Gov't gfx show: @bcndpcaucus.bsky.social are removing 18,000 disabled Autistic kids from AFU, into an inequitable, inaccessible, income-tested pgm; many 'missing middle' fams earning $50K net/yr and up will exp a CoL increase, and/or loss of long est supports. #BCPoli www.tiktok.com/@clearancesc...

Setting aside her early 2020 "you can still ski" BS, when every other province was like 'wait a second, maybe we should think about prevention here,' plus ça change (how many times does history have to repeat before either she is replaced, or she learns to follow science?):

Super encouraging that the science in #BCPoli still hasn’t advanced, and @bcndpcaucus.bsky.social’s PHO still believes we breathe through our hands (and that she controls all viruses, to service travel & tourism season)! 😆😆 BC continues to be a scientific backwater.

Heartwarming scene: Black Cyber Truck driving past local school, at the end of recess. A large amount of children run for the school’s fence, yelling “boo” and giving the thumbs down gesture. 🥰

. @davidebybc.bsky.social's @bcndpcaucus.bsky.social has never met a piece of evidence or science they didn't like to ignore, hey? COVID is Airborne; masks, clean air work✅ Safe Supply works✅ Decriminalization works✅ Early Intervention (Autism) works✅ Standard Time is the better option (not DST)✅

Please consider signing this petition. #BCPoli #BCEd actionnetwork.org/petitions/pe...

February is Inclusive Education Month. Seems like a good time to remind parents that: Integration does NOT equal Inclusion/Inclusive Education. Inclusive Education means disabled students having access to ALL of their needed educational supports, in order to succeed in their goals. #BCEd #BCPoli

TikTok video pertaining to this important study, and highlighting why cutting supports to certain disabled kids in BC right now is so underhanded. #BCPoli #Disability #Exclusion #GreenScreen 👇🏻 www.tiktok.com/@clearancesc...

Leaving this here for the people advocating for a reduction in supports for disabled kids in #BCPoli. And yes, our politicians and public health reps are well aware of findings like this. (What’s that about early intervention?) H/t @dlingenfelter.bsky.social www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

This is *exactly* like everyone saying: “Welp! We all have to get COVID now, it’s endemic”, and No? We eliminated a whole ass strain of influenza in 2020/21 - we absolutely do not need to live with endless infections. But, complying in advance, so people can fly and eat in restaurants, won out. 🤷‍♀️

February is Inclusive Education Month. Seems like a good time to remind parents that: Integration does NOT equal Inclusion/Inclusive Education. Inclusive Education means disabled students having access to ALL of their needed educational supports, in order to succeed in their goals. #BCEd #BCPoli

<interlude> It's not pronounced "Lilly-Hammer" 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Boosting an incredibly import BC petition. #CdnPoli

Please consider signing this petition. #BCPoli #BCEd actionnetwork.org/petitions/pe...

Abled parents of disabled kids: Remember, often, you are "in community" with disabled parents of disabled kids, and the negative, ableist things you say about (your and other) disabled kids are also harmful to the disabled adults hearing them.

I can't relax about: my kids being unable to access equitable education my kids and their (lack of) disability supports lack of access to safe, equitable healthcare being exposed to a neverending pandemic needing to constantly challenge gov't doublespeak, used to justify all of the above, and more

The BC NDP, self-styled as a progressive party for the people, would vocally stand in opposition to all of these harmful, regressive policies. Policies which they now champion under the guise of equity and justice and progress, but which continue to perpetuate and deepen systemic harm.

I don't think any of us ever expect things to be easy. But, sometimes, it would be nice to just relax. I don't know what it's like to relax anymore, and most of the lack of relaxation stems from bad government policy - a lot of it spearheaded by @bcndpcaucus.bsky.social. I'm so fucking tired.

Pausing my gov't-related rants for half a second to ask: How the heck did the Ref/Linesman RIGHT THERE (?!) miss this?! Whew. (And can we talk about how both teams from Czechia took out both of our captains? It's the hockey upsidedown.) #Olypmics #NotTheCount #Hockey #TMM

Your 'enemies' are not other disabled kids and their parents. Your 'enemies' are government workers who have denied supports for your kids all these years -- and are now pitting disabled kids against each other.

It never ceases to amaze me what people will do - whom within their own communities they will sell out - once they have access/proximity to power, and believe themselves insulated from harm. We see it with media, community advocates, those who run for political office. Morals, ethics be damned.

It never ceases to amaze me what people will do - whom within their own communities they will sell out - once they have access/proximity to power, and believe themselves insulated from harm. We see it with media, community advocates, those who run for political office. Morals, ethics be damned.

"I'll just pull up the ladder behind me" - a BCNDP MLA probably

📣Jodie Wickens is a SELL OUT📣 Is it the fact her kid has aged out of AFU that makes her not care about Autistic kids anymore? Or is it the fact that receiving an MLA paycheque means she's lost touch with other families in this province? Talk about hypocrisy. Shame. On. You. @bcndp.bsky.social

Also: what makes you all think that the gov't won't later take away these supports from your kids, too, just as they are now doing to Autistic kids? Either it's support, inclusion, & solidarity for ALL disabled kids, or gov't sees the cracks they can exploit to make things even worse for all kids.

If it was bad that your kids were unsupported, then how is it good that other disabled kids will now go unsupported? Can you hear yourselves? The dissonance?

My questions in this thread. All remained in review. Apparently they were seen as unsafe. Unsafe to whom/what, exactly? The incredibly inequitable footing upon which the gov't always stands? Or the dissonance they try to ignore to convince themselves they're good people? bsky.app/profile/jacl...

Whole ass "adults" on the internet **gleefully** punching down on disabled kids who will now be unsupported (just as their kids have unjustly been all these years), and their parents who are now facing the prospect of stepping into the shoes the bully parents have just learned they can step out of.

Ok but seriously: My favourite part was how @governmentofbc.bsky.social reps answered multiple, nearly identical, questions about school funding - even tho they'd covered that topic during their presentation *TWICE* - while ignoring questions about inequity. lol. SO on brand.

It's been one year+four months since this👇, and, there is still a MASSIVE shortage of EAs in #BCEd (some schools w fewer than in Oct '24), & AFAIK there are NOT dedicated MH counsellors in every PS. So forgive if I'm not holding my breath on the "40% increase in three years" likely empty rhetoric.

Another quote... So... A watered-down HUB model? 🙃

More thots from this mtg: It's all fine & good to tell families they can use AFU to try to get DTC before '27, b/c DTC applica'n = $$. But that doesn't take into acct fams: -who don't have AFU -who max out AFU on interventions Nor -those won't have new Benefit -Rpt applications d/t rejection(s)

Another quote... So... A watered-down HUB model? 🙃

A quote from today's mtg: "Today, about 28,000 families get direct funding. Moving forward, about 33,000 families are going to get direct funding." And there are 5000 currently supported/funded disabled kids who are going to lose 100% of said funding... cheknews.ca/b-c-revamps-... Fascinating.

Also, a vent about “needs based” language: A current example of a needs-based assessment under the BCNDP states that a designated and funded child in #BCEd - who requires support in class - can go without said support (and fall behind) because they don’t hit their classmates or elope from school.

It’s important to note that one of the statements they made was that families could upvote questions they wanted asked. But then they limited which questions went into the queue for upvoting. Transparency. @governmentofbc.bsky.social @davidebybc.bsky.social

It’s important to note that one of the statements they made was that families could upvote questions they wanted asked. But then they limited which questions went into the queue for upvoting. Transparency. @governmentofbc.bsky.social @davidebybc.bsky.social

David Eby @davidebybc.bsky.social and his team certainly don't seem to understand how the Disability Tax Credit actually works in this country.

. @governmentofbc.bsky.social says they are withholding questions for "safety reasons". But the only questions they're answering are the ones they like, that can allow them to gaslight - not the hard ones. This is *exactly* like the HUB sessions.

I am currently in this morning's @governmentofbc.bsky.social AFU cancellation information session. I have asked four questions to this group who consider transparency paramount. At this point in time, all of my questions remain in review. I will share them below.

Whole ass "adults" on the internet **gleefully** punching down on disabled kids who will now be unsupported (just as their kids have unjustly been all these years), and their parents who are now facing the prospect of stepping into the shoes the bully parents have just learned they can step out of.

Who exactly are @bcndpcaucus.bsky.social @davidebybc.bsky.social consulting when their exclusion criteria for continuing Autism supports specifically targets symptoms that Autistic girls are more likely to exhibit? www.tiktok.com/@clearancesc... #BCPoli #Misogyny #Autism #AuDHD #Exclusion

Who exactly are @bcndpcaucus.bsky.social @davidebybc.bsky.social consulting when their exclusion criteria for continuing Autism supports specifically targets symptoms that Autistic girls are more likely to exhibit? www.tiktok.com/@clearancesc... #BCPoli #Misogyny #Autism #AuDHD #Exclusion

Revisiting this screencap, because also, it's going to mean that girls are more impacted by this change than boys. For example: Autistic girls are more likely to be highly verbal - this doesn't mean they aren't disabled! So, not only is this new program steeped in ableism, but also misogyny.

It's *all* about the ableism. When a person at CRA (phoned me b/c I escalated concerns to then health-minister about inaccessibility of DTC, and inequitable costs of having to re-apply, when most disabilities are for life) ~said 'kids can grow out of Autism' i just about🤯. bsky.app/profile/born...

Was thinking abt that when I read the info in the screencap👇. A kid with a large vocab & who isn't intellectually disabled can *still be disabled*. They might look "normal" b/c their verbal skills & intellect = a fuckton of masking. But when they get home at night?! whew. bsky.app/profile/did:...

It's been one year+four months since this👇, and, there is still a MASSIVE shortage of EAs in #BCEd (some schools w fewer than in Oct '24), & AFAIK there are NOT dedicated MH counsellors in every PS. So forgive if I'm not holding my breath on the "40% increase in three years" likely empty rhetoric.

I just saw this quote right now, and it is SO perfect for this situation: "Your worst enemy is not the person in opposition to you. It is the person occupying the spot you would be fighting from and doing nothing." - Heather Marsh