It was hard to admit they needed money
Parents can’t afford to wait for son’s autism treatments but also can’t afford to pay
The news that her 3-year-old son had autism was devastating. But Tanya Corey hoped at least it would be the first step to finally getting help.
“I thought, ‘We finally have a diagnosis, we can do something,’ ” says the mother of two, who lives outside Ottawa.
So it came as “a terrible shock” to learn they would have to wait two to three years for the intensive behavioural intervention he needed.
That’s the most recent time frame the Coreys were given by the agency that provides provincial autism services in the Ottawa area. Tanya and her husband, John, felt helpless.
When Lucas was diagnosed last fall, Tanya had just lost her job as a bookkeeper. John works as a gas fitter installing gas fireplaces. Money was so tight it was hard to cover the cost of extra gas from their rural home to CHEO Hospital in Ottawa for meetings required to secure Lucas a spot on the wait list and get access to speech and occupational therapy services.
Afriend, seeing the family’s distress and knowing that acting early is critical for kids with autism, set up a crowd-funding page in January to raise money for private therapy.
“I don’t like asking for help,” says Tanya, who was so uncomfortable she didn’t post a link on her own Facebook page for weeks.
“It’s hard having people know your financial situation, that you can’t even help your own child. I realize now I don’t have a choice.” The GoFundMe campaign has raised about $2,400, enough to cover 60 to 70 hours of behavioural therapy. The treatment is considered most effective when a child receives at least 20 hours a week.
Another friend fundraised by creating pencil portraits of people’s pets. A local restaurant has been donating proceeds from three special items on the menu — a special “Lucas Cupcake,” a waffle and macaroni and cheese.
But as the months go by, his behaviours are more challenging. Lucas is lively, with a passion for Mr. Potato Head and rumpusing with his 5year-old brother, Jesse. But he has limited speech and gets so frustrated when he can’t express what he wants, that he smashes his head on the floor.
Tanya is anxious for strategies to help her son. This month she and John are taking a two-day parent training course provided through the treatment centre to learn the principles of applied behaviour analysis, the most common evidencebased approach to helping children with autism.
She hopes it will help while she continues to chase other options while the family waits.
They would have to wait years for the intensive behavioural intervention he needed