Feb 11, 2019, (Canada) Global News: There is a tsunami headed for the school system’: Autism program changes raise concerns about effects on schools https://globalnews.ca/news/4948757/autism-program-changes-raise-concerns-about-effects-on-schools/ TORONTO – Changes to Ontario’s autism program are raising concerns that thousands of autistic children who will receive fewer hours of therapy will be pushed into schools unable to properly accommodate them. The government announced last week that in order to clear a backlog of 23,000 children waiting for publicly funded autism therapy, families will get up to $140,000 to pay for treatment, though funding will be subject to an annual cap of $20,000 for kids five and under, and $5,000 for kids six to 18. But intensive therapy can cost up to $80,000 a year, advocates say. Parents, advocates and some within the school system say if children with autism who are currently in intensive therapy no longer have those costs fully covered, they will be in classrooms before they’ve had the chance to develop necessary skills. That also means already-stretched educational assistant resources will be spread even thinner, they say. “There is a tsunami headed for the school system,” said Ontario Autism Coalition president Laura Kirby-McIntosh, who is also a teacher. “Somewhere out there there’s a kid that’s going to get off the school property that’s going to get seriously hurt or worse. Somewhere there’s going to be a kid that’s going to be restrained for too long and is going to be seriously hurt. There’s an education worker who’s going to set off a kid who goes into a massive meltdown and someone’s going to get really hurt.”… . “There is no replacement for one-on-one, consistent, quiet, individualized learning … About $3 billion is going toward special education in 2018-19, and a spokeswoman said they “will have more to say on further supports in the coming months.” The president of the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association said schools will do their best to serve every child, but there is already a need for more special education funding…. Laura Walton with the Canadian Union of Public Employees, which represents 55,000 education workers, worries about what will happen when children who have been in intensive therapy start spending more hours in school. … Educational assistants do not receive funding for professional development, said Walton, and many pay out of pocket for training to help them work with children on the autism spectrum. … The unions representing elementary and high school teachers say the government’s new autism program falls short. “A significant increase in the number of specialized support staff in our schools is essential if we want to provide all the support that students with special needs require and deserve,” said Harvey Bischof, president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation. … The government has framed the previous autism program as unfair, as 8,400 children were receiving support while 23,000 waited. But many parents whose children are on the wait list are unhappy with the changes. They say that while the wait was frustrating, at the end their kids would get the therapy they need. …
top of page
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
Search
bottom of page