Fight for autism funding continues
MPP Burch describes province’s response to concerns as ‘really disgusting’
Carolyn Wells would rather wait if it means her seven-year-old son Joshua will get the help he needs.
Because, she said, the revamped program families with autistic children are being offered by the province won’t help.
Wells — her son has been on a waiting list for treatment for more than a year — joined about 10 other parents at a rally outside Niagara Centre MPP Jeff Burch’s constituency office Wednesday to urge the provincial government to provide adequate funding to families with autistic children.
The province’s revamped autism program coming into effect April 1 — it will offer families up to $20,000 a year for each child under age six years, to a lifetime maximum of $140,000; or $5,000 a year for children up to age 18, to a maximum of $55,000 — is intended to eliminate the waiting list for autism treatments.
But Wells said the funding isn’t anywhere near the cost of services.
“It’s like here’s a penny, shut up now and go away. It’s not going to help him at all,” she said. “What’s that going to do for me? It costs $50,000 to $120,000 a year for the therapy.”
While the rally was underway at Burch’s office in Welland, the MPP was at Queen’s Park discussing the plight of families with autistic children, including Thorold resident Rebecca Haight — one of dozens of parents of children with autism who watched proceedings from the gallery.
Despite their pleas, Burch said the Progressive Conservatives government seems to have dug in its heels on the issue, and described the response to the concerns as “really disgusting.”
“One of the Conservatives taunted the parents that were here. The parents got extremely upset by that,” Burch said referring to Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston MPP Randy Hillier, accused by several parents in attendance of telling them “yada yada yada” in response to their concerns.
Premier Doug Ford issued a statement following the meeting, saying Hillier has been suspended from the Tory caucus.
“Minister (of Children, Community and Social Services Lisa) MacLeod began reviewing the program her first day and developed a fair, equitable and sustainable program for all children and families … Mr. Hillier’s comments crossed the line and that is unacceptable,” Ford said.
Hillier released a written apology, saying he was addressing Hamilton-Mountain MPP Monique Taylor at the time.
“In my 12 years in office I do not recall any member heckling a spectator in the gallery and all banter is always between members on the floor of the house,” Hillier said in his statement.
Burch, however, said the behaviour is indicative of a “bullying government.”
“That’s how they behave. They seem to be surprised when people stand up to them, like most bullies,” he said in an interview.
At the rally in Welland, Wells said the autism treatments her son is waiting for, such as applied behaviour analysis (ABA), can make a huge difference in the lives of children with the disorder.
Christine Lutz, who joined the protest at Burch’s office, was living in Alberta five years ago when her son Joshua Berridge was diagnosed with moderate to severe autism.
After years of receiving 40 hours a week of in-home ABA treatments, she said her son “went from not walking, not talking at age three … to now he’s verbal and he’s regulating his sensory needs.”
Lutz’s older son Austin has since been diagnosed with mild autism, and the 14-year-old has been added to Ontario’s wait list of 23,000 children.
But even though thousands of children are waiting for treatment, she said families are not left out in the cold.
“There are supports. I don’t want people to think that these children were just thrown on a wait list,” she said.
Now, however, Lutz fears neither of her sons will receive the treatment they need.