The parent of a child with autism says the Ford government's timeline for phasing in its autism program isn't good enough.
Jeff Moco, who lives in Chatham, said parents across Ontario were expecting the full program to start next year but the province announced on Tuesday that the first phase won't start until April, and the rest of the program will be phased in throughout 2020 and 2021.
In a news release, the province said it is adopting the Ontario Autism Panel’s key recommendations for a needs-based autism program recognizing that every family’s experience and needs are different, and that children and youth with autism have different needs at different points of their lives.
“We heard loud and clear from the autism community that we needed to partner and redesign a program together - one that supports the needs of individual children and youth and puts them at the centre of care,” said Todd Smith, the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services. “The changes we are making address the concerns we’ve heard from families, experts and the autism advisory panel.”
Moco said it's disappointing the province hasn't really heard a thing parents are asking for.
"They're saying 'yeah we've listened and here's what the report says and yeah we're going to do it' but there doesn't seem to be urgency from my perspective," Moco said.
Moco said parents are devastated because they still have little choice.
"The fact that a program that was working was completely disrupted to create all of this delay, that to me is more harmful," he added.
Moco said parents are still waiting for the province to keep its promise because the longer they let this go, the longer children with autism will suffer under the current conditions.
"People have lost hope and they've already shown that they've gone in the other direction and anything at this point is hard to even believe what they're saying," Moco said.
Despite being decried by many, the province said the updated program will allow families and caregivers to access services such as peer mentoring, training, workshops and coaching sessions to further support their child’s ongoing learning and development. The province also announced a new working group to provide the government with input on a number of key design elements, including service caps and the transition of children into service.
In July, the Ontario Autism Program budget was increased from approximately $300 million to $600 million annually.
The province said all families on the wait list who have not yet received a budget will receive an invitation for interim one-time funding of either $5,000 or $20,000, depending on the age of their child, so they can begin paying for services.
Beginning in early 2020, the ministry will also begin offering 15 in-person training sessions to community-based physicians and medical practitioners, community agencies, educators and caregivers to better understand children with autism and co-occurring mental health challenges.
