Nov 6, 2018, Revelstoke (B.C.) Review: Bringing a little bit of magic to Revelstoke Secondary School https://www.revelstokereview.com/home/bringing-a-little-bit-of-magic-to-revelstoke-secondary-school/ … Brushy is a yellow lab, trained by Pacific Assistance Dogs Society (PADS) and placed with Dana Reaume to work in partnership with her at Revelstoke Secondary School…. “Brushy does a really great job at just bringing a calm presence and a connection to kids that are unconnected,” Reaume said. “He seems to have this magic way of wandering through the school and finding the kids that needs him, or the staff member sometimes too.” Brushy was raised by what PADS calls “puppy raisers” and given extensive training. He has travelled across the country and to see different experts and Reaume estimates that PADS invested between $30,000 and $50,000 in him. “These dogs are bred and university trained for exactly the job that they are going to do,” she said. PADS is recognized accredited through Assistance Dogs International, which sets standards for behaviour and training in assistance dogs that is “unparalleled” Reaume said. … “Just that pressure and that presence is such a grounding feeling and a lot of my students who have experienced trauma, who experience trauma daily, really utilize that service that he provides to ground, to be present in the day,” Reaume said. But it isn’t just the calming puppy cuddles that make Brushy so valuable. Working with Brushy also teaches kids to be assertive. …
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Childhood Lost
Children today are noticeably different from previous generations, and the proof is in the news coverage we see every day. This site shows you what’s happening in schools around the world. Children are increasingly disabled and chronically ill, and the education system has to accommodate them. Things we've long associated with autism, like sensory issues, repetitive behaviors, anxiety and lack of social skills, are now problems affecting mainstream students. Blame is predictably placed on bad parenting (otherwise known as trauma from home).
Addressing mental health needs is as important as academics for modern educators. This is an unrecognized disaster. The stories here are about children who can’t learn or behave like children have always been expected to. What childhood has become is a chilling portent for the future of mankind.
Anne Dachel, Media editor, Age of Autism
http://www.ageofautism.com/media/
(John Dachel, Tech. assist.)
What will happen in another 4 years? How can we go on like this? This is a national (and international) problem of monumental proportions. We have an entire new class of children who cannot be accommodated by the system: many are manifestly neurologically impaired. Meanwhile, the government and the medical profession sleep on regardless.
John Stone,
UK media editor, Age of Autism
The generation of American children born after 1990 are arguably the sickest generation in the history of our country.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
It seemed to me that with rising autism prevalence, you’d also see rising autism costs to society, and it turns out, the costs are catastrophic.
They calculated that in 2015 autism cost the United States $268 billion and they projected that if autism continues at its current rate, we’re looking at one trillion dollars a year in autism costs by 2025, so within five years.
Toby Rogers, PhD, Political economist
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