Parents Rally to Mark a Year of Government Stalling
Ottawa &
Toronto Rally - April 1, 2006
March 27, 2006
At 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, April 1, 2006, the families and friends of children with autism will gather in front of Premier Dalton McGuinty’s constituency office at 1795 Kilborn Ave., Ottawa and at Queen’s Park in Toronto to protest the McGuinty government’s failure to keep its written promise from the last election to end the discriminatory age six cut-off for autism treatment under the Ontario Preschool Autism Program.
April 1 also marks the first anniversary of the Ontario Superior Court’s decision in the Deskin/Wynberg case in which it found that the age six cut-off from treatment services was discriminatory and a violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Justice Kiteley’s ruling also recommended that the government provide Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA) as a teaching technique for autistic children in schools, and the government has also failed to move on this issue and instead appealed the ruling.
Unconscionable waiting lists under the Preschool Autism Program continue to exist and families often face bankruptcy while trying to provide ABA treatment for their children in the private sector. The cost averages approximately $55,000 per year, which pales in comparison to the life time of social support cost for untreated autistic adults. ABA is most effective if delivered early, and parents are outraged that the government has dithered on the issue for another year, worsening the life-prospects for children with autism.
For more information, contact:
Sam Yassine, rally
co-organiser, Ottawa;
syassin606@rogers.com
Bruce McIntosh,
rally co-organiser, Toronto
bruce.mcintosh@rogers.com
http://ca.geocities.com/bruce_mcintosh2003/rallies.html
It’s Time To Help ALL Children With Autism!
Backgrounder
Rally participants are demanding four things:
1) Drop the Deskin-Wynberg appeal
— Premier McGuinty and Attorney General Michael Bryant have argued that governments should decide how to spend money. If so, then it is the court’s responsibility to ensure that governments do not discriminate when making their decisions. ABA does not stop working at six years of age, any more than children stop learning at six years of age. The government should stop spending money on lawsuits and start helping children with autism.http://ca.geocities.com/bruce_mcintosh2003/Docs/GovtNoticeOfAppeal.pdf
2) ABA should be delivered in schools
— Many other jurisdictions in the U.S. do this. Research has shown that other methods of educating special needs children are not as effective for children with autism. Ontario should do the right thing.http://www.mass.mb.ca/pages/stratplan.htm
3) Budget increase and changes to the way funding is delivered to children
— Intensive early intervention is a key factor. Regional benchmark of government run-programs hours is 23 hours of service a week, yet actual average hours of service provided is 15 hours. Why was program expenditure less than budget when 2 years waiting lists still exist? The cost-per-child of government-run programs is two to three times that of parent direct funding option. We want transparency and peer review.http://ca.geocities.com/bruce_mcintosh2003/Docs/IBI_Program_Audit.pdf
4) Regulate ABA practitioners
— Families who are served by ABA practitioners, whether through government funding or paid for out of their own pockets, need to have confidence when they are choosing someone to work with their child. A professional college would give them that confidence, and would ensure an effective disciplinary process if required. Regulation would also address the concerns of school boards and teachers’ unions about the status of ABA practitioners in classrooms.
About the rally series
This series of rallies is organized by a group of parents of children with autism from across Ontario. The rallies began in Orillia in June, 2005, and have also taken place in Whitby, Ottawa, Burlington, Richmond Hill, Sarnia and Toronto. Plans are underway for the coming months to go to Oakville, Windsor and Kingston. More locations will be selected until the government acts to help all children with autism
On October 3, 2005, our group met in person with Hon. Mary Anne Chambers, the Minister of Children and Youth Services. Nearly three months later, a December 22 letter from the Minister acknowledged our meeting. Now that six months have passed, there have been no indications of any progress.
http://ca.geocities.com/bruce_mcintosh2003/ChambersMeetingUpdate.html
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