August 17 , 2007

Building And Improving The Continuum Of Services For Ontario Children And Youth With Autism

• Ontario children do not age out of autism services: In July 2005, the McGuinty government ended the policy of cutting kids off of Intensive Behavioural Intervention (IBI) services at age six.

• More children receiving service: 210 additional children to receive IBI in 2007-08, increasing the number receiving IBI to approximately 1,400 – a 160 per cent increase since April 2004.

• More investments: Over $140 million in 2007-08—more than tripling the support for children with autism and their families since 2003-04.

• More therapists: Nearly 300 new therapists have been hired since 2004 and the government has established an Ontario College Graduate Certificate Program in Autism and Behavioural Science – 101 graduates in 2006, another 102 in 2007; target enrolment in the program by 2008-09 is a minimum of 220 students; in 2007-08, the program is being expanded to include three more colleges, bringing the total number of colleges participating to 12 across the province.

• Reduced waitlist for assessment: The number of children waiting for assessment has been reduced by approximately 69 per cent since 2004.

• More support in early years: The government is investing in training, provided through the Geneva Centre for Autism, for up to 1,600 staff in the child care sector who work with children with autism – a $6 million investment over three years.

• More support in our schools: The government is also making a further investment of nearly $6 million to assist school boards in incorporating methods of Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) into programs for students with ASD beginning in the 2007-08 school year, and investing $5 million over two years to train up to 5,000 teachers’ assistants who help students with autism.

• Investing in relief services for families:  Offers families a temporary break while their children are in the care of experienced autism support providers to help provide relief services for more than 3,000 families.

• Investing in nine autism support camps: $530,000 in summer 2007 to help send more than 800 children and youth with autism to supportive camp environments.

 

Additional Information:

• News Release