ACT-Autism Community Training is improving access to information for B.C. families with children with autism spectrum disorder by translating the Parent’s Autism Handbook into Arabic, Chinese, French, Japanese, Korean, Persian (Farsi), Punjabi and Spanish.

The Ministry of Children and Family Development’s ‘A Parent’s Handbook: Your Guide to Autism Programs’ provides important information to families about the range of autism services and supports offered in B.C. – from assessment and diagnosis to autism funding programs.

The guide provides parents with step-by-step instructions on how to set up an Autism Intervention Program with various agencies for their child. Or, depending on their child’s unique needs, what specialists may work with their child, including behavioural analysts, speech pathologists and physical therapists. And often most important, what best practice looks like and what parents can expect from their intervention team, including average remuneration rates.

As the most ethnically diverse province in Canada, British Columbia must ensure that all citizens have equal access to information and resources. This includes new Canadians adapting to a new language, as well as multilingual British Columbians wanting to access information in their first language. By translating this vital resource into the most common languages used by ACT clients, we can help more families access the information they need as soon as they need it.

Translated handbooks will be available online in spring 2017. To access the Autism Handbook (English version), visit: http://www.mcf.gov.bc.ca/autism/pdf/autism_handbook_web.pdf

Quick Facts:

• B.C. supports over 11,700 children and youth diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and their families through autism funding programs.
• Through one-time funding of $64,000 from the B.C. government, ACT will translate the handbook into eight languages to ensure this resource is accessible to more families in B.C.
• Government provides more than $285 million annually for services that support children and youth with ASD and their families – including assessments, early intervention planning and education for students throughout B.C.
• B.C. is the only province in Canada with a no-waitlist policy for families to access autism funding once their child or youth has received a confirmed diagnosis of ASD.