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Guifre Calderer, Early Intensive Behavioural Intervention team leader with the Central Okanagan Child Development Association, works with an autistic child. (Photo Adrian Nieoczym)
By Adrian Nieoczym
The B.C. government’s announcement that it is cutting funding for intensive therapy programs for autistic children is no surprise to those who deliver them.
“I knew that one day the rug would be pulled out from under us,” said Guifre Calderer of the Central Okanagan Child Development Association. “But still, I’m pretty devastated by it.”
Yesterday the government said it will discontinue its support of EIBI programs, which currently serves 70 children under six-years-old across the province at a cost of almost $5 million a year.
But it also said it is increasing the overall budget for autism support by $1.6 million this year, to $46 million.
Ten of those children get their therapy through COCDA and the organization’s executive director, Wendy Falkowski, said there is a long waiting list for the program, which is now slated to end January 31.
Autism Spectrum Disorder is a developmental condition that impacts normal brain development and can affect a child’s motor-skills and their ability to socialize and communicate.
While there is no cure, early therapies and interventions can improve quality of life and help children get to a point where they can attend school with other kids and grow into functioning adults who are capable of living in the community rather than institutions.
Children in EIBI programs get about 20 hours of one-on-one therapy a week, which includes working with occupational and speech therapists.
“Research shows that more treatment is better,” said Calderer, who added 40 hours of therapy a week has been shown to be ideal in some studies.
But he also said he is not focused on what is missing or what is being taken away. “Instead of crying in our milk, we’re trying to think of creative solutions.”
Falkowski said givernment support for intensive behavioural programs in B.C. began as a pilot project in 2001. “We didn’t expect it to go longer than two or three years.”
The government currently pays $66,000 per child in EIBI programs, according to Falkowski, and once that funding disappears the affected children will move onto what are known as individualized funding plans.
Families with autistic children under age six are eligible for up to $20,000 per year, which they can use to buy autism intervention services through organizations like COCDA. As part of yesterday’s announcement, the government said that funding will increase to a maximum of $22,000 a year next April.
But the loss of EIBI programs will likely reduce COCDA’s ability to deliver services.
“We may have to layoff staff,” said Falkowski. “It affects our early intervention program.”
But one parent with two autistic children said she does not object to the government’s decision to cut EIBI programs.
“I had the chance to put my daughter in it on three different occasions and chose not to do it,” said Tracey Hellming, who is the parent support coordinator with Autism Support Kelowna. “The really intensive therapy is more effective on children that are lower on the spectrum…if they’re talking about $5 million they can spread out over other areas, I don’t think that is the worst decision that they could have made.”
Hellming added that what parents really need is help figuring out the best way to use the funding they do get.
adrian@kelowna.com
(250)575-3517
One Response to “B.C. government axes intensive therapy program for autistic children”
Tags: autism, autism spectrum disorder, early intensive behavioural intervention, Kelowna
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You know we are living in dark days indeed when the government begins dismantling the therapy funding for helpless children. I suppose it is a smart move by the government as these children can’t voice their concern over the negative impact this will have on their future and huge increase in cost it will later have to society.
Is this the type of government we voted for?
Approximately one in a 150 boys is diagnosed with Autism and this continues to rise at an increasing rate.
In a recent 50 million dollar Lotto 6/49 jackpot, the odds were one in 13,983,816. Hundreds of thousands of parents bet on this jackpot. Your odds are considerably better with an Autism diagnosis.
Save your lottery money, you will need it if your child is diagnosed.
The government of British Columbia offers these families $20,000/year to cover therapy up to the age of six. Therapy costs approximately $80,000/year. This therapy is scientifically proven to be effective and is well documented. This means families who have a child who has been diagnosed with Autism have to find $60,000 from somewhere. This is often debt.
Most of these parents divorce. Selling the family house to fund therapy is common. The sale of most items of value to generate funds for therapy is a given. A life of guilt and depression is to be expected. Alienation from friends and family will occur.
Their life as they knew it is now over.
If they are lucky their child won’t bolt and get lost for days. If they’re lucky their child will learn to refrain from self damaging behavior. If they’re lucky, their child will learn not to throw up after eating. If they’re lucky, their child will learn to speak a few words. If they’re lucky their child will not be teased, ridiculed, beaten up and harassed on a daily basis at school. If they’re lucky their child will graduate from high school.
Most won’t be that lucky.
Last week, without any consultation or warning, the Mary Polak (Minister of Family and Children Development) pulled the rug out from under these parents who are already enduring so much by eliminating their ability to control these funds. The government, who have consistently failed to understand the needs of these families has taken it upon itself to eliminate the option to do Direct Funding (direct from the parents to the service providers) and has instead dictated that these parents have to tow the line of mandated Invoice Funding where the government pays the service providers. This will increase overhead costs, delay the payments, reduce the quality of care and will make paying these service providers extremely difficult therefore reducing the amount of usable funds and discouraging assistance.
The frustration in the Autism community lies in the fact that these parents, who are on the brink of financial collapse, already spent precious funds to fight the government in the courts a few years ago to protect their children and won the Auton lawsuit (Auton vs BC Gov). The government at that time did finally put Direct Individualized Funding into place. This allowed parents to fund their child’s ABA programs and since that time parents have built a strong, quality base of ABA service providers that is making a real difference to these children. The ABA program takes a child who would otherwise be lifelong financial burden on the society and in many cases makes him/her self sufficient.
In these financial times are we prepared to sacrifice the children? Do we want to go down this low moral road? Are we prepared to make the small amount of funds these parents receive that much less and that much more difficult to put into action? Why is the government spending more tax money just to make it difficult for these parents?
For all that is good a decent, please spare the children.
Please continue discussion on the forum: link