Former Min. of Finance suggests aggressive autistic teen should be charged in order to access treatment

WOODBRIDGE, ONTARIO, August 27, 2010

Greg Sorbara, MPP for Vaughan-King-Aurora and the former provincial Minister of Finance, told the mother of an aggressive autistic teenager that she should consider having her son arrested and charged with a criminal offence as a way to access better services for her son.

Mr. Sorbara made the comments to Susan Fentie-Pearce and her husband Ken at a meeting held at his constituency office on Friday, August 27, 2010.

Ms. Fentie-Pearce had contacted Mr. Sorbara, who is her local MPP, in a desperate attempt to get help for her 14 year old son, Keith, who has autism. Her son has become increasingly aggressive in the last several weeks and has attacked her on numerous occasions. She requested the meeting in the hopes that Mr. Sorbara could offer her some assistance.

“What kind of person suggests putting a non-verbal, vulnerable child into the criminal justice system?” Ms. Fentie-Pearce asked after the meeting. “I went to him for help—and this is his best suggestion?!?”

Laura Kirby-McIntosh, who co-founded the Ontario Autism Coalition along with Ms. Fentie-Pearce and others in 2005, also attended the meeting.

“I couldn’t believe what I was hearing,” said Ms. Kirby-McIntosh. “I was deeply offended, not to mention shocked. This man is a former Minister of Finance. He has the ear of the Premier. Are we to believe that in 2010, in Dalton McGuinty’s Ontario, that this is really the best we can do?”

The Ontario Autism Coalition has been advocating on behalf of families since 2005 and in June of this year submitted a lengthy list of recommendations to the government on how to better serve those living with autism in the province. The Government has yet to respond to the report.

Despite years of protesting, lobbying and advocating for their children, families still face long waitlists for treatment, unfair cutoffs, inadequate services in schools, and an absolute lack of crisis services. Sorbara’s comments are being received as a slap in the face within the autism community, and a Facebook group has already attracted numerous members.

For more information, contact either:

Susan Fentie-Pearce at 416-795-9829 or
Laura Kirby-McIntosh at 416-315-7939

On the web, you can visit:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=135031883208067&ref=mf and/or
www.ontarioautismcoalition.com

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Greg Sorbara, MPP for Vaughan-King-Aurora and the former provincial Minister of Finance, told the mother of an aggressive autistic teen that his only suggestion for how to get him the treatment he so desperately needs is to have him charged in the hopes that a judge will issue a court order. The suggestion is outrageous and offensive. Please take time to contact his office and express your views.

For more information, including details on how to contact Mr. Sorbara, visit the Facebook group,

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=135031883208067&ref=mf

From our good friends Paul Ceretti and Stacey Berton:

“The Autism Assistance Program has been created in response to the ongoing crisis many families experience in their quest to access appropriate and necessary therapy for their loved ones with Autism. The Autism Assistance Program and its founders have dedicated themselves to providing alternative solutions to help these families in crisis. While the Program is not meant to replace what the government already has in place to assist families and people on the Autism Spectrum, our intent is to help families who are affected by Autism and who are in crisis, access much needed support and therapy. The main method of accessing these supports is through community collaboration and through the initiation of ongoing fundraising campaigns.”

The Ontario Autism Coalition is proud to support and partner with an incredible mother/advocate from Kitchener, Stacey Berton. Stacey is fighting to access the services her son Wesley needs without having to surrender custody. Click on the link below to read a recent newspaper article about her struggle.

The Ontario Autism Coalition organized a meeting of autism advocates in August 2009 to look for ways to find more consensus in the Autism community. Representatives from the Alliance for Families with Autism, Autism Ontario, Autism Speaks and Autism Resolution Ontario (as well as several well known individual advocates) were in attendance. The meeting was nick-named the “Big Tent” meeting.

A pre-meeting survey was sent out to seek input on a wide-cross section of issues affecting individuals and families who live with autism. After the “Big Tent” meeting, that survey was the subject of much discussion. The text of the survey was subsequently converted to a draft list of recommendations.

In December, a number of advocates met with the Minister of Children and Youth Services (Laurel Broten) and the (then) Minister of Education, Kathleen Wynne. At that meeting we agreed that in the near future, we would present the government with a list of recommendations about how to improve services for people with Autism.

In early 2010, advocates commented on and edited the draft version. OAC members have also made their comments and suggestions through this website, and these have been incorporated into the final version.

The final version of our Recommendations Report was presented to the Minister’s staff on June 18, 2010. It was also presented to the Office for the Provincial Advocate for Children & Youth on July 9th. You can see both the report and the powerpoint presentation by clicking on the links below. The report was well received in both meetings and is generating significant discussion among Ministry staff.

We are eagerly awaiting a response…

To download a copy of our presentation to Minister’s office staff at the Ministry of Children and Youth Services, click on one of the following links:

Our recommendation report in pdf format

The slide deck from our briefing in pdf format

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