With Spring upon us, may I take this opportunity to remind all interested persons that The March for Life 2013 takes place in Ottawa on Parliament Hill on May 9.
The Ottawa ACofC Diocese does not support this, unfortunately.
I will post this under “Spring Flowers” as I don’t know where else to put it.
I have been thinking a while about this. I don’t know what to make of it. I know a multiplex Autism family with several children on the high end of the Spectrum. The children are well-behaved and have normal intelligence or greater. It is only the one-to-one social skills that are a bit iffy. The parents attempted to enroll the children in a Classical Christian school in Canada, run by an ANIC parish. The children were nastily turned down. Only reason given was that the school does not take Autistics. Now Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are both considered to have/have had high-functioning Autism, as are a whole list of Nobel Prize Laureates. Can you imagine if schools had turned down these folks?
On a Christian basis, I cannot get my head around an ANIC-afiliated school acting this way. Private schools do not have to take all students, as public schools must, but what about their Christian morality? It is as if Autistics are a new class of Lepers.
If you are talking about the classical Christian school in Ottawa, it is not affiliated with an ANiC parish, although kids from an ANiC parish do attend there.
Thank you, Kate. I do know of the school you are referring to, and as I understand, the governing body of that school, and the senior teacher, are heavily afiliated with an ANIC parish. The parish and the school were joint initiatives of a particular group of people.
You said ‘run by an ANiC parish’. This is not the case.It is neither ANiC run nor ANiC affiliated. It was founded in 2003, two years before ANiC came into existence. Three of the seven board members go to ANiC churches, but it is an independent school. Whatever issues you have with the school, they have nothing to do with ANiC or the ANiC parish in question.
Besides, it would probably be more useful to ask the people in question, rather than leave an anonymous blog comment accompanied by a non working email address. Not to mention more biblical, Matthew 18:15 and all that.
Kate, thank you for the information, but the governing body and the senior teacher at this school are heavily connected to an ANIC parish. One is a clergy member. So, they have one set of values for Sunday, and another when they work the school on weekdays?
Well, you were wrong about it being ANiC *run*, and the majority of the board members, four out of seven, do not have a connection to ANiC.
Why would you assume hypocricy on the part of board members when a just as likely explanation is that a staff member was having a bad day and was rude? Maybe nobody on staff knows anything about the spectrum and they don’t think the kids in question would flourish at their school. How do you know that the governing body even knows about it? And why do you think, in light of Matthew , that an anonymous post on a blog is an appropriate way to seek redress?
Do you know who was on that board when we first applied, Kate? Remember, we first approached them years ago. You are really, really hoping to prove them sin-free, aren’t you? Who are you covering for?
If they did not know about Autism, I was fielding questions. I would have been happy to provide them with the appropriate literature. They never asked. And if you do so much as read a decent daily newspaper, how can you avoid hearing about the details of Autism these days?
A bad day? What…all of them? We were in touch many times, Kate, over a period of some years. My family attempted to enroll twice. I wrote individually to the board members, afterwards. I phoned and left messages. I contacted the “Mothership”, St. Augustine College. You cannot imagine how much opportunity we gave them to explain. If not lame excuses, we were met with a wall of silence. I imagine they were told not to speak with us, in case we planned to sue them. Made the school and those who run it look awfully bad, however.
You seem to assume that I haven’t asked the people involved, Kate. In fact, my husband and I have done just that for over five years now. You are again assuming that it made a difference, which it did not. The people in question either spat on us again, figuratively, or refused to answer our letters and phone calls. Wonderful Christians, wouldn’t you say?
I wrote about it here, because the moral uprightness (or lack of it) of the various Anglcan branches seems to be of importance to the readers of this site. It was a school with strong ties to the ANIC in which we met the behaviour I described, whether it was actually run by a particular parish or not. To be very honest, we also attempted to enroll in a traditional Catholic school, and they treated us the same way. Perhaps it says, “Kick Me” across our foreheads.
Kate, if you put such faith in this particular Biblical exhortation, why would the ANIC faithful have put up a big public fuss against the ACofC? I am not saying they were right or wrong, but according to you, wouldn’t it have been better to go to your brothers privately and work it out, as Matthew 18:15 says? Practice what you preach, my dear.
And if you haven’t figured it out yet, Kate, those four Autistic children who were turned down were mine.
I have high-functioning Autism myself……we are the largest multiplex Autism family in Canada, if you want further info. Some day, my professional collaboration with Autism researchers may provide the key to what causes this bloody condition, as well as the tumours that accompany our particular version. All Autistics and their families will benefit.
In the meantime, my husband and I pay $80 per hour X 4 for the Autism remediation they need. Doesn’t the government cover that? Well, no they do not. The local children’s hospital mis-diagnosed our children until they were well past the official cut-off age to be eligible for funding, so we missed out. We pay 100% out-of-pocket. Our mortgage might be but a memory in 50 years, Kate.
I worked academically until just shy of my Ph.D. and I am determined my children will have the opportunity to do the same, if they wish. My husband and I had hoped for a Christian environment and culture too, but the “best” Christians turned us down.
We fell back on the ACofC Cathedral choirs in our city, where my children were wonderfully trained over many years to sing the best classical repetoire of the western world. These four Autistic kids have sung at St. Paul’s in London, at Westminster Abbey, at Canterbury Cathedral, and all the high spots of the C. of E. before they were 12 years old. They have even recorded several times….I can get you a CD, Kate. And, they were treated well. They were welcomed. They were part of that Christian community, no questions asked. I will always remember that these choirs treated my children as well as they treated every other child. I am so grateful to them for that. They never turned up their noses – as did certain ANIC clergy – and told us to be on our way. My children were never treated as lepers….they were full choristers. Thank you, Christ Church Cathderal Ottawa.
You have always been so keen to jump down my back, Kate. I have tried to humour you and even add a little graciousness, if possible. My family has dealt for four generations with a condition you cannot even imagine. And still, we live to Christian standards and we excel academically.
After years of contributing to this site, I thought I might quietly ask if anyone could advise me on what happened to us when we went to enroll in the Christian School here. It did more than leave my children without a school (they are given just a seat in the classroom in public schools, and either ignored or bullied), it severely shook-up our faith in our Christian brethren. For a couple as solidly and conservatively Christian as we are, that was really saying something.
I continue to seek answers, so I can properly restore my faith.
Do you really, really think we haven’t tired the obvious, Kate? Get a grip.
Why is it that we can discuss all the faults of the ACofC on this site, but some people get extremely ornery when it is even suggested that the ANIC may be less than perfect themselves?
David, you know who I am (and my e-mail address), and you know my story. Adherents such as Kate are putting the ANIC in a bad light. Personally, I would run a mile before joining her parish. I can see that Kate might have turned down my children herself, had she been on the board of that school. I am trying very hard to keep Christian forgiveness in mind here, when she shoots off her damaging comments.
Well, actually, you said that ‘you knew a family’. I had no way of knowing it was such a personal issue until you lost your temper. I am sorry I hurt you, it was certainly not my intent.
There you go being ridiculous again. Self-righteousness, thy name is Kate.
Would it have mattered any differently if this had happened to, say, friends of mine? The morals change according to who is speaking?
Do we not have a privacy option? Do I have to tell you my life story on a public website because you say so? I may wish my children to be able to remain undercover, in case other people such as you try to treat them badly.
Why don’t you run along and practice some good old Catholic “Examination of the Conscience”? Would do you good.
Lovely flowers, lovely photos.
With Spring upon us, may I take this opportunity to remind all interested persons that The March for Life 2013 takes place in Ottawa on Parliament Hill on May 9.
The Ottawa ACofC Diocese does not support this, unfortunately.
The flowers in Spring are food for the soul, a vision of God’s love for us. Thanks for the pics, David. They’re beautiful!
I will post this under “Spring Flowers” as I don’t know where else to put it.
I have been thinking a while about this. I don’t know what to make of it. I know a multiplex Autism family with several children on the high end of the Spectrum. The children are well-behaved and have normal intelligence or greater. It is only the one-to-one social skills that are a bit iffy. The parents attempted to enroll the children in a Classical Christian school in Canada, run by an ANIC parish. The children were nastily turned down. Only reason given was that the school does not take Autistics. Now Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are both considered to have/have had high-functioning Autism, as are a whole list of Nobel Prize Laureates. Can you imagine if schools had turned down these folks?
On a Christian basis, I cannot get my head around an ANIC-afiliated school acting this way. Private schools do not have to take all students, as public schools must, but what about their Christian morality? It is as if Autistics are a new class of Lepers.
I’ll pass this on to someone who might have some insight on what happened.
Anonymous,
Could you please send me a working email address via my Contact form and someone will get back to you.
Thanks.
My husband and I were disappointed with the general lack of hospitality shown us when we attended an ANiC-affiliated Church.
If you are talking about the classical Christian school in Ottawa, it is not affiliated with an ANiC parish, although kids from an ANiC parish do attend there.
Thank you, Kate. I do know of the school you are referring to, and as I understand, the governing body of that school, and the senior teacher, are heavily afiliated with an ANIC parish. The parish and the school were joint initiatives of a particular group of people.
You said ‘run by an ANiC parish’. This is not the case.It is neither ANiC run nor ANiC affiliated. It was founded in 2003, two years before ANiC came into existence. Three of the seven board members go to ANiC churches, but it is an independent school. Whatever issues you have with the school, they have nothing to do with ANiC or the ANiC parish in question.
Besides, it would probably be more useful to ask the people in question, rather than leave an anonymous blog comment accompanied by a non working email address. Not to mention more biblical, Matthew 18:15 and all that.
Kate, thank you for the information, but the governing body and the senior teacher at this school are heavily connected to an ANIC parish. One is a clergy member. So, they have one set of values for Sunday, and another when they work the school on weekdays?
Well, you were wrong about it being ANiC *run*, and the majority of the board members, four out of seven, do not have a connection to ANiC.
Why would you assume hypocricy on the part of board members when a just as likely explanation is that a staff member was having a bad day and was rude? Maybe nobody on staff knows anything about the spectrum and they don’t think the kids in question would flourish at their school. How do you know that the governing body even knows about it? And why do you think, in light of Matthew , that an anonymous post on a blog is an appropriate way to seek redress?
You are bloody, ignorant, Kate. I have had enough of you.
Do you know who was on that board when we first applied, Kate? Remember, we first approached them years ago. You are really, really hoping to prove them sin-free, aren’t you? Who are you covering for?
If they did not know about Autism, I was fielding questions. I would have been happy to provide them with the appropriate literature. They never asked. And if you do so much as read a decent daily newspaper, how can you avoid hearing about the details of Autism these days?
A bad day? What…all of them? We were in touch many times, Kate, over a period of some years. My family attempted to enroll twice. I wrote individually to the board members, afterwards. I phoned and left messages. I contacted the “Mothership”, St. Augustine College. You cannot imagine how much opportunity we gave them to explain. If not lame excuses, we were met with a wall of silence. I imagine they were told not to speak with us, in case we planned to sue them. Made the school and those who run it look awfully bad, however.
You seem to assume that I haven’t asked the people involved, Kate. In fact, my husband and I have done just that for over five years now. You are again assuming that it made a difference, which it did not. The people in question either spat on us again, figuratively, or refused to answer our letters and phone calls. Wonderful Christians, wouldn’t you say?
I wrote about it here, because the moral uprightness (or lack of it) of the various Anglcan branches seems to be of importance to the readers of this site. It was a school with strong ties to the ANIC in which we met the behaviour I described, whether it was actually run by a particular parish or not. To be very honest, we also attempted to enroll in a traditional Catholic school, and they treated us the same way. Perhaps it says, “Kick Me” across our foreheads.
Kate, if you put such faith in this particular Biblical exhortation, why would the ANIC faithful have put up a big public fuss against the ACofC? I am not saying they were right or wrong, but according to you, wouldn’t it have been better to go to your brothers privately and work it out, as Matthew 18:15 says? Practice what you preach, my dear.
And if you haven’t figured it out yet, Kate, those four Autistic children who were turned down were mine.
I have high-functioning Autism myself……we are the largest multiplex Autism family in Canada, if you want further info. Some day, my professional collaboration with Autism researchers may provide the key to what causes this bloody condition, as well as the tumours that accompany our particular version. All Autistics and their families will benefit.
In the meantime, my husband and I pay $80 per hour X 4 for the Autism remediation they need. Doesn’t the government cover that? Well, no they do not. The local children’s hospital mis-diagnosed our children until they were well past the official cut-off age to be eligible for funding, so we missed out. We pay 100% out-of-pocket. Our mortgage might be but a memory in 50 years, Kate.
I worked academically until just shy of my Ph.D. and I am determined my children will have the opportunity to do the same, if they wish. My husband and I had hoped for a Christian environment and culture too, but the “best” Christians turned us down.
We fell back on the ACofC Cathedral choirs in our city, where my children were wonderfully trained over many years to sing the best classical repetoire of the western world. These four Autistic kids have sung at St. Paul’s in London, at Westminster Abbey, at Canterbury Cathedral, and all the high spots of the C. of E. before they were 12 years old. They have even recorded several times….I can get you a CD, Kate. And, they were treated well. They were welcomed. They were part of that Christian community, no questions asked. I will always remember that these choirs treated my children as well as they treated every other child. I am so grateful to them for that. They never turned up their noses – as did certain ANIC clergy – and told us to be on our way. My children were never treated as lepers….they were full choristers. Thank you, Christ Church Cathderal Ottawa.
You have always been so keen to jump down my back, Kate. I have tried to humour you and even add a little graciousness, if possible. My family has dealt for four generations with a condition you cannot even imagine. And still, we live to Christian standards and we excel academically.
After years of contributing to this site, I thought I might quietly ask if anyone could advise me on what happened to us when we went to enroll in the Christian School here. It did more than leave my children without a school (they are given just a seat in the classroom in public schools, and either ignored or bullied), it severely shook-up our faith in our Christian brethren. For a couple as solidly and conservatively Christian as we are, that was really saying something.
I continue to seek answers, so I can properly restore my faith.
I’m sorry you’re facing these difficulties. I will include you in my prayers. God bless.
I suggest, if you really want an answer, that you call the school.
Do you really, really think we haven’t tired the obvious, Kate? Get a grip.
Why is it that we can discuss all the faults of the ACofC on this site, but some people get extremely ornery when it is even suggested that the ANIC may be less than perfect themselves?
That’s….TRIED.
David, you know who I am (and my e-mail address), and you know my story. Adherents such as Kate are putting the ANIC in a bad light. Personally, I would run a mile before joining her parish. I can see that Kate might have turned down my children herself, had she been on the board of that school. I am trying very hard to keep Christian forgiveness in mind here, when she shoots off her damaging comments.
May God be with you, Kate.
Well, actually, you said that ‘you knew a family’. I had no way of knowing it was such a personal issue until you lost your temper. I am sorry I hurt you, it was certainly not my intent.
There you go being ridiculous again. Self-righteousness, thy name is Kate.
Would it have mattered any differently if this had happened to, say, friends of mine? The morals change according to who is speaking?
Do we not have a privacy option? Do I have to tell you my life story on a public website because you say so? I may wish my children to be able to remain undercover, in case other people such as you try to treat them badly.
Why don’t you run along and practice some good old Catholic “Examination of the Conscience”? Would do you good.
No more of your comments, please.
Actually, it was a genuine apology.
In contrast to the preceding, the flowers are absolutely exquisite, David. Thank you for brightening the day.