loading...
Families rally at Kerry Park. (Photo Marshall Jones)
Organizer Lisa Watson
By Marshall Jones
About 100 people descended on Kerry Park this afternoon to send a message to the province that they know how to fight.
They are parents, relatives and friends of children struggling with autism and other behavioural conditions. They are used to battling against the condition and the stigma, but now they have one more battle—restoring provincial funding for the Early Intensive Behaviour Intervention program, due for the provincial chopping block in January, 2010.
Lisa Watson helped organize the event. She saw incredible benefits to her son’s development during a single year in the program.
“Huge changes, more communication, more language a lot more eye contact. Usually when we take him to different places there is less anxiety,” she says.
At age six, her son is almost through the program but Watson, who struggled to control her emotions during the rally, said something needs to be done to protect the kids not yet able to benefit from it.
“It affects so many families and autism is one in 91 right now. It affects us personally, it affects a lot of people we met…. One of the families in Kelowna right now just moved from Cranbrook in August and started EIBI in September and two weeks later they find out the program is being cut… what do you say to them?”
Speakers at the rally spoke about how the conditions affect not just the children but entire families.
“It’s hard, it is really hard,” she says. “Divorce rates in families with autistic children is 80 per cent.”
Connie Dunford’s three-year-old son is on a waiting list for the Early Intensive Behaviour Intervention program. He is in a therapy program now for 12 hours a week and she’s already seen great improvements.
“His vocabulary has grown, he has made social connections with family members and his little sister whereas before there was no interest in other people or activities like Christmas and birthdays. Now he’s getting socially connected for the first time… we only see it getting better with the EIBI program… but without it he is being left behind.”
marshall@kelowna.com
250-575-0831
2 Responses to “Cuts to autism ‘leaving children behind’”
Tags: autism, early intensive intervention autism, kerry park
loading...
I can’t believe they would cut this program. They have billions, thousands of milllions to build a freeway half a block from our neighborhood school. The emissions from the vehicles on this truck route, diesel particulate will cause health problems for children here, seniors too as well as others. Still they cannot find the comparitively much smaller sum needed for this progam that makes such a huge difference in people’s lives. Highways not health care is the government’s priority. We need them to understand it is more important to put people before pavement.
loading...
Make no mistake about it. These cuts aren’t about fairness. They are not about lack of money or inability to afford treatment. They are about priorities.
Simply put, children are not a priority to Gordon Campbell, Mary Polak, or all the Liberal MLAs in the legislature who are allowing these service cuts to take place without speaking out.
Shame on all of them.
Each child with autism in an EIBI program will save future taxpayers $2.5 million. EIBI programs transform the lives of children with autism, and their families.
But children are not a priority for this government.
All children with autism in BC that need EIBI could be treated for under $40 million, saving BC taxpayers $2 billion annually.
But children are not a priority for this government.
When you hear all Mary Polak’s justifications (it’s not fair, we can’t afford it, this isn’t doable) listen to what she is really saying. Services and programs for children, whether it is Fetal Alcohol Syndrome children, children with autism, Infant Development Programs – all cut – are not a priority for me.
Chris
Please continue discussion on the forum: link