Conservatives rip autism services away from high needs children and give everyone less: NDP

QUEEN’S PARK — NDP Official Opposition Children and Youth critic Monique Taylor said that the Ford Conservatives' changes to autism services means high needs children will have their services ripped away, and everyone else will have their services cut.

The Ford government announced today that every child gets less funding, and funding will rely on their age and family income rather than clinical needs. Taylor is calling on the government to fund families according to the needs of their children, and stop any plan that forces families to cope with a cut.

“Families lived through years of Liberal disappointment, with excruciating waits for services,” said Taylor. “Now, families are losing hope that their kids will ever get the support that they need to thrive."

Intensive therapies cost up to $70, 000 a year, but the funding model the Ford Conservatives unveiled today averages just $8,750 per year for children that start receiving funding at two years old.

“Families deserve so much better than to be shuffled from a bad Liberal plan to an even worse Conservative one,” said Taylor. “We need to eliminate wait lists by investing more into autism services, focusing on evidence based solutions that put the needs of kids and their families first — not just redistributing a funding envelope that's too small to solve the problem. New Democrats will keep fighting for a comprehensive autism strategy that focuses on a child’s need, not just their age, so that the services they need are there for them, regardless of age."