An Ontario mother, who had been holding a one-woman protest for the past week to try to get help with her son's autism care, will finally have her file looked at after a call from the social services minister.
Stacy Kennedy staged a sit-in outside of the Premier Doug Ford鈥檚 office in an effort to get better access to autism funding and services for her 10-year-old son, Sam.
Kennedy told CTV National News she decided to protest with the hopes of opening a dialogue with the provincial government about how desperate families of children with autism are for help.
"We took the word of this government and Doug Ford, we took the word of most government鈥檚 that you鈥檒l actual take care of us and I鈥檓 here to say that鈥檚 not happening and its woefully unacceptable," Kennedy said.
After seven days of sitting in the office's parking lot and sleeping in her van, Ford finally responded to Kennedy's protests, but it took a question from 愛污传媒 at a press conference to do so.
"Stacy, I will make sure that we reach out to you [and] have a good conversation," Ford said Wednesday.
Kennedy said Ford called her later Wednesday and agreed to have an in-person conversation about issues with the government鈥檚 new autism program.
"There was a lot of sound bites, a lot of staying on point," Kennedy said of the call.
Kennedy said Ford鈥檚 office will schedule a time for them to meet at a later date.
In addition, Minister of Children, Community and Social Services Merrilee Fullerton, who is in charge of the autism file, called Kennedy Thursday.
Kennedy said the minister was sympathetic and agreed to look at her file. She explained that Sam has been on the waitlist for four years to receive full access to the province's autism programs.
While such barriers are frustrating, Kennedy says parents of children with autism have 鈥渘o choice" but to try to navigate them.
"These are the roadblocks that have been thrown in front of us. I just want the average Canadian to understand how horrifying they are -- that I literally had to sit in my van for someone to make things move," Kennedy said.
"That鈥檚 atrocious, it's cruel, it鈥檚 callus, it's a scandal."
Angela Brandt, president of the Ontario Autism Coalition, said Kennedy's concerns speak for the entire autism community.
"It鈥檚 so sad that this is the extent she had to go to in order to be heard, just to be heard," Brandt told 愛污传媒.
Ontario's new autism program has been widely criticised and slow to roll out. Advocates estimate 40,000 families are waiting to receive access to full funding and therapy services.
Most families are currently offered one-time funding of $5,000, but experts say that isn't much help for those paying $40,000 to $80,000 a year for services.
"This $5,000 payment鈥 it's an interim payment, it is not access to therapy, so they are still on a waitlist because they are not accessing therapy," Brandt said.
"The Ontario autism program is a treatment program. It鈥檚 not a subsidy program, so if they鈥檙e not accessing treatment, they鈥檙e on a waitlist," she added.
After speaking with the premier and the minister, Kennedy ended her sit-in on Thursday. However, she acknowledges that the fight is not over.
If the provincial government doesn't make good on its word, Kennedy said she will be back protesting in front of the premier's office.
"I don鈥檛 want to do more talking, I want to see more action, not just for my son, but for everyone," she said.
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