The 2013 Autism Art Auction, hosted by the AllTalkTV.com Network in collaboration with the Ontario Autism Coalition is a showcase of artwork created by people with autism, combined with a live broadcast on the AllTalkTV.com Network.

The auction will raise funds for a crisis centre for people with autism.

Date: Saturday, April 27, 2013, time TBA (tentatively 2pm-5pm)

Location: Fitzgerald’s Public House, 2298 Queen St East, Toronto

Website for previews and updates: http://www.autismartauction.com/

We will be accepting bids both in-person and online, with bidding opening 48 hours prior to the end of the event. People who bid on a piece of artwork that is won by someone else will be given the option of receiving another piece of artwork from one of our talented artists. Active online bidding will be going on throughout the broadcast, with updates being provided frequently and in real time. Please note that the bidding for all artwork will begin at $20, and all of the proceeds will go to our charitable corporation, and a receipt will be issued for all successful bids. Please contact us for more details.

http://youtu.be/ripNkQkGRIE

In the fall of 2012, the Toronto Star ran an extraordinary week-long multi-media report about autism and the appalling lack of services for children, teens and adults living on the spectrum in Ontario. It was the best investigative report into autism that we’ve seen since we started the OAC.
Link:Toronto Star Autism Project.html

A few weeks later, (to our delight) the Ontario Ombudsman, André Marin, announced that his office would be doing an in-depth investigation into adult services for autism.
Link:Ontario Ombudsman

We encourage all adults on the spectrum and/or those who are helping them to contact his office directly to tell your story:
Link:Complain to the Ombudsman

In December, the government announced a new “Clinical Expert Committee” that will “to advise the government on effective treatments, current research and best clinical practices for children and young people with Autism Spectrum Disorder.”
Link:“Blue Ribbon” Panel

And in February, the Auditor-General announced something that the OAC has been advocating for since 2005: a full scale audit of the province’s Autism Intervention Program.
Link:Auditor General Investigation

We encourage those of you who have concerns about the way money is spent by your regional service provider to take up the offer on the auditor’s website:
“Our Office invites anyone with information that could contribute to our audit work on these planned topics to contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ”

We have also been in touch with the Office of the Ontario Advocate for Children and Youth and hope to make an announcement about our collaboration with him in the near future.
Link:Advocate for Children and Youth

On March 19, 2012, the Ontario Government announced plans to close the Thistletown Regional Centre. Thistletown provides services to over 400 children and adolescents, as well as 15 individuals who live at Thistletown in residential care. Please download the petition against this move. These documents are identical in their content. The Word document is provided in case you need to change the margins for your printer.

The award winning documentary, Benchmarked, is now available on line.

Produced in 2009, the film follows OAC co-founders Bruce and Laura McIntosh and documents the challenges they face raising a son with autism in Ontario. The film also features the story of Paul Certetti, a Hamilton single father struggling to keep IBI services for his daughter, Delanie.

To watch the film, visit the website below:

http://video.aol.ca/video-detail/benchmarked/918125918/?icid=VIDLRV02

Please share this film with your friends!

FOLLOW-UP

Since the film was made, both Delanie and her twin sister have lost their IBI funding. After losing his heroic court battle against the government, Paul has now founded the Autism Assistance Program, which provides IBI for families who are either waiting for or who have been denied funding. He’s put together a fantastic team of volunteer therapists from McMaster University in Hamilton, and now that both of his daughters are getting the help they need, he’s doing all he can to help others.

Bruce and Laura’s son, Clifford, lost his funding in the fall of 2009. He quickly regressed, and soon exhibited aggressive and violent behaviours. Bruce and Laura soon realized that there are no emergency services for an aggressive autistic youth who is in meltdown, and found themselves turned away from several different hospitals in the GTA. Cliff spent two weeks in a children’s mental health unit in the spring of 2010, but the staff in that unit had no experience with autism and quickly found themselves overwhelmed. Bruce & Laura re-financed their mortgage to pay for private IBI in the summer of 2010 and Cliff started at a new school. The school was clearly un-prepared to deal with a child like Cliff, and soon he found himself excluded from attending. When he returned, he was isolated, segregated from all other children and attended only for part days. After months of struggle, Bruce & Laura have finally found a full-day program offered in a public school that meets their son’s needs. They are now preparing to re-join the fight for other families, and are busy planning their strategy for this fall’s provincial election.