ACT Holiday Hours

ACT will be closed December 25th to January 1st and will reopen on Monday, January 4th at 8:30AM. In case of emergency, please call 778-945-1086; this number will be monitored during the holiday season.

If you have a general question that can wait until the New Year, please leave a voicemail at 604-205-5467.

Apply to Present

ACT’s 12th Annual Focus on Research: Autism & Family Quality of Life – Developing Culturally Responsive Research and Intervention Programs

See details and download application Deadline to apply to present is January 18, 2016.

ACT’s 12th Annual Focus on Research Conference will provide a forum for researchers, community organizations, educators and parents to consider the realities facing marginalized families who have children affected by Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and other developmental disabilities, including Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Intellectual Disabilities.

Apply to present – see details and download application. Deadline to apply to present is January 18, 2016. The conference will be held April 15 & 16.

ACT Welcomes Parent Coaching Intervention Research Project

ACT – Autism Community Training (ACT) is delighted to be chairing the Parent Coaching Steering Committee that will put in place an innovative research project targeting the needs of B.C. families who suspect that their very young child has an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The $3 million project has the potential to answer many research questions about the value of parent coaching in changing the developmental path of children who develop autism. It is being funded by the Government of British Columbia and is the only project of its kind in Canada targeting children under three years of age focusing on researching parent coaching. For the Government of B.C.’s news release see: Autism research project to help B.C. parents of young children.

ACT welcomes the opportunity to partner in this project with the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research and with the Pacific Autism Family Centre, as well as the Ministry of Children and Family Development. One of ACT’s interests will be to see whether this research can help pinpoint ways of supporting families from chronically under-served groups within the autism community, including aboriginal families, recent immigrants, refugees and those living in rural and remote communities.

ACT looks forward to working with the many professionals and agencies across B.C. who will welcome the opportunity to support parent coaching. Collaboration with community health nurses and speech-language pathologists based in public health units, organizations such as the Infant Development Program (IDP) and Aboriginal IDP, professionals who specialize in autism, as well as organizations supporting immigrants, all will be key to reaching vulnerable families and their children.

Upcoming Events

Vancouver Island this Spring

February 20^th, 2016 – Sidney
Positive Behavior Support: What Parents Need to Know! Presented by Brenda Fossett, Ph.D., BCBA-D

Save the Date! – 2016 Events with Roy Richard Grinker, Michelle Garcia Winner and Sarah Ward

Details and registration coming soon

April 15 & 16, 2016, Vancouver
ACT’s 12th Annual Focus on Research – co-sponsored by Simon Fraser University

Autism & Family Quality of Life – Developing Culturally Responsive Research and Intervention Programs
Keynote speaker: Roy Richard Grinker, author of Unstrange Minds (www.unstrange.com/)

August 4 & 5, 2016, Vancouver
Michelle Garcia Winner and Pamela Crooke from Social Thinking®

September 15 & 16, 2016. Richmond
Sarah Ward from Cognitive Connections Therapy, LLP