equality rights provisions of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms are of no help to famlies seeking government funding for treatment of their childrens’ autism. The SCC has left only one serous option to seek such remedy – the political arena. It is time to GET POLITICAL. FEAT-BC has been a Canadian leader in the fight for treatment for autistic Canadians and they will be at the Dartmouth Holiday Inn on Saturday May 26 to explain their national autism political strategy. Let’s join this effort and fight for treatment for autistic Canadians. And let’s say thank you to federal politicians who have fought for our autistic children – Andy Scott, Peter Stoffer, Shawn Murphy and Jim Munson. I hope to see you at the Holiday Inn. If you will attend please check out the registration info below and register before May 20.

An Invitation to join Families for Early Autism
Treatment of BC

(F.E.A.T. of BC) to say THANK YOU to:

Shawn Murphy, MP

Andy Scott, MP

Peter Stoffer, MP

Senator Jim Munson

For their dedication and commitment to improving the
lives of
Canadians affected by autism…

….AND….

To hear about F.E.A.T. of BC’s exciting plans to “go
coastal” with
our national political initiative to achieve universal
health care
coverage for EVERY Canadian affected by autism.

Saturday, May 26, 2007

Holiday Inn, Harbourview

101 Wyse Rd.

Dartmouth, Nova Scotia,

B3A 1L9

2:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

$25.00 per person – Refreshments will be served

Please make cheques payable to:

F.E.A.T. of BC, c/o Louise Witt, 2135 – 129th St., Surrey, BC, V4A 8H6

R.S.V.P. by May 20th. to Louise Witt, email: taylorwitt@shaw. ca or
call 604-538-1370.

For local enquiries: Luigi Rocca – luiroc@gmail. com 869-5444 (B) or
382-2239 (h)

Put ABA back in HB 1224 – A Perfectly Cromulent Blog

The attached excerpt and link are from Put ABA back in HB 1224 on Pete’s blog A Perfectly Cromulent Blog Pop culture related smart-assery . The article is written in the blogger’s irrevent style and is a textbook example of the need to include specific reference to ABA in legislation governing provision of health care coverage for autism. Whether it is Canada or Texas governments and lobbyists do not want legislation to require that Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) be covered as a health care intervention for autism. Even though ABA is THE proven effective intervention for autism, even though autism reates are soaring, and even though studies document huge long term savings to governments and society ABA is still resisted while almost any other treatment for any other ailment receives coverage. Pete’s commentary is very well written, gets to the point and tells a tale of government unresponsiveness to autism which is as true of the Government of Canada as it is of the Government of Texas.

“Which is what makes the amendment to HB 1224 so maddening. After all, if I was feeling a little down in the dumps, my health plan would cheerfully cover the cost of my happy pills. If I drunkenly jawed off to Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipović in a Zagreb bar and he broke my jaw, insurance would cover the emergency room visit and my subsequent weeks of pain meds. Hell, if I was an 80-year old man having trouble getting a goddamned hard-on, insurance would cover my boner pills, but therapy to help my daughter become a functional and productive member of society and not just another ward of the state after her parents die? We can apparently fuck right off.

So we’re choosing to tell our daughter’s story now, after being quiet about it for the last 16 months: to emphasize how important it is that this bill pass in its original form. If it seems opportunistic or self-serving, well…there’s not much I can say about that, except that things like ABA and other therapy programs would seem to be the point of insurance: to insure the well-being of these kids who otherwise would be without hope for a future.

Finally, the only thing that really gave me pause about posting this was something that was said to me about the possibility SWSNBN might read this later on in her life and be mortified. My only response to that is this: I’m not a religious person, so prayer is out of the question, but I hope beyond anything I have ever hoped in my miserable life that my daughter, at some point in the future, is able to read this blog and yell at her father about it. I want that so badly it physically hurts.”

http://www.whiterose.org/pete/blog/archives/010441.html

Autism, Vaccines & the Spread of Mumps – Eastern Canada

The belief that some vaccines, or mercury based vaccine preservatives, cause or contribute to today’s increasing autism rates, now estimated at 1 in 150, persists despite an almost total lack of support in the scientific community for any causal connection. The fear generated by that belief is itself believed to have contributed to higher rates of vaccine refusals with resulting increases in diseases such as measles and mumps. In Atlantic Canada we are currently suffering an outbreak of mumps, with the particular strain of mumps having orginated in the UK where immunization rates dropped from fear that the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine caused autism.

Health: ALERT: INFECTIONS

Mumps outbreak spreads

CAROLINE ALPHONSO

May 11, 2007

Nova Scotia’s mumps outbreak has spread to Ontario, infecting five people so far and putting public-health officials in the province on alert for even more cases in the weeks to come.

The latest outbreak indicates that many who were vaccinated years ago are now susceptible to catching the disease. Public-health officials are now debating whether they need to administer a booster shot.

Ontario’s Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care confirmed yesterday that the cases, two of which are in Toronto, are linked to the outbreak in Nova Scotia, where more than 200 people have been infected by the disease. The outbreak, which began in late February, has also infected 34 people in New Brunswick and one in Prince Edward Island.

…

Neil Rau, an infectious disease specialist at Halton Healthcare Services in Ontario, said the current strain of mumps originated in Britain, where there was a large outbreak in 2004. Immunization rates had drop significantly in Britain because many people believed the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine caused autism. The vaccine-autism link has since been disproved, he noted.

The disease reached Iowa last year, and Dr. Rau said it has now found its way into Canada.

“It’s global travel compounded with vaccine refusal,” he said.

http://tinyurl.com/3b49fz