And
so it seems that the Passport to Employment Program is a solution to
more than the shortage of Early Childhood Educators on Prince Edward Island. It is also the solution to finding people to work with children who have Autism! Really.
Of course, I have also been following this issue for some time now as well;
thanks to the tireless work of my colleague April Ennis.
Here
is a Letter to the Editor that was in the Guardian earlier this week. It
speaks volumes about the inappropriate policy decisions that the PEI Government
are making with respect to children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Editor:
I am writing with regard to the guest opinion, 'Children with autism need more
support' by Christina Rodd, (The Guardian, Oct. 22, 2009).
I applaud Christina for stepping up and telling it like it is. I have a
grandson with autism, and having witnessed the countless hours and patience
required to work with these children, my hat goes off to the so very few
dedicated therapists we have here on P.E.I.
I cannot for the life of me understand how and where this idea came from – to
take unemployed people from ages 55-65 and expect them, after a four-week job
creation course, to work with, and through, thebehaviours of our children with
ASD . Not complaining about the age, as I am there myself, but I can just
picture a child bolting and these people trying to catch them, or, the child
having a meltdown and these people trying to handle the situation as it should
be handled, so that the child learns from the experience and overcomes the fear
that initiated it.
My grandson is now in the school system where there are no 'consultants'
available for training therapists right now or for creating programs after
school or over the summer, so qualified therapists are even more imperative to
his progress.
This 'Passport to Employment' idea is truly a slap in the face, not only to the
women and men who have spent years of schooling, training and guided hands-on
experience, but also every family on P.E.I. with a child with autism. As one
specialist put it, "I understand the outrage of the families. It is clear
that this is not being done in the best interest of the children. A passport to
employment, yes; however, for children with autism, it's their passport to
failure and isolation." Where proper programming and training are in
place, statistics show a 10-20 per cent recovery rate in autistic children by
age nine. It is no wonder we have a zero per cent recovery rate here on P.E.I.
I would like our premier, Mr. Ghiz, to put himself in our shoes and tell us, if
tomorrow his child was diagnosed with ASD, who would he want to work with his
child – a professionally trained consultant or therapist, or a job creation
program four-week trainee?
Scott Kaye,
Charlottetown
Here
is another Letter to the Editor that was also
in the Guardian this week. It speaks to the significant financial
challenges that Island families face due to the waits for access to funding and
other Autism related supports.
Editor:
I would like to compliment Chrissy Rodd on her letter 'Children with autism
deserve more support' and Darlene Ellis 'Our daughter has waited long enough'
(The Guardian, Oct. 22, 2009).
Our daughter was diagnosed with autism by her pediatrician back in July 2008
and we are currently still waiting for funding to help with the cost of her
therapy – a year and a half later. We have been paying for therapy privately
(as many parents waiting are) for the last year. Most parents such as myself
feel the sense of urgency to act now being as the window of recovery is in the
preschool years.
Having said this, raising a child with special needs poses many challenges and
is quite stressful without the added financial stress and the stress of
wondering who/where we can get help from while waiting this incredibly long
time. We are hopefully a matter of weeks away from receiving funding only to
find out not only will our daughter not be receiving occupational therapy and
will rarely see a speech therapist but they are only paying our intensive
behaviour intervention (IBI) therapist $10 an hour, which is an insult to offer
any professional who has gone through the training to work with special needs
children.
So here I am, I'll be compensating my therapist's wages for what the government
is too cheap to offer and now looking at hiring a private occupational
therapist, which costs up to $95 an hour. With the 2009 statistics being one in
every 91 children being diagnosed with autism (one in every 58 boys) maybe
government will find a heart and invest more money into our Island children
suffering with autism and develop a stategy that does not leave Island families
feeling hopeless and terrified for their children's future.
Tammy McQuaid,
Victoria
Clearly
it is time for the PEI Government to rethink many of the approaches that are
being made with respect to Island children. The policies, decisions and actions of the PEI Government are no
longer even remotely close to acceptable. Suggesting that people with four weeks of
training is a quality solution to the staffing shortages in the fields of early learning and early intervention is ridiculous. Yet somehow these programs were allowed
to move forward. Even worse; they have been viewed by the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development as a viable
option to addressing staffing shortages.
I ask this:
How much does the future of Island children
matter? How much does the future of Prince Edward Island matter? Quite plainly, Island families and children are
being put at risk due to the bureaucratic carelessness and inappropriate policy decisions. It appears that many of these policies are being made up by Department staff as they go along. Solutions are being implemented based on desperation; not research, best practice or long term strategy.
Once again I say this:
·
Prince Edward Island needs a
comprehensive, broad based early childhood development strategy for all young
children.
·
Prince Edward Island needs an
Autism Strategy.
We are getting to the tipping point on these issues.
Islanders recognize that children are our future and will no longer be tolerant
of ridiculous policy decisions and programs that are clearly not in the best interest of children and families.
Please
contact your MLA today and voice your concern. The future of Prince Edward
Island deserves much, much better than this.
