Earlier, we mentioned that for the Westman area, there are two provincially funded behaviour/development therapy/enhancement programs available to families with children who are on the Spectrum. In the previous section, we went over the one that is offered directly through CDS. The second program, The Early Learning Program (ELP), is controlled by St.Amant; a non-profit organization located in Winnipeg.
St.Amant is the largest service provider for children and adults with developmental disabilities and autism in Manitoba. St.Amant supports approximately 1700 individuals each year in communities across Manitoba. 85% of services are community-based and are delivered in family homes, foster homes, and staffed residential environments. St.Amant is committed at all times to delivering services in a person- and family-centred manner, informed by a holistic understanding of a person’s needs. The St.Amant Early Learning Program uses an applied behaviour analytic approach (ABA) to teaching children with autism, with the goal of improving socially significant skills. They offer effective and individualized programming that promotes children’s participation in their family, school, and community life.
Hold up! A-B-Who-A? Let’s break that down.
Behaviour analysis is the science of behaviour, while Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) is taking that science and applying it in different social situations, to a meaningful degree. The ABA approach involves teaching social, motor, and verbal behaviours, as well as reasoning skills. Also, positive behaviour, or behaviour that is in the process of being taught, (i.e. how to use a toilet) is reinforced, and challenging behaviour is observed to discover what’s causing it so that it may be replaced with a positive behaviour. Through training, parents are taught to be observant and encouraged to take data on their child’s behaviour, with the end goal being that their children can have more independent and socially active lives. Parents are also tasked with an important element of ABA therapy: discovering relevant, favored reinforcement for the child.
ABA is considered by many to be the most effective therapeutic approach for children with ASD, and a positive outcome is more common for children who have received ABA therapy early on.
During your first intake meeting with CDS, either your Case Manager or the Autism Early Intervention Specialist should introduce both St.Amant and their Early Learning Program to you. There is a short video, approximately 30 minutes, which must be watched for you to be able to apply. The video briefly explains ABA, who St.Amant is, and what their Early Learning Program is. While it is informative, you may not be able to get a true sense of what their program is like and if it is the best fit for your family.
There are few keys points to know about the St.Amant programs:
- This is an early intervention program and therefore is only available to those who are not in school yet.
- A family may not be actively enrolled in and receiving therapy from both the CDP and the ELP at the same time as it is seen as a duplication of services.
- A family may receive sessions from the CDP at the same time as being on the waitlist for the ELP.
- Parents are not required to actively participate in the therapy sessions; they need only be available for daily living needs (i.e. diaper changing, feeding, etc.) or emergencies.
- There are two models for the ELP from which you can choose to take part in depending on your household needs and scheduling:
- The Focused Model which consists of 15.5 hours a week of one-on-one support with your child.
- The Comprehensive Model which consists of 31 hours a week of one-on-one support with your child.
- There are several very informative workshops and parenting sessions available through St.Amant, some of which may be mandatory for attendance as part of the ELP (Note – teleconferencing may be available to rural families. Please contact St.Amant directly for more information.)
- Should you get through the waitlist, accept an opening in the ELP, and then find that it is possibly not the best service for your child and family, you may withdraw from the ELP and reapply for the CDS Child Development Program. You will not be able to switch back again to the ELP once withdrawn and will have to go through the CDP waitlist again before restarting Child Development sessions.
Prairie Spectrum was able to conduct an interview with St.Amant to get a better understanding of how their services work and what families can expect. So as to not mince words and provide you with answers straight from the source, below is an expert from that interview, describing the Early Learning Program.
Q: What can parents expect from their first session?
A: There are a few steps before the program can begin. The first includes an initial intake meeting with staff to review the program with you. Then there is a period of assessment to help us learn more about your child’s strengths and needs. The assessment period, and subsequent sessions, varies from family to family, and the location can vary as well from the family home, daycare settings, or a classroom run by St.Amant. Our program generally looks like a mixture of play, various activities and one to one teaching on individualized goals for your child. Our Autism Tutors repeat this throughout the day to maximize teaching time, in a fun and engaging way. The teaching goal is what we call a ‘program’ and consists of the skill that we are trying to teach, broken down into manageable steps for your child to learn. Programs are based on assessment results and the goals the family and team members have set together. For example, if one of the goals is for your child to learn to ask for a desired item, such as their favourite toy, movie, or video game, the Tutor will have various activities broken into small steps to teach the child how to do this in a successful way. The first few sessions in our program may look less structured as the Tutor gets to know your child, playing together and building rapport.
Q: As I understand it, for families in Westman, there are two options for early intervention programs offered from St.Amant: please explain the similarities and differences between these two program options.
A: We invite you to visit our website which provides you with our most up to date program information on our Autism Early Learning Program:
https://stamant.ca/programs/autism-services/early-learning-program/
* Please note that services in distant rural areas may differ and we work with families all over Manitoba to ensure that comparable services are available
Q: What level of participation is mandated for parents as a part of the early intervention program?
A: In the Early Learning Program and School-Age Learning Program, parents provide five hours a week of teaching. Parents teach programs designed by clinical staff and are supported to learn how to teach the material. Parents will teach a variety of skills in the areas of communication, social skills, and daily living skills such as using the toilet, asking for items or playing with toys and others. The family and the team members work together to decide which goals are most important. Parents also participate in their child’s monthly clinic meeting (1.5 – 3.5 hours a month). If other meetings occur between staff, your child’s school and/or child care facilities, parents are also encouraged to participate in those.
A side note: A clinic meeting usually happens at your home and is an opportunity for the team from St.Amant, who supports your child and family, to get together with you to review programs, progress and any challenges that may be occurring with your child’s programming. This is also an opportunity for other clinicians involved with your family, (i.e., Speech and Language Pathologists, Occupational Therapists, etc.,) to get together with our team to best plan for your child’s current and future programming goals.
Q: Sometimes a child is diagnosed later in their infancy than others, resulting in them “aging out” of the early intervention program due to waitlist time. In that situation, what options are available, through St.Amant, to those families? How do they work? What are those wait times like?
A: Wait times vary throughout the year and we make every effort to work with our funders to ensure that children receive services. If a child ages out (reaches the age of school eligibility) before receiving services, we offer a variety of programs for people on the Autism Spectrum and offer workshops and training for families and schools. We invite you to visit our website for further information on our current services: www.stamant.ca
Q: What if the parents keep the child back from entering school by one year (i.e. if the child is born after Sept or not functioning well enough to enter a classroom setting yet). Do at home intensive therapy sessions St.Amant continue? If no, why not?
A: Based on our current model of service and eligibility, the Early Learning Program provides up to two years of services, plus up to one year of less intensive programming, until the September of the year the child turns five years of age. Although parents can decide to defer school entry for their child, children must exit the Early Learning Program the September of their fifth birthday regardless of whether or not the child is starting school.
Q: How do St.Amant services change when a child reaches school age (K)? What about when they reach grades 1-6 (how the services change, stop, or get transferred to another organization/program option, etc.)? Grades 7-12? Age 18+?
A: We invite you to visit our website which provides you with our most up to date program information:
St.Amant Autism Early Learning Program:
https://stamant.ca/programs/autism-services/early-learning-program/
St.Amant Autism School-Age Learning Program:
https://stamant.ca/programs/autism-services/school-age-learning-program/
St.Amant also provided us with these descriptions of the core members of who will become part of your child’s support team.
Autism Consultant: The Autism Consultant is responsible for assessing your child’s skills and designing your child’s individualized intervention in order to help target skills in the areas of communication, social skills, play, life skills, and academics. They are also responsible for guiding the training of Autism Tutors and parents, and evaluating and modifying, as needed, the programming goals that are in place for your child in collaboration with the parents and other team members.
Autism Senior Tutor: The Autism Senior Tutor will be providing training to the Autism Tutors on programs, procedures and recommendations that are designed by the Autism Consultant. The Autism Senior Tutor also takes a lead role in supporting and training parents on their child’s programs and procedures. They also support the Autism Consultant in carrying out the programming goals and will enter the data that are collected by the Autism Tutors and parents.
Autism Tutor: The Autism Tutors will work one-on-one with your child on a daily basis, during business hours. They will help to teach your child various skills in the areas of social skills, communication, play, life skills and academics. The programs and recommendations are designed, in collaboration with you, by your Autism Consultant who will lead your child’s team.
Click here to go to the Prairie Spectrum description of the CDS Child Development Program
Click here to go to the Prairie Spectrum description of the Westman Child Development Centre