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We have all been given the unfortunate news that Waterside will be closing it’s doors for service on May 31 this year.  For many this place is a stepping stone, but for myself it has been my career for over 15 years and so I wanted to share some of it’s history with you.

For good reason, families, teachers and others want to know how they can promote language development in nonverbal children or teenagers with autism. The good news is that research has produced a number of effective strategies.

The main reason I decided to give up August in Beautiful British Columbia and fly halfway around the world to Australia, where it was winter, was to discover how services to people with developmental disabilities were faring under the very rapid implementation of the change from block State funding to a National individualized-funding-based ‘insurance’ model of paying for disability services.  This would be similar to having all Canadian provincial governments cease their funding of services after Ottawa takes over and creates a disability fund by adding a 1.5% levy on all taxpayers.

The takeaway was that I am really happy to not be working in Australia.

There was no end to the exploration and creativity for the children. The blocks were simple to use and safe for all ages. Unlike other wooden blocks, Tegu blocks are able to keep its structure while the children manipulated them with their imaginations.

Set up correctly, a Henson Trust would be preferably set up on the passing of the parents and would therefore enjoy a marginal tax rate thereby offering tax relief in most cases. We must watch for anything that could jeopardize that status.