US EditionWait for core Ontario autism services tops 5 years: advocates
- Parents are facing wait times exceeding five years for access to autism therapies, as reported by advocate Ashley Ferreira.
- Currently, over 84,000 children are registered in the Ontario Autism Program, but only 19,600 receive funding for services like speech language pathology and occupational therapy.
- Minister Michael Parsa has not stated that the five-year wait is acceptable, though his government has increased the autism program budget to $778 million this year.
- Critics, including Ontario Autism Coalition president Alina Cameron, argue that the government's solutions are insufficient and failing vulnerable children and families.
24 Articles
24 Articles
Ontario families face years-long wait for autism therapy funding
Families across Ontario are continuing to experience long delays in accessing government-funded core therapies under the Ontario Autism Program (OAP). Recent surveys from advocacy groups such as the Ontario Autism Coalition show that some families are waiting up to five years before receiving funding for applied behaviour analysis (ABA), speech-language pathology, and occupational therapy. According to recent figures obtained through freedom-of-…
Wait for core Ontario autism services tops 5 years: advocates – 105.9 The Region
TORONTO — When Ashley Ferreira’s five-year-old son was diagnosed with autism in 2020 she never imagined that a five-year wait lay ahead for him to get access to government-funded core therapies. “I thought that the diagnosis came with help,” she said. “It wasn’t until I started joining Facebook groups like the Ontario Autism Coalition that I was like, ‘Oh.’ It was a slap in the face.” Families had been reporting wait times for access to core ser…
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