London mom calls autism letter from the province 'another emotional blow'

The mother of a child with autism says a letter she received on behalf the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services on Monday sent her on "an emotional roller-coaster."

When Sarah Farrants first saw the mail, she thought she would be getting the help she needs. 

Her son, four-year-old Mason, has been on the provincial wait list for funding since November 2018. For a year and a half before that, they waited for a diagnosis. So when she got the letter, she hoped it would be a notice saying they were in.

"I was already thinking of all the people I needed to call to let them know," she said.  

But when she opened the letter, it was an offer for free parent classes.

"I was devastated. For a moment, I thought maybe, I don't have to do this alone anymore," she said in tears. 

Farrants says she already took the classes years ago, even before the current Conservative government took office.

"Just the fact that the letter is structured, from my understanding, similar to the funding letter just left me devastated," she said. 

Her son Mason is non-verbal and the family currently pay out of pocket for speech therapy lessons but they can only afford the $110 classes once per month.

"Every year that goes by that he's not talking, the percentage of him ever being able to acquire functional language goes down," she explained. 

Farrants says the family also tried Applied Behavioural Therapy but that didn't work for Mason. So she took extensive courses to train in a different therapy style called Floortime Therapy and now works with Mason every day.

"I didn't initially go to school for this," she said.

One-time Funding available

As of December, there are 22,658 children on the Ontario Autism Program wait list. The province is currently working on a plan to implement a needs-based funding system. It was initially expected to be in place by the summer of 2020 but, in December, Minister Todd Smith announced a one-year delay in the program.

"We need to do better. These are children," Farrants said. "They're not just numbers or a budget. They're living, breathing children." 

The province has announced a one-time interim funding for parents in the meantime.

"Starting this week, all families on the wait list, who have not yet received a Childhood Budget, will receive an invitation for interim one-time funding of either $5,000 or $20,000 before the end of March 2020," Ministry spokesperson, Palmer Lockridge, explained.

Lockridge says parents have 90 days from when they receive that invitation to apply. Then, "based on their geographical location, and if any additional information is required," families can expect their cheque within 15-30 business days.