Heart-wrenching problem
Hospital doesn’t want autistic teen, family fears to take him home
A toronto family wants to protect their young son — from their older one,
A toronto mother says she is forced to leave her 18-year-old autistic and developmentally delayed son at Toronto Western Hospital because his violent outbursts make it unsafe for him to return home, where he has a young brother.
Beth Edwards says Toronto Western officials have asked her to take her son, Taylor Mcnee, home from the hospital, where he was admitted four months ago. But as much as she dearly loves Taylor, she feels his presence would endanger her 7year-old son, Ethan.
Taylor has thrown the dog and flung objects; he once slammed his stepfather’s arm in the dishwasher. Usually, Edwards and her husband, Bill, have been able to restrain the teen until he calms down.
But lately Taylor appears to be targeting Ethan, and that has his mother worried.
The youngster has been shoved and knocked down by Taylor, said Edwards, adding the teen is also epileptic. The anti-psychotic medication he has taken for years has not stopped aggressive episodes which have gotten worse since puberty.
“I cannot bring him home, it’s not safe for my 7-year-old. I’m not going to wait for broken bones . . . Ethan is 60 pounds and Taylor is 160 pounds,’’ said Edwards, who visits Taylor in hospital almost every day and points out he can’t be blamed for behaviour he can’t control. The rest of the time, she said, Taylor is very “lovable. We adore Taylor.’’
Edwards’ MPP, Michael Prue, said he delivered a letter Wednesday to the ministers of health and of children and youth services asking them to intervene and find a place to accommodate Taylor.
“Surely to God, in a province like Ontario with facilities the government brags about having, there is some place where he can be looked after,’’ Prue said. “You’re closing Thistletown (the facility for people with mental health issues), you say there are all kinds of (other) places.’’
An “$800-a-day (hospital) bed’’ is not the proper place for someone who doesn’t need acute care and “it’s not the best condition for that child,’’ said Prue.
Edwards said she is happy with the compassionate care Taylor gets at the hospital and understands they would like to free up his bed.
“But I have no other place that’s safe for him to go,” she said, adding Taylor is on a waiting list for a group home spot. “What I really want is for him to be in a place with his peers, where he can go to school. It’s bad enough when you have a special needs child and you’re trying to get help. It’s non-existent when you’re trying to get help for an adult.’’ When it comes to special needs group homes, “there’s no expansion of services . . . vacancies are scarce,’’ said Alan Mcwhorter, interim executive director for Community Living Ontario, which advocates for people with intellectual disabilities. “When every space at every group home is full, what do you do? When you have a vacancy, they go to the waiting list to see the person most in need who can fit there. They’re always at 100-per-cent capacity.” Taylor is entitled to schooling until he’s 21 and his school had arranged for bus pickup, but Edwards said the hospital administration won’t allow him to go, what she sees as a “bullying’’ tactic. The hospital had applied to the province’s Consent and Capacity Board to have Edwards removed as her son’s “substitute decision-maker.’’ But on Wednesday the board told the hospital it would dismiss the application due to a couple of errors. The hospital can reapply. Citing privacy issues, a Toronto Western spokesman said the hospital will not comment on the case. Edwards said she is appalled by the lack of provincial resources for families such as hers. “Our children are being abandoned by the health care system we pay for. I believe the government knows that most parents are already so consumed with taking care of their special needs children that they have little energy left to fight.”