Parisa Adrangi introduced our speaker Katy Harandi. From a personal standpoint, Parisa believes that Katy is a truly amazing lady. She is a role model, hard to live up to. What she does is amazing.
Katy is the mother of two, one of whom has autism. Since 1995, she has devoted her time toward helping her daughter overcome many of the challenges with this condition. She has investigated educational and biomedical treatments for autism and has researched the field extensively. Katy supervised and actively participated in her daughter’s home-based ABA program, receiving many hours of training from educational and behavioural specialists, as well as experts in the fields of speech and occupational therapy. She was the YWCA 2012 Women of Distinction nominee for her contributions to our community and recipient of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for service to Canada. Katy Harandi is the co-founder and Chair of the Board at PALS Autism Society, a specialized educational program for children and young adults with autism. Katy is a member of the Vancouver Board of Trade Women’s Leadership Circle and a member of the Sauder School of Business Women’s Leadership Council. She is also a director of the board of Adam's Apples Foundation and the Stanford University Alumni Club in BC. She received her B.A. degree from Stanford University in Computer Science and holds an MBA from the Sauder School of Business.
Katy started with an overview of autism and her life experience. She’s had a few life altering experiences over the years. The first was when she was 15. Her family and to flee Iran because of the revolution. Katy has not been back to Iran since then. The experience turned their lives upside down. They moved to Canada, studied here, married here, and had a family. Her first born, a son in 1990. He was perfect, developing normally. They had a 2nd, a daughter in 1993. It was at the 5-6 month mark that they realized something wasn’t right. Some milestones that her daughter should have been hitting were missing.
They tried to figure it out. Keeping in mind this was 28 years ago, not a lot known about autism. They were told over and over that maybe she’ll grow out of it. It took 18 months before they got closer to knowing she had a disability. They did not know it as autism until she was three.
Katy had studied mathematics and computer science, both very structured, logical fields, demonstrating the way she thinks. Once they received the diagnosis of autism, Katy’s whole life revolved around educating herself, learning about and applying treatments. Her approach was like that of her education, very structured and thorough.
Autism is very complex; it does not distinguish between races, economic status, or genders. So much is still an unknown. They do not know what causes it. There is a missing link that no one seems able to find. Indeed, puzzle pieces are used in autism logos representing the missing link(s).
The UN has set April 2nd as World Autism Awareness Day. April 2, 2021 is the fourteenth annual such day.
In those with autism their gross motor skills are fine – there are no obvious physical symptoms. Socially is where it is evident, they do not know what’s appropriate. They exhibit a lot of repetitive behaviours. Some are sensory seekers, some are sensory avoiders.
- The former, seekers, experience a disfunction in harmonizing the senses within themselves.
- The latter, avoiders, don’t like bright lights, crowds, etc. There is a need to limit the sensations surrounding them.
Katy had to travel to San Francisco to seek out autism experts to help. They started applied behaviour analysis. Still a common approach for therapy. She would engage students of psychology or education to help and who wanted extra work/education and use lots of different types of therapy. It was all very costly.
By the time her daughter reached school age, they realized the schools were not able to deal with the issue. She found 3-4 other families who had the same challenge with the public school system. They got together, pooled their resources, and started a school special for autistic children – PALS Autism School. It has grown over the years and now includes an adult program, and the beginnings of a housing program. It is located in New West for K-21 years. The group was fortunate to be able to buy the property they are in, the Robson Manor. John Robson owned it, it was bought by another school, then subsequently bought by PALS.
It is an endeavour of passion and heart. Everyone working there is incredible. They have created a family-like environment. Only through the generosity of great donors helping them along the way have they been able to continue.
Every public school is required to take on a certain amount of kids with autism. Unfortunately, a lot of the students cannot manage well in the public system. The specialized school is a better environment for many of these youth whose behaviours are too drastic for the public schools to cope. All the programs at PALS are tailored to each individual. It is a year round school.
These children have lots of abilities that need to be highlighted. They have been able to place students in volunteer positions or paid positions. Most often with very repetitive tasks that others do not want to do. There are things that they can do that are special and different, need to explore and figure it out. Hiring people with autism can be beneficial for everyone involved.
The day never comes where they say we’ve done all we can do. With developmental disabilities you can always help and teach. Those over 30 are still learning. In these there are have neurons that sometimes settle down, hence they are able to learn in a way they weren’t able to when they were younger. Never stop teaching.
There are 31 in the adult program. It has been an overwhelming success most likely because there is nothing comparable available. Post-secondary education is not an option for most of the kids. They need lots of community inclusion training and are taught on a daily basis. Never “that’s it, we’re done.”
The adult program is self sustaining to a point. Most of the students are funded totally by CLBC or are topped up by their families to cover costs. What is really needed now is funding for housing so that they can provide assisted living or communal living for adults. The ones they currently have only pay $375 per month. The rest is subsidized by the charity and private funder. Catalyst is the developer they are working with for a new complex. 15 families will be able to live in this complex while only paying $375. Currently full at 31. COVID – is not a good time to take in anyone.
The current statistics show 1 in 54 kids have autism. This is for children. The numbers have grown at quite a rate. It was 1 in 110 when they started PALS School. No one knows why there has been such growth. Is it because of more awareness, hence better diagnosis? Pediatricians in US have a mandate to check for the syndrome regularly as infants and toddlers grow. There are more and more being diagnosed earlier. It’s continually on the rise, so thinking it’s not just about diagnosis. Environmental perhaps? No one knows.
In recent years there has been a huge interest in the connection with gut health and brain issues. There is lots of research and theories being investigated regarding that connection now with CalTech at the front in this research area. They have not found any specific proven connections yet but are still in early stages of researching. Not discounted, promising to see more.
Autism is a spectrum disorder. Individuals lay somewhere along the spectrum from minimally affected to severely affected. E.g., her daughter cannot talk. Intangible things such as a headache is difficult to communicate, versus bringing a coat meaning wanting to go out for a walk. Most who are affected to this degree use picture cues. There is no, one size fits all when dealing with autism.
Some adults with autism can live independently, though this is rare. Usually they need some level of support. Generally speaking, they lack knowledge about safety around the house, e.g., fire safety. It doesn’t necessarily need to be 24 hour care but assisted living or supported living in a community would be ideal. Unfortunately, around 80% still live with their parents. PALS is working to start a residential program with some generous funding. It is a real concern for parents – what happens to their children when they are no longer there?
The occurrence of autism seems to be the same worldwide. As mentioned before, it is a disorder that doesn’t discriminate. There is a problem in that the statistics are not well gathered in the less developed world, so are not reliable. Katy does a lot of work in those countries raising awareness fighting against common neglect and ostracization.
In answer to a question about how PLAN can expand to include more students and in closing, the answer is more funding. They can always find more space, but funding is hard to come by. They put on a major fundraiser annually to support them through the year. This year the event is on April 15th, a virtual event, with auctioneer Fred Lee. See above for more info.
More info:
- PALS Autism School website, CLICK HERE
- PALS Armchair Gala, April 1st – 15th, CLICK HERE for more info and to register
- PALS 50/50 Fundraiser Raffle, CLICK HERE
- Read a article about Katy Harandi’s involvement with CAN (Canucks Autism Network), CLICK HERE
