A delegation of families from northern Ontario who have autistic children are returning from speaking with government officials after sitting at Queen’s Park last week.
Officials say they feel a bit better after chatting with provincial staff about the future of the new autism program that’s expected to be rolled out in the spring.
Spokesperson Alina Cameron tells says they shared that northern families can’t wait until April 2020 for new supports.
“I’m not hopeful from the things I hear from politicians because they are trained to say the same thing over and over, but I’m happy after speaking with the staff who are working on the development of the government’s program. When you actually speak with people who are working on the policy, you can see the realization wash across their face when you are talking to them and that gives me a glimmer of hope.”
The Northern Ontario Autism Families group says government staff who are working on the new program asked the right questions during their meeting.
NAF claims the Ford government-caused “already insufficient” services to disappear, adding they took “decades of hard work to build and the Ford government was able to decimate them in less than a year.”
They want an emergency plan put in place for the north since there is a lack of services in this region, and insufficient funding given to families to access those services.
NAF adds much of those budgets are taken up by travel costs, claiming it can cost up to $600 to attend a single 30-minute speech-language session.
