Close to 75 people rallied outside MPP Todd Smith’s Rossmore office Friday afternoon to protest the Ontario Government’s announced changes to Autism services.
The group, which includes parents, autism therapists, service providers and more, says the changes mean that kids with the most severe forms of autism won’t be able to access the intensive one-on-one therapy they need.
The government’s plan is to provide families with direct funding for autism therapy, in an attempt to clear a significant backlog of cases.
However, the group says those payments are still far from enough, leaving parents on the hook paying between $60,000 and $80,000 per year, while still waiting for services since there aren’t enough trained autism therapists in the Quinte Region.
The Rossmore rally was one of 19 held across the province this week.
