Toronto mother Sarah Miller was awestruck by the hundreds of parents who rallied at Queen’s Park last week to protest provincial autism program changes.Her daughter Ayela, 5, who does not have autism, but who struggles with physical, communication and learning disabilities due to a rare genetic disorder, has never received government funding for therapy.“If there was ever a time to raise our issue it is now,” she said in an interview. “We should be supporting all children with disabilities to reach their full potential.”Under autism program changes announced Feb. 6, Lisa MacLeod, minister for children, community and social services, vowed to eliminate the autism therapy wait list of 23,000 children over the next 18 months by giving families “childhood budgets” to choose the services they want.An estimated 40,000 Ontario children with autism will be eligible for up to $20,000 a year for kids under age 6 — with a lifetime maximum of $140,000. Older children can access up to $5,000 a year up to age 18, to a lifetime maximum of $55,000.However, autistic children with severe needs can require therapy that costs up to $80,000 a year, meaning thousands now receiving funding are facing drastic cuts. Meanwhile, school boards say they are not equipped to deal with the fallout when the new program begins April 1. To help schools cope with the expected influx of kids with autism, Education Minister Lisa Thompson announced Monday that the government would provide schools about $12,300 per new student. But as parents, therapists and school boards focus on the crisis facing children with autism, the Ontario Disability Coalition estimates another 25,000 kids like Ayela continue to be ignored.“There’s this whole group of kids with disabilities that are not included in any kind of (therapy) funding program,” said Miller, one of about 1,400 members of the parent advocacy coalition. “It’s not to say that ...
|
