A REAL National Autism Strategy Request for Mr Ignatieff and Mr Layton

Dear Honourable Leaders, MP's and Senator Munson

I am the father of a 13 year old boy with Autistic Disorder, assessed with profound developmental delays living in Fredericton, New Brunswick. I have addressed this email correspondence to Mr Ignatieff and Mr Layton as the leaders of the two parties, Liberal and NDP, that have recognized the need for a real National Autism Strategy. I have also copied some of the members of both parties in the House, and Senator Munson, who have made outstanding individual efforts on behalf of autistic children and adults in Canada and who have fought for a real National Autism Strategy.

The motion by Mr. Stoffer and our former Fredericton MP Andy Scott achieved recognition by the House of Commons of the need for a National Autism Strategy. Unfortunately the private members bill brought by Mr. Shawn Murphy from PEI which would have done so much to ensure that autistic children across Canada have real access to evidence based autism interventions was defeated notwithstanding the solid support demonstrated by both of your parties. I humbly ask that both the Liberal and NDP parties not give up on autistic children and adults and continue the fight for a real National Autism Strategy one that would see a federal government commitment to funding evidence based autism interventions and decent residential care for all Canadians with Autism Spectrum Disorders regardless of their province of residence.

Canadians have moved from province to province seeking appropriate help, particularly Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), for their children. Gains have been made by provincial action across Canada but there are huge gaps in the services available. As a New Brunswicker I am proud of what our province has done with relatively limited resources to help autistic children but much more needs to be done here, particularly for autistic youths and adults in need of decent residential care. Even a family with two medical professionals left Nova Scotia to seek ABA help for their autistic child in Manitoba. In Ontario, where I visited in the spring of 2008 as part of a national autism advocacy tour organized by our good friends from FEAT BC, more autistic children are languishing on waiting lists than are actually receiving treatment.

I remind you of the well informed comments of Ms Dhalla when she spoke on behalf of the Liberal Party in the House of Commons, on October 27, 2006, in support of the Scott-Stoffer motion calling for a National Autism Strategy:

"We must make sure that regardless of where one lives in Canada, whether it is on the west coast, the east coast or in the Northwest Territories, all children who are affected by autism actually have the opportunity to receive the treatment they need throughout their lives until the age of 18.

I am sure this national strategy is going to ensure that we have the proper investment to do further research into whether there are other treatment options available and into how this type of condition can be prevented. We must invest in a comprehensive strategy to address this very complex disorder. (1420)

As I have mentioned, we know the cost is upwards of $70,000 per year, but we have to ensure we give the opportunity to these families so their children can obtain treatment and provide them with the quality of life they need. These families should be able to do this without having to mortgage their homes, or sell their cars, or go through those financial hardships. Many families that have been affected by autism simply cannot afford this treatment.?"

I ask that both the Liberal and NDP parties keep the need for a real National Autism Strategy in mind as you go forward and work toward a strategy which sees Canada invest in autistic children and adults regardless of their province or territory of residence. Canada is more than a place where one's health, one's quality of life depends entirely on jurisdictional boundaries. Our national health care scheme generally, which results in longer life expectancy and greater infant survival rates than that of our good neighbours to the south, is a testament to that fact.

Please do your best to ensure the enactment of a REAL National Autism Strategy for all autistic Canadians.

Respectfully,

Harold L Doherty
Fredericton, New Brunswick

autism

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Stimulus Money Mr Harper? Spend Some On Autism

Prime Minister Harper and Opposition Leader Ignatieff are rumbling over stimulus spending to recharge our economy.

Mr Harper wants a blank cheque from the opposition to spend without specifying what he would spend the money on. He threatens (again, yawn) to call an election if he does not get his way (of course Mr. Harper threatened to call an election for the past 2-3 years whenever the opposition disagreed with his spending plans but ran crying like a school yard bully to the Governor General to shut down Parliament when they stood up to him and called his bluff last December). Mr I quite reasonably asks for some specifics before agreeing to sign Mr Harper's blank cheque but appears to offer few specifics himself. Well here is a suggestion from AutismRealityNB.

Take a good chunk of that money and spend it on a conference of Canada's health ministers to draft a REAL national autism strategy to address Canada's autism crisis. Canadian children and adults with autism face a patchwork quilt of available autism treatment and services across Canada. With 1 in 15o Canadians (using CDC estimates from the US instead of the politicized information available in Canada) being diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders it is time that Mr Harper, his health minister of the day and his party's token autism dad Edmonton MP Mike Lake started addressing Canada's autism crisis. The minister's should focus on one objective - establishing a mechanism for transferring federal tax dollars to the provinces specifically to provide evidence based treatment for autism and to provide decent residential care for autistic adults.

Canadian autistic children and adults do not need the same small clique of "autism researchers" conducting the same studies that do nothing to help autistic children or adults. ( Guess: Will Dr. Laurent Mottron and Michelle Dawson publish yet another study proving how smart high functioning "autistics' really are in 2009?). Canadian autism researchers have done nothing to actually help autistic children and adults particularly those at the lower functioning end of the autism spectrum.

Put the money into services that will actually HELP autistic children and adults. Put the money into making ABA available to autistic children wherever their parents live in Canada because studies, and credible (in other words, American) agencies, have found that ABA intervention helps autistic children make serious gains in all domains. Put the money into badly needed services for autistic adults like decent, humane residential care facilities where people matter more than profit.

Stop the silly posturing and help autistic Canadians. Whether Mr Harper believes it or not autistic Canadians are, despite their autism, still Canadians.

Spend some stimulus money helping Canadians with autism disorders Mr. Harper.

That is my stimulus suggestion for our out of touch federal leadership.

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Woe Canada: Can Do American Politicians Address Autism Crisis While Harper & Ignatieff Do & Say Nothing

In the 11 years since my son, Conor, was diagnosed with autism the rates of autism diagnoses have skyrocketed in numbers that can not be explained entirely by the definition changes for pervasive developmental disorders (autism spectrum disorders) in the DSM. In the United States several American political leaders are taking steps to address the autism crisis while in Canada, the Harper government passes a budget which spends big bucks everywhere but offers nothing, zilch, for autism. And his de facto governing partner Michael Ignatieff also remains silent on autism issues; demanding nothing for autism as part of his party's continued propping up of the Harper party.

President Obama's commitment to addressing autism issues is well known:

Autism

President Obama and Vice President Biden are committed to supporting Americans with Autism Spectrum Disorders (“ASD”), their families, and their communities. There are a few key elements to their support, which are as follows:

• First, President Obama and Vice President Biden support increased funding for autism research, treatment, screenings, public awareness, and support services. There must be research of the treatments for, and the causes of, ASD.
• Second, President Obama and Vice President Biden support improving life-long services for people with ASD for treatments, interventions and services for both children and adults with ASD.
• Third, President Obama and Vice President Biden support funding the Combating Autism Act and working with Congress, parents and ASD experts to determine how to further improve federal and state programs for ASD.
• Fourth, President Obama and Vice President Biden support universal screening of all infants and re-screening for all two-year-olds, the age at which some conditions, including ASD, begin to appear. These screenings will be safe and secure, and available for every American that wants them. Screening is essential so that disabilities can be identified early enough for those children and families to get the supports and services they need.

Recently governors Doyle of Wisconsin and Corzine of New Jersey have spoken forcefully in support of initiatives to help autistic people and their families:

Governor Doyle in the Wisconsin State of the State Address:

First, we can make sure kids with autism get the treatment they need. Private insurers should cover autism; the treatment has been proven effective, and families deserve the right to see their children improve.

Governor Cozine's efforts on behalf of autistic people in New Jersey were described in a February 3, 2009 editorial on NorthJersey.com:

SINCE New Jersey has the highest incidence of autism in the nation, it's only fitting that our state should be a leader in supporting families facing this devastating diagnosis. The earlier the disorder can be identified and the more services that are available, the more positive the outcome. That is why Governor Corzine has made autism a high priority and has started a series of initiatives that are at various stages of progress. His efforts will inevitably be affected by the economic crisis and the state's financial woes. But as The Record's Elise Young reported this week, some success is already evident. An expanded and invigorated Governor's Council for the Medical Research and Treatment of Autism has been set up, along with an Adults with Autism Task Force and a training program for police, firefighters and emergency medical technicians on how to respond to those with autism. Perhaps the most promising and potentially effective initiative is the "early intervention" plan, which will result in evaluation guidelines for doctors and other health professionals who treat infants and toddlers. Guidelines have already been drafted and may be ready by spring.

Meanwhile back in Canada there is no mention in budget documents or discussions by Prime Minister Harper or Opposition Leader Ignatieff of autism or any commitment of funds to address Canada's autism crisis.

Too bad about that autism stuff eh?

autism

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An Open Autism Letter To Bob Rae and Michael Ignatieff

Dear Mr. Rae and Mr. Ignatieff

I am the father of a 12 year old boy diagnosed with autistic disorder and assessed with profound developmental delays living in Fredericton, New Brunswick. I know you both are busy challenging for the leadership of the Liberal Party. I hope you both have time though to consider the importance of health and education issues to Canada's future and, if one of you becomes Liberal leader and Prime Minister, do not simply use the Constitution as a shield to avoid development of national policies in these two areas vital to the lives of Canadians as Stephen Harper has done.

In particular I ask that each of you, should you ultimately become Prime Minister, introduce a real National Autism Strategy for Canada. Not the existing "slap in the face" strategy of the Harper government but a real National Autism Strategy that helps all regions of the country deliver evidence based effective autism interventions during the pre-school and school years and permits adult autistic persons to live in decent residential accommodations and participate to the fullest extent of their abilities in Canadian society.

The beginning of such a strategy was outlined in Bill C-304, the private member's bill introduced by Charlottetown MP, and steadfast autism advocate, Shawn Murphy. That bill included amendment of the Canada Health Act to provide financing for autism treatment wherever autistic children reside in Canada:


BILL C-304

An Act to provide for the development of a
national strategy for the treatment of
autism and to amend the Canada Health
Act

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and
consent of the Senate and House of Commons
of Canada, enacts as follows:

SHORT TITLE

1. This Act may be cited as the National
Strategy for the Treatment of Autism Act.


NATIONAL CONFERENCE

2. The Minister of Health shall, before
December 31, 2006, convene a conference of
all provincial and territorial ministers responsible
for health for the purpose of working
together to develop a national strategy for the
treatment of autism. The Minister shall, before
December 31, 2007, table a report in both
Houses of Parliament specifying a plan of action
developed in collaboration with the provincial
and territorial ministers for the purpose of
implementing that strategy.

AMENDMENTS TO THE CANADA
HEALTH ACT

3. Section 2 of the Canada Health Act is
renumbered as subsection 2(1) and is
amended by adding the following:

(2) For the purposes of this Act, services
that are medically necessary or required under
this Act include Applied Behavioural Analysis
(ABA) and Intensive Behavioural Intervention
(IBI) for persons suffering from Autism Spectrum
Disorder.

Mr. Ignatieff, you voted in support of Bill C-304. I hope, should you accede to the Prime Minister's office that you will act on that expression of support for a badly needed national autism strategy.

Mr. Rae, you were not a sitting member of the Commons at that time but, having twice had the privilege of meeting you and discussing autism issues with you I know you have taken the time to inform yourself about, and shown interest in, the challenges facing autistic Canadians and their families. I hope that should you become Liberal leader and perhaps Prime Minister that you
would introduce as a government bill Shawn Murphy's private member's bill C-304.

I realize that you both have great issues on your minds. I hope you both have room in your hearts, and considerable intellects, for autistic Canadians.

Respectfully,


Harold L Doherty
Fredericton New Brunswick

autism

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