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The Ontario Autism Coalition responds to the Ontario government backgrounder “Building And Improving The Continuum Of Services For Ontario Children And Youth With Autism”…
Government claim:
Ontario children do not age out of autism services: In July 2005, the McGuinty government ended the policy of cutting kids off of Intensive Behavioural Intervention (IBI) services at age six.
Our response:
The government continued to fight the Wynberg families (the plaintiffs who challenged the age cutoff) in court all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada. If Premier McGuinty’s promise in 2003 was to end the age cutoff, and the policy decision in 2005 was to end the cutoff, why did the government spend $2.4 million dollars fighting this case? Why not settle out of court? And why did the government take NDP MPP Shelley Martel to court to try to hide the cost of the case from the public?
Government claim:
More children receiving service: 210 additional children to receive IBI in 2007-08, increasing the number receiving IBI to approximately 1,400 - a 160 per cent increase since April 2004.
Our response:
Yes, but the rate of diagnosis continues to rise at alarming rates—affecting 1 in every 150 children born today. The spots announced today are just beginning to keep pace with the growth of the waiting list. Since the age cutoff was lifted, school age children who are receiving IBI have been “bottlenecking” the program, making it difficult for newly diagnosed kids to gain access to treatement in a timely manner.
Government claim:
More investments: Over $140 million in 2007-08-more than tripling the support for children with autism and their families since 2003-04.
Our response:
According the Friends of Children with Autism (FOCA), over $80 million dollars announced by this government for autism programs has gone unspent since 2003. We hope that this lack of follow-though will not re-occur. (See page 6 of http://www.ontarioautism.com/Docs/FOCAFactsheet.pdf)
Government claim:
More therapists: Nearly 300 new therapists have been hired since 2004 and the government has established an Ontario College Graduate Certificate Program in Autism and Behavioural Science - 101 graduates in 2006, another 102 in 2007; target enrolment in the program by 2008-09 is a minimum of 220 students; in 2007-08, the program is being expanded to include three more colleges, bringing the total number of colleges participating to 12 across the province.
Our response:
This is all well and good, but the government is using a bottom-up approach. We need qulified professionals at the top to do the training and supervision of all ABA practicioners. And there is still no formal credentialling system or regulation of the instructor therapists once they graduate—something the OAC has been pushing for since 2005. This means that parents are vulnerable to people who call themselves ABA therapists but who don’t have the proper training—something that does happen…far more than it should.
Government claim:
Reduced waitlist for assessment: The number of children waiting for assessment has been reduced by approximately 69 per cent since 2004.
Our response:
Children may be diagnosed with autism through a hospital or a doctor, but they still have to go through an assessment for eligibility for the Autism Intervention Program—an expensive and unneccessary duplication. Children at the mild and severe ends of the autism spectrum are frequently deemed “ineligible” for IBI. That’s an interesting way to manipulate the numbers.
Government claim:
More support in early years: The government is investing in training, provided through the Geneva Centre for Autism, for up to 1,600 staff in the child care sector who work with children with autism – a $6 million investment over three years.
Our response:
The OAC knows that the Geneva Centre does excellent work. However, we recently heard that the contact for this training was given to the Geneva Centre without being put out to tender. This is of some concern to us.
Government claim:
More support in our schools: The government is also making a further investment of nearly $6 million to assist school boards in incorporating methods of Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) into programs for students with ASD beginning in the 2007-08 school year, and investing $5 million over two years to train up to 5,000 teachers’ assistants who help students with autism.
Our response:
It’s interesting to note that in 2005, the OAC was told that ABA “couldn’t be done” in schools. We’re glad the government now recognizes that it CAN be done—as it IS being done in other schools across North America. The training taking place over the next few weeks is a positive step, but IBI therapists are still not allowed to enter classrooms and offer students and teachers the support they’ll need to make it through the upcoming school year. (see “Ministry of Education Memo to School Boards” at http://www.ontarioautism.com/Documents.html.)
Government claim:
Investing in relief services for families: Offers families a temporary break while their children are in the care of experienced autism support providers to help provide relief services for more than 3,000 families.
Our response:
This sounds very attractive—but we’re unclear where the number 3,000 comes from, and we don’t yet know if this is a one-time announcement. This part of the announcement was very vague.
Government claim:
Investing in nine autism support camps: $530,000 in summer 2007 to help send more than 800 children and youth with autism to supportive camp environments.
Our response:
This announcement was great news, but it wasn’t made until July 10th—far too late for many families to find available camp spaces for their children. Furthermore, it appears to be a one-time offer. Parents need to be able to plan ahead in order to make the best choices for their children.
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