Feb 23, 2019, CBC: Educators, parents worry Ontario autism overhaul will ripple into the classroom https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/autism-ontario-support-1.5030027 …Some educators say that, with money spread so thin under the overhaul to Ontario's autism program, schools will be unable to support children with autism because they'll likely receive less treatment at home. Educators and parents whose children have autism say they're worried that a reduction in home support through the recent overhaul of Ontario's autism program could spill into the classroom. Upset parents have packed the public gallery at Queen's Park in the last week to voice their opposition to the recent changes, saying the new system doesn't work for many families with children on the spectrum. Under the changes, which come into effect on April 1, families whose children have autism will receive a budget in order to choose the services they want. Children under six are eligible for up to $20,000 a year, to a maximum of $140,000. Children over six get up to $5,000 a year up to the age of 18, with a maximum of $55,000.
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Childhood Lost
Children today are noticeably different from previous generations, and the proof is in the news coverage we see every day. This site shows you what’s happening in schools around the world. Children are increasingly disabled and chronically ill, and the education system has to accommodate them. Things we've long associated with autism, like sensory issues, repetitive behaviors, anxiety and lack of social skills, are now problems affecting mainstream students. Blame is predictably placed on bad parenting (otherwise known as trauma from home).
Addressing mental health needs is as important as academics for modern educators. This is an unrecognized disaster. The stories here are about children who can’t learn or behave like children have always been expected to. What childhood has become is a chilling portent for the future of mankind.
Anne Dachel, Media editor, Age of Autism
http://www.ageofautism.com/media/
(John Dachel, Tech. assist.)
What will happen in another 4 years? How can we go on like this? This is a national (and international) problem of monumental proportions. We have an entire new class of children who cannot be accommodated by the system: many are manifestly neurologically impaired. Meanwhile, the government and the medical profession sleep on regardless.
John Stone,
UK media editor, Age of Autism
The generation of American children born after 1990 are arguably the sickest generation in the history of our country.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
It seemed to me that with rising autism prevalence, you’d also see rising autism costs to society, and it turns out, the costs are catastrophic.
They calculated that in 2015 autism cost the United States $268 billion and they projected that if autism continues at its current rate, we’re looking at one trillion dollars a year in autism costs by 2025, so within five years.
Toby Rogers, PhD, Political economist
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