A Therapy Networking Evening and Almost the Weekend
Hello Friday. Hey good looking. This week went by pretty quickly and I am so grateful for the weekend. Tonight is the big Euro match featuring Austria so I know what will be on TV at home tonight. I always love it when there is a big football cup because it gives me the opportunity to drink beer and look like a soccer fan (I'm a hockey fan because hockey), usually outside on a summer night surrounded by men. There is something about a crowd of cheering Europeans that makes me feel all happy inside... maybe because it's not the angry yelling I usually encounter when I accidentally step on someone's foot on the u-bahn. Awesome.
After work today, I will head to the Esterhazy street festival. I should get there around 4 and I will go straight for a beer stand. I hope the weather holds because my hair is already looking like Ms. Frizzle from the Magic Bus. And that paired with a bright orange dress? You can't miss me! I will stay for a couple of hours and then go home to work out, have some dinner and then watch the futbol. Tomorrow I am going on a walking tour and then I have some sewing to do. I am sorry to say that I have pretty much done nada in terms of making my ball dress for next Friday so if you see me in a garbage bag at the Concordia Ball... don't ask.
I was going to do a recap of the Boy Next Door - the film starring Jlo and a man who is supposed to be 19 in the film but looks about 25 and he ends up stalking her but I'm not sure why this is a problem because dayuummm. cough. cough. I mean, I will still write a recap but I thought I would talk about last night's Therapy Networking Evening instead. I won't lie, I was nervous yesterday and I showed up early to the Beaver Brewing Company so that I could have a cheeseburger and a beer and read a crap romance novel to calm myself down. I knew that about 3 people were coming for sure and that was great. I was not expecting an additional 4 therapists showing up and that was FANTASTIC! It was an amazing evening because meeting specialists in the field of autism is always great. One thing that I have noticed that is shared among them all is their tireless dedication to making a difference, their incredible patience and their love of children. I also found out more about the system for children with autism here in Austria and it broke my heart.
Once a child is in school, if the child is failing, a teacher may only at that point, contact a representative. That representative will contact the main autism center here in Vienna and if there is someone available, they will dispatch an aide. These aides are trained psychologists who literally just sit beside the child during class. They are not supposed to do any type of therapy. They are often snubbed by the teacher. And they are not allowed to have contact with the parents. In many cases, the children themselves do not know that they have autism. WHAT?!? This is all sorts of wrong! Parents are not allowed to request aides themselves. And if the teacher refuses an aide in class, that kid is shit out o luck. UNBELIEVABLE! I sat there last night, taking big sips of beer, trying not to cry. I knew it was bad... I didn't know it was this bad.
And here are my thoughts and what I think needs to happen:
Aides are necessary for many children with autism and this needs to be common place in schools through out Vienna and Austria as a whole.
This decision is the parents' decision and the teacher needs to deal with it. Basta!
Psychologists doing their clinical studies should be shadowing trained therapists and not sitting in classrooms lying to the other students why they are sitting with one of their fellow students (this happens a lot).
Autism understanding and acceptance (as well as other disabilities) need to be part of the curriculum. Children are awesome and they will get this. Not talking about it, not educating and generally keeping the whole thing under wraps will only spread misunderstandings and taboos.
Parents need an outlet and need a union to get support. I heard about one therapist that charges 500 euros for a diagnosis. The parents fill out a questionnaire, send it back to the therapist and voila the child is diagnosed or not without them even meeting the child. If the parents have additional questions when filling out the questionnaire, they are charged extra. THIS IS CRIMINAL!
ABA therapy is rare, Floortime is unheard of. WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THIS CITY?!
Finding a therapist using evidence-based therapy is also pretty difficult. I have also heard of and experienced people overcharging for their "support". This taints it for all the other qualified therapists and specialists out there. Stop it.
Psychology degrees are non-transferable here in Austria and that means we are missing out on a huge amount of qualified people who are able and willing to help families. Again, this is criminal and we need to develop a certification scheme to enable people to work with families.
Early intervention is key in autism. The state diagnosis center has had to close their waiting list until September because they are overwhelmed. Again, how is this possible?
Rawr! I am angry again. But I also feel like I received the much needed jolt I needed. I've been procrastinating a little with my business plan so this feels like the kick in the ass that I needed. Yay! I am extremely happy with how last night went. I will be hosting another therapy networking evening in July. It is important to have trained therapists get together and discuss their concerns and their hopes for the future of autism in this country. I have also decided to make a small documentary about the state of autism here in Vienna. Nothing fancy... just a compilation of interviews with therapists working in Austria, foreign therapists and parents of children with autism. It is important to show first hand how dire it is here. And I will show it when I apply for funding. Some may call this emotional blackmail, I call it, getting what we need. Actually kind of sounds just like how I am as a wife. We will see how much longer I retain that title.
So that was last night. I walked away excited about the work ahead. I will hit a lot of resistance on the way but I am tenacious and I can be a brat and I hate being ignored so onwards and upwards! Happy Friday!
After work today, I will head to the Esterhazy street festival. I should get there around 4 and I will go straight for a beer stand. I hope the weather holds because my hair is already looking like Ms. Frizzle from the Magic Bus. And that paired with a bright orange dress? You can't miss me! I will stay for a couple of hours and then go home to work out, have some dinner and then watch the futbol. Tomorrow I am going on a walking tour and then I have some sewing to do. I am sorry to say that I have pretty much done nada in terms of making my ball dress for next Friday so if you see me in a garbage bag at the Concordia Ball... don't ask.
I was going to do a recap of the Boy Next Door - the film starring Jlo and a man who is supposed to be 19 in the film but looks about 25 and he ends up stalking her but I'm not sure why this is a problem because dayuummm. cough. cough. I mean, I will still write a recap but I thought I would talk about last night's Therapy Networking Evening instead. I won't lie, I was nervous yesterday and I showed up early to the Beaver Brewing Company so that I could have a cheeseburger and a beer and read a crap romance novel to calm myself down. I knew that about 3 people were coming for sure and that was great. I was not expecting an additional 4 therapists showing up and that was FANTASTIC! It was an amazing evening because meeting specialists in the field of autism is always great. One thing that I have noticed that is shared among them all is their tireless dedication to making a difference, their incredible patience and their love of children. I also found out more about the system for children with autism here in Austria and it broke my heart.
Once a child is in school, if the child is failing, a teacher may only at that point, contact a representative. That representative will contact the main autism center here in Vienna and if there is someone available, they will dispatch an aide. These aides are trained psychologists who literally just sit beside the child during class. They are not supposed to do any type of therapy. They are often snubbed by the teacher. And they are not allowed to have contact with the parents. In many cases, the children themselves do not know that they have autism. WHAT?!? This is all sorts of wrong! Parents are not allowed to request aides themselves. And if the teacher refuses an aide in class, that kid is shit out o luck. UNBELIEVABLE! I sat there last night, taking big sips of beer, trying not to cry. I knew it was bad... I didn't know it was this bad.
And here are my thoughts and what I think needs to happen:
Aides are necessary for many children with autism and this needs to be common place in schools through out Vienna and Austria as a whole.
This decision is the parents' decision and the teacher needs to deal with it. Basta!
Psychologists doing their clinical studies should be shadowing trained therapists and not sitting in classrooms lying to the other students why they are sitting with one of their fellow students (this happens a lot).
Autism understanding and acceptance (as well as other disabilities) need to be part of the curriculum. Children are awesome and they will get this. Not talking about it, not educating and generally keeping the whole thing under wraps will only spread misunderstandings and taboos.
Parents need an outlet and need a union to get support. I heard about one therapist that charges 500 euros for a diagnosis. The parents fill out a questionnaire, send it back to the therapist and voila the child is diagnosed or not without them even meeting the child. If the parents have additional questions when filling out the questionnaire, they are charged extra. THIS IS CRIMINAL!
ABA therapy is rare, Floortime is unheard of. WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THIS CITY?!
Finding a therapist using evidence-based therapy is also pretty difficult. I have also heard of and experienced people overcharging for their "support". This taints it for all the other qualified therapists and specialists out there. Stop it.
Psychology degrees are non-transferable here in Austria and that means we are missing out on a huge amount of qualified people who are able and willing to help families. Again, this is criminal and we need to develop a certification scheme to enable people to work with families.
Early intervention is key in autism. The state diagnosis center has had to close their waiting list until September because they are overwhelmed. Again, how is this possible?
Rawr! I am angry again. But I also feel like I received the much needed jolt I needed. I've been procrastinating a little with my business plan so this feels like the kick in the ass that I needed. Yay! I am extremely happy with how last night went. I will be hosting another therapy networking evening in July. It is important to have trained therapists get together and discuss their concerns and their hopes for the future of autism in this country. I have also decided to make a small documentary about the state of autism here in Vienna. Nothing fancy... just a compilation of interviews with therapists working in Austria, foreign therapists and parents of children with autism. It is important to show first hand how dire it is here. And I will show it when I apply for funding. Some may call this emotional blackmail, I call it, getting what we need. Actually kind of sounds just like how I am as a wife. We will see how much longer I retain that title.
So that was last night. I walked away excited about the work ahead. I will hit a lot of resistance on the way but I am tenacious and I can be a brat and I hate being ignored so onwards and upwards! Happy Friday!
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