Liberal Stewart McGillivray Also Confirms Conservative James Moore's Autism Is Not a Disability Statement

More Confirmation!

Liberal Stewart McGillivray, who also participated in the candidate's forum in which Conservative James Moore made his "autism is not a disability" statement, has, along with NDP Mark Ireland, also confirmed that Moore did indeed make the "autism isn't a disability" statement. The two candidates confirm the information posted on the Medicare for Autism NOW! message board  by Elaine Willis, who was at the forum  and asked the autism medicare question that led to Mr. Moore's statement.  Mr. McGilliivray's confirming email was forwarded to my attention:

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Harper Government's Autism Awareness Regression

I have attached an email and  blog comment I posted on May 9, 2007 addressed to Prime Minister Stephen Harper in which I expressed the hope that he would open his heart (I assumed he had one) and his mind (I didn't know it was locked solid) and help autistic children wherever they reside in Canada. 

Since this comment in 2007 the numbers of children estimated to have an autism spectrum disorder have increased, by CDC estimates, from 1 in 150 to 1 in 110.  

As recently as this election campaign James Moore of BC, a cabinet minister in the Harper cabinet, has expressed the views that autism is not a disability and that persons with autism are simply an interest group.  

Notwithstanding the presence  in the federal Conservative party of Mike Lake,  a dedicated father of an autistic 15 year old son,  the Harper government  understanding of autism disorders has regressed since my 2007 letter.

May 9, 2007

Prime Minister Stephen Harper

Dear Prime Minister

I am writing to you as the father of a severely autistic 11 year old boy living in Fredericton, New Brunswick and as an autism advocate for the past 8 years here in New Brunswick. Recently I was disappointed, bitterly disappointed, by two actions by your very tightly controlled government – the rejection of MP Shawn Murphy’s motion to amend the Canada Health Act to ensure autistic children, wherever they reside in Canada, would receive government funded treatment for their autism. Canada as a nation has long ago rejected the notion that accidents of geography should determine whether Canadians receive life sustaining or life enhancing medical treatment.

The arguments about constitutional jurisdiction advanced in justification are specious and you sir, with all due respect, know that. Canada has long operated on the basis of a model of cooperative federalism which has developed many legislative tools to ensure that narrow constitutional boundaries do not impair the quality of life in this great country. I will mention no specific examples because there are far too many for this to be a serious issue of contention.

Autism is a serious neurological disorder borne by 1 in 150 Canadians by currently accepted estimates. It also impacts on the lives of parents, siblings, grandparents and other caregivers. There is no known cure but there is a widely acknowledged, evidence based treatment available, Applied Behavioural Analysis, or ABA, which is supported by literally hundreds of studies, including recent studies, which document the effectiveness of ABA in improving the IQ, the linguistic skills and comprehension, the ability to function in the real world, of children with autism. In my son’s case, even with the limited ABA therapy which was available in New Brunswick at the time because of a shortage of trained personnel, he has made tremendous gains. From a child who could only scream and tantrum he became a child who can communicate using words, who is reading, albeit at a level below his chronological age, and who in fact almost daily pulls out books on his own initiative to real aloud for his own enjoyment. This is the ABA which parents seek across Canada, the USA and the world for their autistic children.

There are those who oppose ABA based on personal preferences, outdated and ill founded misconceptions about what ABA involves and quite simply on the basis of paranoid, conspiratorial beliefs that somehow they as human beings, as functioning adults, will be deprived of their personalities if someone else’s autistic children are taught fundamental living skills by use of ABA. They make stretched and tortured arguments about ABA turning children into robots. This is nonsense as they happy joyful pictures of my son which I will provide a link for in this letter can rebut with finality. They also make disingenuous attacks on the studies which have documented ABA based gains for autistic children ignoring the fact that literally hundreds of such studies exist all showing substantial gains. Critics also focus on costs of providing ABA ignoring the studies that have shown the huge financial savings to government in reduction of service provision over the lives of autistic persons who have benefited from ABA.

I do not actually expect you to personally read this email Prime Minister. I hope though that a conscientious staffer or, through the marvel that is the internet, a family member or friend, will see fit to read this and implore you to take action on behalf of Canadians with autism. You can make a difference in the lives of 1 in 150 Canadians Prime Minister. You can make a difference in the lives of their loved ones and care givers and you can save Canadian governments enormous sums by reducing the level of services required as a result of early intensive ABA intervention.

Please open your mind Prime Minister, open your heart, and do the right thing.

Respectfully,

Harold L Doherty
Fredericton New Brunswick

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Autism in Election 2011? Vote Liberal ... OR ... Vote NDP

On Monday Canadians will cast their votes in Election 2011.  IF autism is a major concern in your life or the life of a family member I ask you to consider voting for either the Liberal OR the NDP candidate in your riding.

I make this request because the Conservative Party has consistently opposed any substantive role for the federal government in addressing Canada's national autism crisis. Some Liberal and some NDP  party members have made statements in support of either official inclusion of autism in Medicare or programs and legislation aimed at working with the provinces to ensure that autistic Canadians participate fully in our health care system and receive treatment for autism regardless of where they live in Canada. Strong autism motions have been brought forth previously by Liberal MP Shawn Murphy and by NDP MP Glenn Thibeault. Both motions were supported by members of the Liberal and NDP but were defeated by the Conservative-Bloc Quebecois coalition.

If the Liberal candidate in your riding is the best bet  to defeat the Conservative candidate then please vote Liberal.  If the NDP candidate in your riding is the best bet then please vote NDP.  Vote autism on Monday, vote Liberal or NDP in your riding.

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Election 2011: Medicare for Autism Now! for Autism and Medicare Coverage

If you are concerned about autism treatment and services in Canada I recommend the Medicare for Autism Now! site as your first information gathering stop about autism and medicare. During this election MFAN is the best site to find  information about autism and medicare in Canada. The MFAN site  provides important information about how to advocate for medicare coverage of autism during Election 2011.   

The major media and experts in Canada have done little beyond telling Canadians that we don't really want an election, that for some bizarre reasons unknown to me Canadians are concerned about a coalition government or whatever trick the Harper Party is using to occupy an easily distracted mainstream media.  What the media doesn't often mention, if at all, are the social issues that make Canadian society a decent place in which to live including our national medicare system which Stephen Harper has long opposed.  With a minority government Harper could only play defense, refusing to address serious national health issues like ... autism.  If Stephen Harper wins a majority government look for our national healthcare system to be dismantled.   The increasingly Harper Blue  CBC has commented on the issue of health care on its web site in a dismissive, superficial manner, but has provided no serious analysis and does not acknowledge the Harper Party contempt for a strong federal healthcare system.

Canada's national autism crisis has grown under the Harper government with a postponed, then rigged, sham national autism symposium and little in the way of real autism awareness.  If your only source of information about autism spectrum disorders was the Harper government you would be seriously ignorant about the realities of autism disorders, the lives restricted by autism or even the fact that Canadians with autistic children who  can choose move to provinces where some autism services are available.  New Brunswick, thanks to a strong parent advocacy movement and some conscientious political leadership from both the Conservative government of Bernard Lord and the Liberal government of Shawn Graham, has a better early autism intervention service than most Canadian provinces.  For that reason some military families with autistic children have requested postings to CFB Gagetown, New Brunswick. Autism is very much a national issue in Canada and the "see no autism, hear no autism, speak no autism" policy of the Harper government can't change that autism reality.

Given the lack of serious media attention  to health care and other social issues during #elxn41 the internet, blogs, Facebook, twitter and other social media are the major source  of discussion of medicare and specific health issues like autism.  This blog will attempt to provide some information and commentary to help.  The best site to follow autism and medicare issues though will be the revamped Medicare for Autism Now! site. 

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#elxn41 Autism Request

My #elxn41 autism request is  a request to the Canadian electorate.  Please listen to Senator, and long time autism advocate, Jim Munson  about the need for action on behalf of autistic Canadians who deserve better, who deserve national treatment standards. and who deserve effective treatment regardless of where they live in Canada.

Take action, during this election, to vote for a candidate who will support autistic children and adults in Canada by voting for a candidate who will support a bill to expressly and specifically include autism spectrum disorders, soon to be grouped together and  known, in the DSM5,  as Autistic Disorder, in the Canada Health Act or in a federal Act specifically dedicated toward dealing with Canada's national autism crisis.

As Senator Munson said in an Ottawa Citizen article, Autistic Canadians deserve better,  published on April 2, World Autism Awareness Day:

"In 2007, the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology released a report titled "Pay Now or Pay Later -Autism Families in Crisis," a comprehensive study of autism issues. As a Senator who initiated the study and a member of that committee, I heard heartwrenching testimony from parents so desperate to get help for their autistic children.


Many had uprooted their lives and moved to places where care options were significantly better than what they could access in their own home province.


Two recommendations from the report that I consider most crucial are national standards for treatment and research, and a national strategy for equal treatment and services across the country. Courageous actions are now needed to deal with this emerging crisis.


It isn't much to ask that a federal minister sit down with provincial counterparts and representatives from autism organizations to devise a better way to operate. It is time for federal politicians to take a leadership role.


Such courage would rouse this nation and render much-needed comfort to the thousands of Canadians affected by autism.

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