ONTARIO – The provincial Progressive Conservative government under Premier Doug Ford have announced that they will be holding consultations on their proposed changes to the Ontario Autism Program.
The changes initially proposed by the Ford Government would have seen children receive funding up until the age of 18 for programs such as therapy. The amount distributed through the budget will depend on the length of time the child is in the program up to $140,000. The funding may also be subject to an annual maximum of $20,000 for children under five and $6,000 for children ages six to 18. Critics suggest that intensive therapy can cost parents up to $80,000 per year.
According to the government, the move was made to reduce the programs waitlist of 23,000 children, however, some parents feel that this strategy while giving each family something, would not give many what they truly need.
“There’s not enough licensed professionals in the field,” said Varrette, in a previous interview with Seaway News. “(Families) are waiting for a professional to be available. Giving the families money is great to pay out of pocket but it’s not going to help anyone on the waitlist…we need to incentivize the type of programming needed and get people working with autistic children; we need more providers before anything,” said Varrette.
In March, the provincial government walked back their initial plan, notably adding a needs based component to the proposed changes.
Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry MPP Jim McDonell said he was looking forward to speaking directly with concerned parents in his riding.
“In March our government announced that we would make enhancements to our Autism plan by adding a needs-based component,” said MPP Jim McDonell. “I am looking forward to collecting feedback and hearing first-hand from families in Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry about how we can best support children with diverse needs on the autism spectrum.”
The consultations will begin in May and will include an online survey and town halls. The online survey will be available at Ontario.ca/autism
