FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 28, 2016
PORT DOVER – Months of hard work by the Ontario Autism Coalition, affected families and Ontario’s opposition parties has helped restore funding for children with autism.
“New Minister of Family and Children’s Services Michael Coteau listened to what the Official Opposition has been saying all along,” said Haldimand-Norfolk MPP Toby Barrett. “The need for autism treatment doesn’t end at age five.”
Earlier today, Coteau announced some funding will be restored for children with autism over five years of age. In March, children over the age of five were removed from a wait list for intensive behavioural intervention therapy (IBI) and changed to a new therapy.
The new therapy wasn’t due to start until 2018 and parents were only given $8,000 per child to pay for therapy in the interim. After an outcry from affected families, Ontario Autism Coalition and the Official Opposition, the government today announced more funding per child for therapy until the new program is rolled out. The start of the new program was also moved up to June 2017.
“The Ontario PC Caucus will continue to advocate on behalf of affected families with the implementation of their plan, and we will continue to demand accountability from the Liberal Government to ensure that no child is left behind,” Barrett said. “Now the government has listened to us on autism funding, we hope they will now address their misguided cuts to nurses, doctors, hospitals, education assistants and the potential closure of demonstration schools.”
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Please see attached background:
For more information, contact MPP Toby Barrett at 519-428-0446 or toby.barrett@pc.ola.org