The Developmental Disabilities Association would like to wish all of you a fantastic holidays (whatever you celebrate!), and a Happy New Year.

Enjoy your long weekends.

The next blog should be up by Tuesday! Stay tuned:)

Here’s more guest-blogging from Jason continuing his story from Monday!

December 11^th 2009 our staff set off to give back to charities, offering Christmas cheer in the form of new warm jackets and fleeces for those in need in Vancouver.

Jason Smith, DDT Assistant Bin Manager, had the pleasure of driving Santa’s helpers’ Truman, a Donation Centre Staff Member, and Blaine, a DDA courier, to charities in Downtown Vancouver and the East side of city.  Blaine and Truman were great representatives of DDA as they dropped off clothing for children, teens and adults.

Andrew from Covenant House was excited to be able to offer new warm clothing to the youth they care for. The staff from MSC 1092 was happy to receive youth and children jackets to help support battered women. The next stop was the Gathering Place where Truman and Blaine left behind 30 fleeces to help the homeless as they struggle through this winter. Other stops included: Gordon Neighborhood House, Union Gospel Mission and 1^st United Church Mission

As the snow slowly fell on this day of giving I could see the pride that Blaine and Truman had in helping those in need on behalf of all of DDA.

Best wishes this holiday season from all at DDA.

- Jason, Truman, & Blaine

So as Victor mentioned in the last blog post, I’ll be taking over the blogs for the next little while. For today, though, I’ve recruited some help from a guest blogger, Jason!

To kick off the Holiday Season and in the spirit of giving, we received a generous shipment of winter jackets which were a direct donation to our clients. We made sure that all clients needing and wanting winter wear had received a jacket.

With what was remaining, we helped them fundraise as well. Thanks to all the staff that helped out, we had a very successful winter jacket sale in December. Over the first two weeks of December we sold $1,500.00 worth of new winter wear including coats and jackets for all ages! In addition to raising an incredible amount of money, over 100 DDA Clients received a new winter coat including infants, children and adults.

After the distribution and the sales of the jackets, and ensuring that we  had taken care of DDA clients, we looked into helping out families connected to DDA. We added to their gifts with sports jackets, fleece sweaters, stuffed toys and other small household goods to a family that was sponsored by 11 of our Day Programs. Special thanks to Pandora, DDA’s Human Resources Coordinator for organizing these gifts for the families.

Hopefully, the distribution of these jackets will keep more people warm this Winter.

In the next blog entry, we’ll talk about just how we took it a step further, and gave back to the community!

Firstly, on a side note, I will be away on vacation until January 15th. Joyce will be taking care of both @DDA604 and our blog. I’m looking forward to reading plenty of her tweets and blogs though!

On December 17, I attended the Christmas Party for Champlain Child Development Centre. There was quite a turnout, with plenty of delicious food. It was a potluck style party (thank you, Katharine, the manager at Champlain, for inviting me, and sorry for coming empty handed), with probably somewhere around 100 people present. The food prepared was a decadent mix of foods ranging from baked mac n’ cheese to sushi and pot-stickers. The parents and staff at Champlain definitely went all-out ensuring that the event would be a success. Additionally, plenty of desserts were prepared for the event, of which all the children (and adults) could not get enough of.

It was plenty of fun, and a definite success for Champlain’s Christmas Party. I always look forward to the great parties hosted at Champlain, and can’t wait till the next one.

Champlain Child Development Centre is located in East Vancouver and services approximately 41 children including both children with special needs and typical needs. It is an inclusive integrated environment that provides a fun and safe environment for children ages 2 -5. For more information on our Child Development Centres, please visit our website.

We’re proud to be the first Canadian organization to be partnered with the College of Direct Support, an internet-based college that provides higher education for front-line staff. The additional tools and education provided by the College of Direct Support allows our staff to stay informed and educated, with the best practices and policies for serving the people we support. The College of Direct Support was developed by the University of Minnesota Institute on Community Integration and provides carefully designed training in the areas that have been identified as most important in the work done by Direct Support Professionals across disabilities.

In addition to being the first Canadian organization to partner with the College of Direct Support, the Developmental Disabilities Association has also been featured in the College of Direct Support Partner Profile under their December 2009 newsletter.

This is a special guest blog post by our Executive Director, Alanna Hendren, on the Autism Treatment Acceleration Act and the differences between Canadian and American efforts in creating positive change for people with developmental disabilities.

The Healthcare debate in the U.S. is bringing forth legislative amendments and new bills that will strengthen the American medical/social safety net. Comprehensive autism legislation has also been introduced in the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Called the Autism Treatment Acceleration Act (ATAA), the bill creates a demonstration project to develop Autism Care Centers in order to provide a single point of coordination and services for families and their relatives with autism. A ‘personal primary care coordinator’ will be selected at the Centers to act as a fixed point of responsibility for families, who will have access to a full array of medical, behavioral, mental health, educational and family care services – all at a single center. Families will also be able to access services in the community such as post-secondary education, vocational training, employment, residential services, housing, health and wellness training, recreation, social activities and transportation.

The bill also creates an Interdepartmental Coordinating Committee to coordinate government activities related to autism, such as research, services and programs at the federal, state and local levels. A national data repository will also be created to share best practices, research findings, effective treatments, and so on.

Most importantly for American families, the bill will also require that health insurers cover the diagnosis and treatment costs of autism spectrum disorders with no maximum caps on spending per year or per lifetime. Covered treatments include: ABA therapy, medications, occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech therapy, family support, psychiatric/psychological services, professional counseling, communication devices, and structured behavioral programs.

Services to people with other developmental disabilities are not covered specifically in this legislation, but Congress is ensuring that “reform of the health care system in the U.S. responds to the basic needs of people with disabilities by making certain that health care coverage is available and affordable to all people with disabilities without pre-existing condition limitations.” This will prevent people with disabilities from having to liquidate their assets or stop working in order to qualify for services under Medicaid. Incentives within legislation also encourage and reward state expenditures on community-based versus institutionalized services.

The need for qualified, trained staff is also included in proposed legislation and recognized in the allocation of stimulus funds. This is in stark contrast to the ‘dumbing down’ of qualifications we have experienced in B.C. over the past few years, particularly in adult services.

The current contrast between American and Canadian efforts related to autism and disability services are stark. Here, there are no federal programs or initiatives regarding autism or developmental disability services and no incentives for provinces to provide services either. Rather than locating in ‘centers of excellence’, funding in B.C. has been given to individual families to purchase services from people who may or may not have the skills to provide them. Most families cannot afford to purchase the services their children need. Once they are adults, people with autism in B.C. will be added to already-long waitlists held by Community Living BC (CLBC) if they qualify.

Effective February 2010, CLBC has been mandated to provide services and supports to adults with autism (regardless of IQ, based on functional assessments) and Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, but the funding allocated will be insufficient and there has yet to be a plan released regarding how the needs of these unique populations will be met, particularly in an environment of budget cuts across Ministries.

During the economic good times that others have enjoyed in B.C. and Canada in the past decade or so, there was no money for child care, social services, housing, people with developmental disabilities, or to alleviate child poverty. Disadvantaged groups became more disadvantaged. In the U.S. at least they have now realized that investing in children, families and people with disabilities is the right thing to do, even during their worst economic recession since the Great Depression.

Canadian legislators in the meantime are content to download all responsibilities to the provinces, which in turn download to entities like CLBC who, without appropriate resources, download all responsibilities back to families.  Unlike the Olympics, there have been no federal subsidies for people with disabilities and unlike policymakers south of the border, there are no federal champions for legislation that would benefit people with autism or other disabilities. We can only hope that the enthusiasm and optimism currently experienced by families and self-advocates in the United States will one day find its way north, to a country that used to be a world leader in humanitarianism and compassion.

The Developmental Disabilities Association has just launched their new fully functional, Chinese translated website. Our Chinese website provides a new online resource that caters to our Chinese viewers. Survey results and anecdotal information led us to the decision of producing this website.

We’d like to thank Quote EndQuote Cross-Cultural Strategy for their transliteration services on their website. Quote EndQuote, along with our dedicated multilingual staff at DDA, helped refine our translated website to reflect our audience best.

If you know of any family or friends that are interested in our services but more comfortable reading Chinese than English, please forward them to the Developmental Disabilities Association’s Chinese website (智障人士協會).

About Quote EndQuote (QEQ): QEQ is a marketing and business strategy consultancy that helps organizations truly understand (and ultimately prosper within) the ethno-cultural landscape in Canada, rethink corporate direction, develop strategies to capitalize on opportunities and execute quantifiable and culturally-effective means of communications. For more information, call 778-371.3629 or visit www.quoteendquote.ca.

“Alisa and the team at QEQ developed and delivered a successful customized outreach to the Chinese, South Asian and Filipino homeowners.  Callers to the custom Ethnic call centre were very appreciative that there were knowledgeable representatives who spoke their language.” – Mark Hartman, Buildings Energy Programs Manager, City of Vancouver, Sustainability Group

Thanks again, Quote Endquote!

CORE Day Program had their annual Family Christmas Party today.

I didn’t attend last year, but I made certain that I’d go this year. It was extremely fun. Clients and their families arrived much earlier than I did, so I basically showed up to a full venue. There were two banquet tables FULL of food. There were samosas,turkey, chicken, meatballs, cupcakes, cookies, and much, much more!

Clients and families came out for this joyous event, and there was even a special appearance by Santa himself! He gave out Christmas presents and took plenty of photos with everyone there. Even I received a cool present!

My first CORE Christmas party, and they made it a very memorable one!

For more information on our Day Programs, please visit  our website at www.develop.bc.ca!

Guest Blog: This blog entry was contributed by the Developmental Disabilities Association’s Director of Community Programs, Deanne Ziebart.

At each of our DDA programs and sites hangs a copy of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.  It declares that there will be no discrimination based on gender, religion etc. and includes people with disabilities.  This guarantees that our clients can access public spaces, gather as a group and protest or access generic government services like all Canadians.  We teach our clients that they have the right to their own privacy, choices and feelings.  They can be employed and open bank accounts, get married, divorced or enter a same sex relationship.  They can access their community centres and libraries and attend public events with their neighbours. December 10, International Human Rights Day, is a day to celebrate those things.  But we still have work to do!  Unfortunately,  neither our Charter nor other legislation provides a guarantee of access to programs and specialized services that enable people to reach their full potential, which is the mission of our Association.  Rights and Freedoms are a very important first step, but programs and services that lead to meaningful inclusion are also necessary.

I think it goes without saying – we throw great parties. Our holiday open house finished at around 6pm last night, with plenty of different crafts sold. Many of the people we support were in attendance, along with staff and family members. This was an excellent opportunity for all of us to get together, celebrate our successes, and enjoy the different craft tables, food, wine and desserts we were serving.

We had some stellar crafts done up by Sheryl and Lena. Sheryl’s table hosted an assortment of cards, while Lena showcased her novel “felt story” finger puppets.

For more information on the crafts done by Sheryl, you can visit her website here or follow her on Twitter @sureL.

Our Main Street Drop-In hosted a table with homemade jams, rice crispies, and other goodies.

If you missed out on our Holiday Open House and Craft Fair, you definitely need to make sure it’s on your calendar for next year. It’s the event we’re always excited and looking out for. You can also get your own craft table next year for only $10. This year, I think we had close to 300 people come out, and about 20 different craft tables! We look forward to seeing everybody coming out again next year!