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Letter to the Editor Star- November 1, 2007 |
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Star LETTER TO THE EDITOR California a role model for autism treatment Nov 01, 2007 04:30 AM
Doctors call for earlier screening Oct. 29
In California, any child up to the age of 3 who shows any developmental deficit or vulnerability is given early and intensive intervention. This means any child – and a diagnosis is not necessary, eliminating the problem with the bottleneck from the wait for assessments, which can be as long as two years in Ontario. When children are 3, the intervention continues through a different mechanism in the school system and assessments are conducted. As the mother of an 11-year-old boy with autism, I can attest to the difficult process for families to put in place the programs and services our children need. Lengthy waits for assessments are where it begins, and it continues on to the programming levels. Trying to get in to see a specialist for your child in Ontario is similar to trying to get in to see the Wizard of Oz. While science continues to make important discoveries, publicly funded autism treatment in Ontario needs to catch up. Taline Sagharian, Richmond Hill
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