The Silo

$182 Million Spent On Autism Treatment 0$ Spent On Autism Service Dogs

Haldimand do not need an auditor general’s report to tell them that ASD services are in disarray. Our government should be commended for spending $182 million dollars on Autism treatment, however I have yet to meet a single Canadian family satisfied with their services. In 2007 there was thankfully, no wait list for Intensive Behavioral Intervention (IBI). Braydon spent two years working 24 hours a week, one-on-one with IBI therapists from Haldimand-Norfolk R.E.A.C.H. Essentially my toddler had a part-time job and after two years our family was unable to keep up the pace of it. Over $100,000 was spent on Braydon’s Autism Services, but now we were left to fend for ourselves.

Last week National Service Dogs for Children with Autism (NSD) asked a very interesting question on their Facebook page. Has the government considered Service Dogs? In 2012 my son was granted a Certified Autism Service Dog. Before that time, our only options for treatments were pharmaceuticals or privately funded and enormously expensive traditional therapies that were not effective at tracking results. Today, Braydon attends J.L. Mitchener Public School in Cayuga where he is thriving socially and academically. His service dog ‘NSD Whoopi’ attends school with him each and every day. Last month at Braydon’s Parent-Teacher interview I was told that my son was easy to integrate with his peers and all the students seemed to behave better when he and Whoopi were in the classroom. I have a very different little boy than I did a year ago, and the change in my son brings a flood of welcome respite to our home.

$30,000 might seem like an excessive amount of money for a Certified Autism Service Dog, however consider a Service Dog has a working life of 8-10 years. This means for some families like us; desperate for an alternative to treating our son’s autism with medication would receive 24 hour a day, 7 days a week support for 10 years for only $30,000! How much of the $182 million dollars spent on Autism Treatment this year was allocated to this alternative? Zero dollars!!! Incredibly National Service Dogs for Children with Autism provided us this option at absolutely no costs to us either. It is the generosity of the staff and volunteers at NSD and the support of our families and friends right here in Haldimand that brought accessibility for our family to our community. As a result, all of us are able to embrace a much higher quality of life than most families affected by Autism are able to experience.

So…let’s talk about making Certified Autism Service Dogs an available treatment alternative to more families. For the Silo, Jenny Tansley.

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6 responses to “$182 Million Spent On Autism Treatment 0$ Spent On Autism Service Dogs”

  1. Haldimand-Norfolk MPP Brady Avatar
    Haldimand-Norfolk MPP Brady

    Autism wait list continues to grow

    By MPP Bobbi Ann Brady

    It was another strident week at Queen’s Park as we work through the Fall session. Of course, the RCMP investigation into the Greenbelt debacle was front and centre during question period, leading to mention of this government’s record of signing off on an unprecedented number of Ministerial Zoning Orders (MZOs).

    On the front lawn, Monday, families gathered to draw attention to Ontario’s flawed approach to the autism file. I was afforded the opportunity to address the crowd as I have spoken to countless families who are struggling to find services that fit their needs.

    Five years ago, Ontario’s Autism Program was facing major issues which families had been witnessing for a long time. The program was under-funded, it had a long waitlist, and it lacked a range of clinical services.

    In 2018, newly-minted Premier Doug Ford was apoplectic over the waitlist of 23,000 children – in 2023 that waitlist sits around 60,000 children hanging on, waiting for supports and services. The waitlist continues to grow at a rate of about 7,000 each year.

    The current program’s budget is $667 million, which only gives 20,000 children with autism the therapies they need. Government is only serving one-third of those in need of help. Any athlete will tell you third place is not good enough. And third place is not good enough for Ontarians waiting for autism supports and services.

    The government has provided families two rounds of “one-off” funding, ranging from $5,500 to $22,000 based on the child’s age. I know families who registered for the Ontario Autism Program after March 31, 2021, but have not received any funding.

    I recently met with a family who told me that what they are receiving for their son is a waste of taxpayers’ money. In fact, many of the services being offered to their toddler are online. How does a child make emotional and personal connections over a computer? They don’t.

    I’ve always believed parents know what’s best for their children. Perhaps it’s time to reimagine the autism file and put families in the driver seat.

    And speaking of reimagining, the Ford government introduced a bill designed to return 3,000 hectares of land back under the protection of the Greenbelt and will codify the Greenbelt’s boundaries in law as well. This means future amendments would have to go through the legislature rather than simply by regulation — which is how Doug Ford and his government initially amended it.

    A little refresher: in November 2022 the Ford team revealed their aim to extract 15 parcels of land from the Greenbelt to build 50,000 homes, which was part of the government’s broader goal of building 1.5 million new homes by 2031. Time warp to August 2023, when two provincial watchdogs distributed reports that considered the process by which lands were chosen for removal from the Greenbelt gave preference to particular well-connected developers.

    Those developers had dangling in front of them an $8.3 billion carrot from the government’s dealings.

    Ontario’s respected Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk labelled the selection process “seriously flawed” in her report, which was released on August 9. A few weeks later, Integrity Commissioner J. David Wake’s verdict deemed the process “created an opportunity to further the private interests of developers improperly.”

    Steve Clark (former housing minister) resigned on September 4 amid the growing scandal, and Kaleed Rasheed resigned from the PC caucus after it was revealed he’d provided incorrect information to the integrity commissioner.

    And to top it all off, the RCMP announced two weeks ago that it was launching a formal investigation of the Ford government’s decision to carve up the Greenbelt, having been referred to the matter in August by the OPP. Ford has reiterated that nothing illegal happened.

    Time will tell as they say. In the meantime, the Greenbelt and the RCMP investigation is front and centre each day in question period – I suspect it will continue to be a distraction for some time. In the meantime, other important issues fall by the wayside.

    Bobbi Ann Brady MPP for Haldimand-Norfolk

    http://www.bobbiannbrady.com

  2. Toby Barrett Avatar
    Toby Barrett

    NEW Action to support children on the autism spectrum

    Three years ago, Ontario’s Autism Program was facing some major challenges that had been decades in the making. The program was under-funded, with a long waitlist. We had a program that did not provide the much-needed range of clinical services. Further, we had a waitlist that was not moving the way it should. Over the past several years, I have heard this time-and time-again from families.

    Our government took action to start to rectify these issues by listening to and focusing on children and young people, and their families, who are facing challenges.

    We doubled the Ontario Autism Program (OAP) budget to $600 million per year     so we could address the number of children receiving nothing at all. We also brought together our Ontario autism panel to expand foundational services; such as early years support, urgent services and, of course, core services.

    Even though the OAP continues to be rolled out, roughly 36,000 children are receiving some level of support already. This is more than three times the number of children supported under the previous government. We are making gains each day but there is still more work to do.

    Our government has taken the time listen and work with the members of the autism community, to understand how to better support children and young people on the autism spectrum, and their families. Two years ago, I hosted a listening roundtable for concerned families at the Hagersville Legion.

    With the recent doubling of the autism budget, to $600 million, we have an opportunity to build a world-class autism program here in Ontario.

    The Autism Workforce Capacity Action Plan, part of the $600 million investment, will expand access in rural and remote communities, provide new training for clinicians, and allow service providers to hire and train new staff and support more families. These investments will better enable the province to continue inviting and onboarding more children and young people into the needs-based OAP.

    As well, in July we announced more than $62 million to build capacity among service providers to deliver high quality clinical services for children and young people receiving support through the needs-based OAP. This investment will continue to create a stable, efficient, and skilled workforce so more families can access the core clinical services they need.

    These services are needs-based ensuring families can work with a clinician of their choice to develop a treatment plan based on their child’s individual needs and goals.

    The capacity action plan builds on the strong foundation of public and private providers who are currently serving people with special needs across the province. The plan was developed with input from the autism advisory panel, the implementation working group, as well as families and service providers.

    This ongoing work with respect to autism aligns with our long-term vision that people with developmental disabilities be fully supported so they may participate in their communities and live fulfilling lives.

    People with developmental challenges and their families expect and deserve to enjoy all the rights and opportunities the rest of us take for granted, like going to school, holding down a job, and having real choices and control over decisions that affect them.

    Our plan focuses on people in addition to the systems around them.

    Toby Barrett MPP for Haldimand-Norfolk

  3. Liberal Caucus Service Bureau Avatar
    Liberal Caucus Service Bureau

    He’ll Say Anything – Facts Still Matter in Ontario – October 26, 2017

    Patrick Brown will say anything to anyone if he thinks it will suit his political agenda. Today he made a number of false claims about autism services, the Premier, and the on-going college strike. He should know by now that Facts Still Matter in Ontario.

    He claimed: “I can’t get an answer on the government’s cuts to autism services”

    Fact: There have been no cuts to autism services, in fact an additional $500 million is being invested to improve these services. The Leader of the Opposition should read his local paper some time.

    (Source: http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2017/06/08/wynne-liberals-announce-details-of-ontario-autism-program)

    He claimed: “The government seems to have forgotten that autism doesn’t end at school either”

    Fact: We just announced an additional $5 million for a pilot program for autism services in school that builds on the hundreds of millions of dollars we’re already investing.

    (Source: https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/10/25/provincial-pilot-program-lets-autistic-kids-get-therapy-on-school-premises.html)

    He claimed: “For 14 years they’ve had the opportunity to support children with autism”

    Fact: For 14 years it was a Ontario Liberal government that has invested billions of dollars more in autism services. The PC party voted against this funding every step of the way.

    (Source: http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/house-proceedings/house_detail.do?locale=en&Date=2016-12-08&detailPage=/house-proceedings/votes-and-proceedings/files_html/042_December_08_2016_Votes.htm#tidyout)

    He claimed: “So the Premier said she’s not going to get involved” referring to the college strike

    Fact: The Premier never said this, in fact she encouraged both sides to get back to the bargaining table.

    (Source: https://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2017/10/25/minister-very-troubled-by-lack-of-talks-between-colleges-union.html)

    For more information: 416-325-9138 Please mention The Silo when contacting.

  4. Liberal Caucus Research Group Avatar
    Liberal Caucus Research Group

    He’ll Say Anything – Facts Still Matter in Ontario – October 26, 2017

    Patrick Brown will say anything to anyone if he thinks it will suit his political agenda. Today he made a number of false claims about autism services, the Premier, and the on-going college strike. He should know by now that Facts Still Matter in Ontario.

    He claimed: “I can’t get an answer on the government’s cuts to autism services”

    Fact: There have been no cuts to autism services, in fact an additional $500 million is being invested to improve these services. The Leader of the Opposition should read his local paper some time.

    (Source: http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2017/06/08/wynne-liberals-announce-details-of-ontario-autism-program)

    He claimed: “The government seems to have forgotten that autism doesn’t end at school either”

    Fact: We just announced an additional $5 million for a pilot program for autism services in school that builds on the hundreds of millions of dollars we’re already investing.

    (Source: https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/10/25/provincial-pilot-program-lets-autistic-kids-get-therapy-on-school-premises.html)

    He claimed: “For 14 years they’ve had the opportunity to support children with autism”

    Fact: For 14 years it was a Ontario Liberal government that has invested billions of dollars more in autism services. The PC party voted against this funding every step of the way.

    (Source: http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/house-proceedings/house_detail.do?locale=en&Date=2016-12-08&detailPage=/house-proceedings/votes-and-proceedings/files_html/042_December_08_2016_Votes.htm#tidyout)

    He claimed: “So the Premier said she’s not going to get involved” referring to the college strike

    Fact: The Premier never said this, in fact she encouraged both sides to get back to the bargaining table.

    (Source: https://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2017/10/25/minister-very-troubled-by-lack-of-talks-between-colleges-union.html)

    For more information:

    416-325-9138 Please mention The Silo when contacting.

  5. The Silo Avatar
    The Silo

    Animals are amazing…..there is a deep rooted social connection between dogs and humans. We’re not surprised that autism dogs can make such a positive influence. We’re not surprised that funding is steered away from this natural and proven option and used instead for “big pharma”. Drugs are a HUGE business and drug companies are listed on the stock market- do the math :/

  6. Tammie White Avatar
    Tammie White

    Great article Jenny. I’m a volunteer and I love to read about the difference NSD dogs make!
    I agree, the government needs to look at alternatives that really help children with autism and their families!
    Thank you.

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