Speac

NEWS

Sept. 2006:

The province of Ontario has decided to pay for special therapy for all autistic children in the province, instead of cutting off funding at the age of six.

he decision ends a legal battle with parents of autistic children who say applied behavioural analysis (ABA) therapy is crucial to help their children develop, learn, and interact with other children.

The Ontario government started paying for the therapy for autistic children from ages two through five in 2000. But when they turned six, the money was cut off. ABA therapy is an intensive programme designed specifically for autistic children. It is expensive, with the cost ranging from $30,000 to $80,000 per year for each child. But it works.

"Within one year of applied behavioural analysis treatment, my son was speaking in full sentences," said Yassine. "His behaviour changed from banging his head on the floor to interacting with children."

During the last provincial election, Ontario's Premier, Dalton McGuinty, promised to extend ABA therapy into the school system - and to end long waiting-lists. But the waiting-list for Ontario's pre-school autism programme has since grown from 79 children to 753 children in 2006, and $67 million committed to autism programmes languished, unspent.

"I understand that there are kids on a waiting-list and that is not acceptable to me either," said Chambers. "We will continue to work hard to correct that and we'll continue to work hard to make sure that all kids regardless of their age will have the supports they need."

In response to the question: why did the Ontario government fight parents for years in the courts on this issue if they believed in the autism therapy. Minister Chambers said: "The court case was actually a case about jurisdiction. It wasn't a case about whether the services would be provided. It was actually an argument about whose jurisdiction it is to determine how public resources should be allocated. And basically the courts ruled that it is the government's jurisdiction to provide and allocate public resources across services. So, as a matter of interest, even as that case was proceeding, we were delivering a commitment that the Premier had made a couple of years ago that we would not discharge kids on the basis of age. And we are doing it; in fact the majority of kids are receiving services."