TORONTO, Canada: The provincial government of Ernie Eves is delivering on its promise to help older children with autism, making Ontario the first Canadian province to develop a programme aimed at meeting the unique needs of these children.

"We are following through on our promise to parents of children with autism to provide a new programme and services so that elementary school-age children with autism can continue to grow and learn," said Brenda Elliott, Ontario's Minister of Community, Family and Children's Services.

Elliott announced on August 11 that the new programme, called BRIDGES, would be introduced this autumn with a demonstration site in London, Ontario. The Ministry is inviting prospective service providers in the Southwest region to submit a proposal to provide the new programme. The demonstration site is expected to be operational by early October 2003 so that delivery and implementation can be evaluated and refined before expanding to other parts of the province.

The new programme, designed with the input of a panel of experts, will help older children build the social, communication and behavioural skills that they need at home, school and in their communities.

BRIDGES will provide children with a two-hour per week, group-based programme that is intended to support and complement other community services or activities with which the child and family are involved. BRIDGES will be offered in two 16-week sessions per year, in the autumn and the spring, to mirror the school year.

By 2006-2007, Ontario will spend almost Canadian$100 million on new programmes and services for children with autism, making it a leader in developing innovative initiatives designed to improve the lives of these children and help parents raise their children with hope and dignity.

NEWHAVEN, Scotland: A widowed mother has vowed to fight through the courts for the right to send her autistic son to the school of her choice.

Veronica Rose, of Newhaven, Edinburgh, is the latest in a line of parents taking legal action against Edinburgh City Council over the right to send their children to the school of their choosing. Her move comes after the local authority refused her five-year-old son, Felix, a place at Donaldson’s College.

Mrs Rose said she believed Felix would not reach his full potential if he were sent to Kaimes special school, which is the only place the council has offered.

The mother-of-two, who lost an appeal to send him to Donaldson’s, said: "Felix has a autistic spectrum disorder and has a major speech impediment. He can repeat words, but he can’t do sentences. They’ve offered us a place at Kaimes, but that would mean him going on a bus with eight other children when he doesn’t speak. Felix has a phobia of sirens, bells and buzzers and Kaimes is on a main road."

Mrs Rose claimed that Kaimes would not provide Felix with the support he needed. "I wanted him to go to Donaldson’s where they have in-house speech therapy. At Kaimes, he would have to share therapy twice a week with eight others. He needs more than that to fulfil his potential."

Mrs Rose added that, within a month of her husband’s death, she had been asked to look at schools for Felix, but in the end had been refused a place for him at Donaldson’s despite a psychologist’s recommendation that he should go there.

South London Press, 08/07/2003

Temporary teachers who were rushed in to cover classes at a school for autistic children quit after just one day.

At least five have walked out, saying they are not happy to carry on at the private special school, BBI Education, in Vauxhall, south London. It leaves the school's pupils - many with difficult behaviour needing one-to-one attention - with 13 teachers when there were more than 35 just two weeks ago.

Bosses at the school made long-standing staff redundant claiming a cash crisis a fortnight ago. Many are still waiting for June's pay-packet.

BBI then turned to cheaper temps to plug the gap until summer holidays, even though some have no experience of autism. Four of the 18 who started training on July 7 dropped out before first lessons on July 8 and one went home at lunchtime on the second day.

The remaining 13 are in charge of 16 children, when many need one-to-one care and some need to be watched by two teachers.

Some worried parents are keeping their kids at home and say they are furious at BBI's chief, Bill Goodyear, for the upset.

Joanna Butcher, from Clapham, said her son Luke, seven, was not going back to BBI. "There's no way after all the disruption," she said. "It would do him no good at all. They changed the teachers, the classes and even the classrooms."

For his part, Goodyear said: "Some of the teachers came in for training and said to me at the end of that day this was not for them. One came in for the first day of teaching and told me she had thought about it and decided she was not right for the job. Tuesday was a very, very difficult day and a lot of the kids were very confused, because it was a major disruption. But if you came in now, the school is a different place. The teachers have settled in and the children are starting to get used to them."

Goodyear said he had interviewed all new staff, and added: "Some do not have experience of autistic children, but as a whole they have more teaching qualifications than the outgoing staff."

He said he was "more than happy" that 16 children were sharing 13 staff.

Belfast Telegraph, 24/06/2003

The need for support from professionals, teachers and the community for people who have a child with autism has never been greater, it was claimed on June 24.

Gerry McGinn, Permanent Secretary of the Department of Education, was speaking at the launch of a video and CD-ROM for parents and teachers of children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

McGinn said: "The video and CD-ROM are the first of their kind in Northern Ireland and we hope that they will be a significant resource in helping parents overcome their initial shock when their child is diagnosed with ASD, of informing them about ASD, to give them other parent's perspectives, and to highlight other sources of help and information.

He added that the Department was determined to give all young people the best start in life.
"In particular, we are committed to working towards getting that right for young people with special educational needs. These resources, along with 'ASD ? A guide to Classroom Practice,' the booklet recently issued by the Department, will help inform parents, teachers and other professionals about how to best meet the needs of the individual child with ASD.
As approximately 44 per cent of pupils in Northern Ireland with an ASD are in mainstream schools, the CD-ROM will be an invaluable tool to teachers throughout the education system."

The resources were developed by the Department of Education in partnership with Parents and Professionals Autism (PAPA), the Department of Education and Science and the Irish Society for Autism.