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Alberta's autism services draws families from other provinces

You may want to read this:

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/sto...m-therapy.html


"Parents with autistic children are leaving their home provinces for Alberta, which pays up to $60,000 per child annually on an intensive treatment that some other places don't cover at all.....

Remember that healthcare in Canada comes under provincial jurisdiction (not federal)... therefore, coverage may vary from one province to another....

AnyaT

I just finished a short-ish stint in the autism unit in Ontario's Ministry of Children and Youth Services. I think most of the information about Ontario's services for children with autism have already been covered, but I can give you a little information on other provinces. Basically each province decides its own policies and services for autism, and they can come under any number of government departments - Children Services, Health and Education are the main three. You've mentioned a couple Maritime provinces, as well as BC and AB. PEI and NB both have very small programs. I believe PEI does or is looking at providing support to children in schools (as opposed to merely preschool services), but you have to realize they currently serve less than 20 kids, so they simply may not have the infrastructure to sustain this. In NB autism services are just getting underway. I don't think there is anything in schools at present.

BC offers $20,000 per child under the age of 6, and $6000 per child over 6 with a diagnosis of autism. I believe this money goes directly to the parents to spend on what they see fit, as they have mentioned problems such as parents using it for trips to Disneyland because they can't access any IBI providers and say the vacation made their kids happy (i.e., an improvement). AB is a bit tricky - they do not want to specify any special needs treatments and so do not have "autism-specific" funding. They do however offer funding for children with special needs. It is needs-based, so not based on a diagnosis. I think there are 3 levels of funding based on the severity of the need. I am not sure whether the money goes directly to the family or if they submit invoices from treatment and are then reimbursed. I believe the bulk of the funding ends at age 6, though some assistance may be available afterwards.

In general in most provinces, once a child reaches school-age responsiblity for autism treatment transfers to the education system. Most provinces do not offer treatment for autism in schools. ON and MB probably have the most comprehensive services.

Hope this helps.

alwayssaythanku

Hi Anya. Yes that helps a lot. Here in the UK, one must fight the school board to get them to fund ABA either at home or in the school. The funding does not end at age 6. Also we get speech therapy and OT services for as long as are needed.

Is OT and Speech therapy a given in Canada? I am really amazed. I thought Canada would be so far ahead of us here in the Uk. Looks like it definitely is NOT. We have statements of special educational needs here in the UK which are written in tandem by the parent and by the school. Its a legal document. The u.s. has these as well. It is within these documents that you make your case for continuing ABA, SLT, OT, etc. Is it like this in Canada? Does a parent have any say what the child receives when they go to school? Does the parent write the IEP with the teachers?

It sounds like a parent will have to know all the nooks and crannies of the law in Canada, just like here, in order to get any sort of services. Very depressing indeed though that ABA has not been more widely used in CAnada much less paid for.

I suppose i will have my work cut out for me.

dbd33

Yes, in Ontario there is a similar document, legally binding on the school board. The content is worked out in a series of meetings involving the parents, the school authorities and, typically, external consultants. The school authorities will likely include a speech therapist and various other specialists. I haven't been to any such meetings where there were less than a dozen people (to discuss a single case).

TrishP

Children with special needs do have IEPs here in Ontario. I can't speak for the rest of Ontario as it differs by school board (2 boards covering this area). School Health OT/PT/SALT is provided through the Community Care Access Centres - CCAC has guidelines for Case Managers when a child is referred for any of these therapies, to ensure that every Dick and Dora who has some writing difficulties isn't referred for specialist therapy. Ther referral is then passed to the therapist with a priority level for how soon the child should be seen.
If your child has a diagnosis in the UK, then bring any paperwork regarding the diagnosis/intervention to show the CM - here the CM often has to ask the referrer to get documentation of a diagnosis in order to get the ball rolling.

In my experience here in Red Lake, as an OT who works in School Health, children with autism get an excellent service - between the IBI program and the Special Ed teachers and assistants, the therapy coverage (myself on the OT side for school and a paediatric OT from out of town for home), children here get a lot of input.

One word of warning, if you go in all guns blazing it may put backs up - the authorities here (where I am anyway) are generally very open and willing to help, but demanding services may not go down too well.

AnyaT

The reason why funding ends at age 6 in several provinces is that autism services (esp. ABA) have historically been aimed at preschoolers, as that is when it was deemed to have the most benefit. This means the funding is covered under programs for preschoolers. Once a child starts school (usually age 5 or 6), the funding would end because they were now considered the responsibility of the education system. Really it boiled down to a turf war between different government departments.

I think OT and speech therapy are covered - again, it is hard to say as these things are handled on a provincial level, so you would need to get the details on the province you end up deciding on.