Ombudsman won’t pursue autism beef

Jonathan Jenkins
Sun Media Queen’s Park Bureau

March 19, 2009

TORONTO — Ontario’s watchdog will not — for the time being — look into how autistic children are treated by the province’s educational system, officials said yesterday.


“The bottom line is that given the (recent) court decisions, we are limited in what we could recommend and the ministry is working on some improvements,” said Patricia Tomasi, a spokesperson for Ombudsman Andre Marin.

“We have not ruled out the possibility of an investigation at a later date.”

Ontario’s appeal court has twice ruled against families of autistic children in their efforts to get the province to extend a broader range of services to their children.

In 2007, the court said Ontario was not discriminating against older children by restricting access to expensive IBI (intensive behavioural intervention) to kids under 6.

That ruling was also used as a basis to reject large parts of a class-action suit in 2008, although the court of appeal did say it would hear an amended statement of claim by the parents.

Because of the rulings and actions by the provincial ministries of education and children and youth services, the ombudsman would not launch an investigation of his own, Tomasi said.

“Our office will monitor the ministries’ progress in these areas,” she said.

Taline Sagharian, the lead plaintiff in the class-action suit, said it’s hard to say what the next step is.

“That’s the question families are asking themselves right now,” Sagharian said. “We haven’t decided what we’re going to do.”

The ombudsman’s decision is disappointing, she said, especially because the complaints included audits which support the families’ belief there is enough money to fund all autistic kids — it’s just that money is not being spent wisely.

“It’s just such a shame that it’s not,” Sagharian said

“They’ve bought into what the government is saying. Families are really frustrated.”

New Democrat Leader Andrea Horwath said she recognizes the government is faced with increasingly limited funds because of the economic downturn.

“But the government had five years to try and resolve some of these issues,” she said. “They haven’t done it.”

Children have a right to education in Ontario and that includes autistic kids, Horwath said, adding more families are likely to face bankruptcy as they struggle to get the therapies their children need.