School division begins autism pilot project
Posted By Jennifer Blake Progress Staff
Updated 8 days ago
Erin Bond and Julie Saltuklaroglu from Autism Partnership in Calgary spent four days last week training local parents, teachers and other people who work with children with autism in Applied Behavioural Analysis. The training is a pilot project for the Northwest School Division.Photo by Jennifer Blake | |
It has been a long road but parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are beginning to see the light.
Last week, a pilot project for the Northwest School Division was kicked off with four days of intensive training, not only for parents but for teachers, educational assistants, psychologists and others who live and work with autistic children on a regular basis.
Carolyn Forsey, a parent of an autistic child has been working for years to bring this training to Saskatchewan. In the past year she has garnered the support she was looking for from the provincial government and in the spring received $83,000 in project funding.
On Monday, 63 participants, including children, parents, teachers and supporters gathered at the Alliance Church in Meadow Lake to begin the training. With the help of Calgary-based Autism Partnership, Forsey was able to begin the process of training them in Applied Behavioural Analysis, a proven effective training technique.
Julie Saltuklaroglu, Site Director for Autism Partnership and Erin Bond, Program Coordinator, conducted much of the training along with Forsey. On Monday morning, Saltuklaroglu and Bond explained that the training would begin to dispel some of the myths surrounding autism, because one of the main goals of ABA is integrating autistic children into society. One teacher said she was told working with an autistic child was like digging a hole with a feather - next to impossible. A parent said a close relative believed her child would go nowhere in life.
“Working with a child with autism is not impossible,” said Saltuklaroglu.
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