Medicare's Orphans: An Interview with the Producer, Jean Lewis
30/09/11 10:10
I recently had the privilege of speaking with Jean Lewis, founder of Medicare for Autism Now!, and producer of the exciting film, Medicare’s Orphans, to be released in October 26th, 2011.
In this 20 minute interview, Jean gives us the story behind the story, and delivers insight into the plight of children with autism in Canada. This is a story well worth following!
In this 20 minute interview, Jean gives us the story behind the story, and delivers insight into the plight of children with autism in Canada. This is a story well worth following!
Be sure to check out the various trailers for the film, at the links below:
Staging a Miracle: An Interview with Jason Eden
03/09/11 12:45
I had the privil
ege of speaking with Jason Eden, the author of Staging a Miracle: A Practical Parent’s Guide to Surviving an Autism Diagnosis. In this interview, Jason discusses his journey from diagnosis to treatment and ultimate success with his son. He offers much valuable advice to parents of newly diagnosed children, as well as those advocating for their children in the school system. From the shock of diagnosis, the search for treatment, the logistics of setting up and administering a treatment program, to the advocacy responsibilities, if you are a parent at the very beginning of the process, think about this book as a shield of armor to protect you against whatever may come your way. Enjoy!
Staging a Miracle: A Practical Parent's Guide to Surviving an Autism Diagnosis
18/08/11 16:35
Review of Staging a Miracle: A Practical Parent’s Guide to Surviving an Autism Diagnosis
Eden makes a valiant effort at protecting the new parent’s bank account by attacking some of the more established snake-oil cures for autism as he recommends the most science-based approach, Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). He then describes in some detail the steps he took to provide a program for his child. Eden was fortunate that there was an agency in town that enabled his family to learn quickly. Although not everyone will agree with every decision Eden made in terms of treatment, for the most part, he offers very sound advice. I particularly enjoyed his experience with people in the child’s life who refused to buy into behavioral therapy but rather, attempted to “spoil” the child and thereby, undermine the progress. Most of us have travelled down that road before...
The author also includes a chapter on how to prepare advocacy for your child and actually discusses his various techniques in detail! This chapter is very valuable because, so often, parents of children with autism do not understand that it is not their requirements that are unreasonable, and it is not their child who is creating the problem; rather, it is the system that does not adequately accommodate the child. In other words, the parent of a child with autism is not unreasonable despite the picture often painted by the “professionals” in the educational system.
Eden takes us through his thought process when shopping for school districts. He calls this section, “Fighting When It’s Not Necessary or Helpful”. Sometimes, indeed, it is good to know when not to fight…
Another important chapter discusses housing, and how to make sure that you are not discriminated against when renting a home (in his case, he changed school districts to be in a more autism friendly district). This is a valuable discussion to have since many parents are so concerned with the more pressing, immediate issues that they may not even realize that they are unwittingly sabotaging themselves and adding to the difficulty of finding appropriate housing.
From the shock of diagnosis, the search for treatment, the logistics of setting up and administering a treatment program, to the advocacy responsibilities, if you are a parent at the very beginning of the process, think about this book as a shield of armor to protect you against whatever may come your way.