{"id":10396,"date":"2019-05-26T20:00:05","date_gmt":"2019-05-26T23:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelaker.ca\/?p=10396"},"modified":"2019-05-26T20:00:05","modified_gmt":"2019-05-26T23:00:05","slug":"autism-n-s-pilot-program-gets-rave-reviews-from-three-mps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/?p=10396","title":{"rendered":"Autism N.S. pilot program gets rave reviews from three MPs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Program being launched at eight locations, including Autism N.S. chapters in the Sotuh Shore and Autism Truro <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

BEDFORD: <\/strong>Three\n Halifax-area MPs who were among the Atlantic Liberal caucus to advocate\n for a pilot program from Autism Nova Scotia had the opportunity to hear\n from the brains behind it on May 22 in Bedford.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inside the Autism\n N.S. offices in Sun Tower, Sackville-Preston-Chezzetcook MP Darrell \nSamson; Dartmouth-Cole Harbour MP Darren Fisher; and Halifax MP Andy \nFillmore listened to Yevonne Le Lacheur and Danielle Griffin, who has \nautism, as they provided a short, half hour presentation on the Healthy \nRelationships, Sexuality and Autism (HRSA) program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A federal \ninvestment from Ottawa is helping Autism N.S. spread the 12-module \nprogram to eight partner locations across Atlantic Canada, including at \nAutismNS chapters in the Annapolis Valley; Truro; and the South Shore. \nThey are also partnered with Autism Connections Fredericton, N.B.; \nCentres de l\u2019autism NB Autism Centres; Autism P.E.I.; Autism Society of \nNL; and Stars for Life Foundation for Autism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HRSA supports teens \nand adults (19 yrs and up) with autism through introducing concepts of \nsexuality and social skills in interactive, sex-positive, inclusive \nsexuality education lessons. They meet twice a week for two hours (at a \ntime) for eight weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the topics include: Human \nDevelopment; Gender; Relationships; Sexual Behaviours; Sexual Health; \nSocial Interactions; Dating; and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The presentation included a Fact or Myth game where Le Lacheur and Griffin posed a question as part of the presentation. Those in attendance could show their answer with a stick provided that had fact on one side and myth on the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Halifax-area MPs Darren Fisher; Darrell Samson; and Andy Fillmore attended a presentation on Healthy Relationships, Sexuality and Autism (HRSA) program the feds are funding. It will be an Atlantic province program from Autism N.S., with plans to expand it nationally. Holding the binder with the program information inside are Samson and Griffin. (Healey photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Griffin\n explained while those who are non-autistic seem to understand the body \nlanguage they see\u2014whether it\u2019s how to flirt; the signs of interest; or \nwhat and how to go on a date, some of those with autism struggle with \nthat understanding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe sex education programs in schools seems \nto assume we will learn the skills and knowledge as we go on dates,\u201d she\n said. \u201cBut for someone like myself who doesn\u2019t have flair, we miss many\n of the life lessons.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The program aims to fill in the life lessons and gaps that they sometimes miss, said Griffin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom\n anatomy to social thinking, it covers everything imaginable,\u201d she said.\n \u201cThe program gives us all the skills we require in order to fully dive \ninto this and explore new areas for us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Le Lacheur said the program aligns with standards on sexualization and that is how it was built.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s\n comprehensive sexuality education, which is a different concept then \nsexual education as it\u2019s not focused on just reproduction and STIs,\u201d she\n said. \u201cIt\u2019s focusing on social skills, it\u2019s focused on emotions, \ndating, and different types of relationships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a really \ncomprehensive look at sexuality and taking that idea and recognizing it \nas not just who the person is attracted to, but all aspects of that \npersons life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fillmore asked how they are going about rolling the\n program out. Le Lacheur said they are doing it through community \npartners in Atlantic Canada as a result of the two-year funding support \nreceived from the federal government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Samson said Autism N.S. made it simple for them to advocate to the chequebook holders that HRSA deserved funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\n can\u2019t do that without experts in the field, so when we hear from people\n on the ground and sharing those important concepts and initiatives, it \nmakes it easier for us to sell that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before the presentation, the MPs were given a tour to see exactly the good work that those employed with Autism N.S. are doing to support individuals on the autism spectrum.

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Program being launched at eight locations, including Autism N.S. chapters in the Sotuh Shore and Autism Truro BEDFORD: Three Halifax-area MPs who were among the Atlantic Liberal caucus to advocate for a pilot program from Autism Nova Scotia had the opportunity to hear from the brains behind it on May 22 in Bedford. Inside the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10397,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[527,528,93,529,2,50,530,531,532],"class_list":["post-10396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","tag-andy-fillmore","tag-bedford","tag-darrell-samson","tag-darren-fisher","tag-fall-river","tag-halifax","tag-healthy-relationships","tag-liberal-government","tag-sexuality-and-autism-hrsa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10396\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}