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ctv.ca
Ontario to fund more specialized autism treatment
Canadian Press
TORONTO — The province is kicking in another $12 million to provide specialized autism treatment for 210 more children this year, but critics say the announcement does little to clear the massive waiting list or address the issue of school-based therapy.
While almost 1,100 children remain on the waiting list, Children and Youth Services Minister Mary Anne Chambers said the funding — which has already begun to flow — means about 1,400 kids will now receive Intensive Behaviour Intervention treatment.
Chambers said the money will also be used to hire more specialized therapists and provide temporary respite services to more than 3,000 families.
“We have heard from families that getting a bit of a break from their day-to-day challenges would be enormously helpful,” Chambers said before a group of therapists, parents and autistic children at a Toronto-area treatment centre.
“Whether at or away from home, relief services facilitated by
experienced autism support providers can give families temporary relief from the physical and emotional demands involved in caring for their
children and youth.”
But Laura Kirby-McIntosh, the mother of a seven-year-old autistic boy and co-founder of the Ontario Autism Coalition, said while she’s pleased a number of families will benefit from the announcement, it does little to address some of her most pressing concerns. “The big piece that we’ve been pushing for is to allow IBI instructor therapists into the schools,” she said. “We didn’t hear anything about that.
“Right now it’s really on an ad hoc basis. … The vast majority of school boards have a very strong policy barrier saying, ‘Absolutely not. We don’t do therapy in the schools. You cannot come in.”’
While schools are required to provide a broad range of Applied Behavioural Analysis therapies, the decision on whether to allow IBI — a highly specialized, one-on-one treatment — remains at the discretion of school boards and principals, said Steise Caswell, a spokeswoman for
Education Minister Kathleen Wynne.
Funding for autism treatment is expected to become an election issue as more families struggle to cope with medical bills that can easily exceed a year’s salary.
Kirby-McIntosh said her coalition’s 600 members will be pressuring political parties to do more for families with autistic children.
The coalition wants IBI instructors currently working with autistic children to be allowed into schools, and for everyone who qualifies for treatment to be provided with it.
The group is also pushing for a formal accreditation system and proper training and recruitment of therapists.
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