In the wake of intense backlash over a retooling of Ontario's autism program, the provincial government plans to hold public consultations to find ways to better support children on the spectrum and their families.
Social Services Minister Lisa MacLeod announced Tuesday an online survey and telephone town halls will be launched in May to help inform the Progressive Conservative government on how best to develop more needs-based supports. Those supports could include additional direct funding for children and youth with the most complex needs.
"Nobody should underestimate the challenges that families of children with autism face. As a government, we want to be there for them," Minister of Children, Community and Social Services Lisa MacLeod said in a statement. "We have been listening to families and have heard the concerns they want addressed. We want to address them too by providing additional sources of support."
MacLeod also noted an advisory panel made up of parents with lived experience, adults with autism, and experts will be established to review the results of the survey and town halls and make recommendations to the government. The panel is expected to report back later this summer on a new needs assessment process and a funding formula that takes into account an individuals abilities and needs.
The provincial government expects to announce additional enhancements to the Ontario autism program, based on public feedback, in the fall.
Parents of children with autism held rallies at Queen’s Park and outside MacLeod's constituency office, as well as chastised her on social media after she first announced reforms to the program in February. Among their main concerns was a funding cap that would limit eligible children under the age of six to $20,000 a year and kids six to 18 to just $5,000 annually. Families with total incomes totalling more than $250,000 annually would have been ineligible for funding.
Outraged parents were quick to point out intensive therapy for children with autism can cost more than $80,000 a year.