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Andrew Kavchak
ParticipantHi Folks,
I just wrote a book titled “The Fight For Autism Treatment in Canada – Reflections Of A Parent Activist”.
The book is about what we have been dealing with over the past two decades.
I have dedicated the book to Beverley Sharpe and Dr. Sabrina Freeman and all the families that were involved in the Auton case.
The book is available as a eBook and paperback at amazon (free to subscribers of Kindle Unlimited).
Please feel free to bring this to the attention of anyone you think might be interested in knowing how we got to where we are.
Thank you!
Andrew Kavchak
ParticipantHi Folks,
Another milestone today.
Trudeau just published the “mandate letters” for his Ministers.The one for the Minister of Health makes a reference to developing a National Autism Strategy.The Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion is expected to contribute to the effort.Well, this is historic and unprecedented. I think our community needs to recognize that. While I suspect that there are a few people and organizations that will attempt to take credit for this, the fact is that the push for this goes way back to 2004 and the Auton hearings at the SCC and many people contributed to the effort over the years.Let’s keep our eyes wide open. A National Autism Strategy (NAS) is only as good as its pillar components. An NAS may end up being anything…and could range from a dedicated effort to working with the provinces to include autism treatment in Medicare with a funding formula, etc. to tax credits, to more awareness and anti-stigma campaigns, to recommendations for “more study”. Who knows what the Liberal Government has in mind.However, we know there will be “consultations” and the usual suspects will make their cases. In Ontario there was quite a fiasco this year with the provincial government’s announcements in February, which resulted in quite an upheaval of backlash from the community and then the government’s announcement of a new round of consultations and appointment of an Advisory Panel. When the Ontario Autism Coalition surveyed hundreds of members of the community to compose a report for the Advisory Panel, the report said that over half of those surveyed said they wanted autism treatment covered my Medicare. Of course, I and many other parents also wrote to the government consultations website and the Advisory Panel members that we wanted MFAN. Yet, when the Advisory Panel issued its report in late October, not a word was said about MFAN.Will the federal government’s consultations be the same? Or different?Time will tell. But speaking of time, given that this is a minority Parliament, I hope the Minister “fast tracks” the process. The development of a “strategy” is one thing (and the Conservatives proposed during the recent election to take five years to develop one), but the decision to implement, and the subsequent initiation of the implementation are separate stages. It is conceivable that a strategy will be developed, but no decision to implement will be made before the next election. One thing for sure….MFAN supporters have to speak up at every consultation opportunity.ParticipantTrudeau just published the “mandate letters” for his Ministers. There is a reference to the development of a National Autism Strategy (NAS)The one for the Minister of Health makes a reference to developing a NAS.The Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion is expected to contribute to the effort.ParticipantTrudeau just published the “mandate letters” for his Ministers. There is a reference to a National Autism Strategy (NAS).The one for the Minister of Health makes a reference to developing a NAS.The Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion is expected to contribute to the effort.ParticipantHi Folks,
Well, after this recent election it appears that Parliament will resume sitting in early December. Historically, the key public policy documents in Ottawa which provided an indication of where the government is going were the “Speech from the Throne” (SFT) at the beginning of every new Parliamentary session, and the annual budget. Thus, we should expect a SFT shortly (presumably right after they pick a new speaker in the House of Commons). However, after the 2015 election Justin Trudeau threw a new indicator in the stew – “mandate letters” for his Cabinet Ministers. These mandate letters outlined the specific items that Trudeau wanted each Minister to work on in their portfolio. If he does it again, the mandate letters should be made public at some time after his Cabinet is named.
So…what are the chances that the word “autism” will appear in any of these documents?
ParticipantHi Folks,
Interesting story in Quebec….a Liberal MNA from the Westmount riding in Montreal proposed to the CAQ government that they undertake a study of services for people with autism. She has two kids with autism, so she knows a thing or two about available services (or the lack thereof). She seemed to be particularly concerned about the transition to adulthood. So how does the CAQ government respond? Rejection of the proposal. Well, well… so in what way is Quebec “distinct” from the other provinces and the rest of the country? The Quebec government is not interested in even considering the possibility of just hearing from the community about what could help….and does any other province demonstrate the opposite? Not as far as I can tell. The recent consultations and panel report in Ontario was given a mandate that was restricted to just the Ontario Autism Program (OAP).
Well, at least the Liberal MNA tried. But I can’t help wonder…why is it that such proposals are so frequently made by parties when they are in opposition and not when they are in government? I don’t want to appear negative or cynical, but have we not seen this before? It seems that this kind of behaviour in the political arena is so common as to be predictable.
ParticipantHello,Well, here we go again! Another media story about people migrating back and forth across this country in search of….anything to help their child with autism.What a shame that the federal government (whether Liberal, Conservative, etc.) never recognized and continues, as the last election demonstrated, to avoid taking a leadership role to address this disgraceful situation. Families with autistic children have enough problems without having to deal with cross-country moves in order to access elementary services. This “scourge of the wait lists” has to stop!ParticipantHi Folks,
Toronto parent and MFAN advocate Jamie Peddle has a new YouTube channel where he is starting to post videos about autism advocacy issues relating to our common struggle for MFAN. Please check it out and spread the link around. Jamie’s likely going to be posting a lot of good videos in the near future. I particularly like the one he posted of him going to pay for ABA treatment for his son with a credit card instead of a health card and asking “What country are we in?”
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIg3BKW2ODDBF86Kraocc6g
ParticipantHi Folks,
So today the Ontario Autism Advisory Panel issued its report to the government regarding changes to the Ontario Autism Program (OAP).
As with the general theme that the Ontario Autism Coalition so smartly promoted in its opposition to the governments’s mishandling of the OAP earlier this year, the central theme is “needs-based services”. Put in the bigger context, is it not incredible that one should have to advocate for that? I mean, if kids don’t get what they need, then either it is because the services provided are insufficient (which they certainly are for those on the waiting list), or some other service is being provided which does not address the child’s “needs”. I can’t recall any community protesting that under Medicare they needed “needs-based services” because presumably, under Medicare, the healthcare system tries to provide the services that meet the needs of people who are ill. It seems to me that having to ask for “needs-based services” is, at least in part, a consequence of not being in the Healthcare system with Medicare coverage. I wrote to the panel members and the panel secretary when they started their consultations to make the case for “Medicare for Autism Now” MFAN).
I just tried to go though the report (64 pages or something) and find some discussion of the MFAN issue. Nope. Nada. Zip. Not a word. But maybe I missed it. Maybe it is there somewhere and in my haste I missed it. If so, please let me know. I can make an error. I just did not see in my first glance-through. I did see a reference to Ministry of Health (MOH) providing “mental health services”, but we all know that’s not the same thing as ABA treatment for autism.
So….was this another wasted opportunity by the community? If so, what’s going on? Was this a set-up by the government where advocates who were known not to be MFAN supporters were chosen? Were the terms of the panel mandate such that they were not supposed to even consider the subject? Or could it be that truly no one in the community raised the issue (besides me and possibly a small handful of other parents)? What is going on?
ParticipantHi Folks,
Interesting story at CTVNews.ca about autism and the election. It seems that some of our historic themes on this board are starting to get some traction in others part of the autism community…
https://election.ctvnews.ca/parties-autism-strategies-leave-advocates-underwhelmed-1.4645137
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