On April 15, 2018, I had the pleasure of joining 3 fellow autism parents at a press conference at the offices of CRARR (the Center for Research-Action on Race Relations) in downtown Montréal, to announce a legal action against Québec health agencies and school boards for systemic discrimination against people with autism. More specifically, this initiative centers around the government’s failure to provide care, treatment, support and protection to our autistic children and adults, thus violating our children’s civil rights.
The objective of this initiative was to encourage parents of autistic children and adults to file civil rights complaints with the Québec Human Rights and Youth Rights Commission for discrimination based on disability and social condition. Why do this ? In order to prevent the growing deterioration of resources and services in this province caused by the government’s austerity and privatization agendas. The burden of caring for and rehabilitating children and adults with autism is basically left to the families who are forced into poverty and despair.
Among the issues that would be covered by these complaints were:
-huge waiting lists for early intervention services as well as limited hours of service;
-unwillingness from the government to pay for ancilliary but very essential therapies such that speech pathology and occupational therapy;
-a public school system that is a disaster: not enough support to teachers and a lack of qualified staff make for classrooms that have become glorified daycares instead of learning institutions; children who are bounced from one school to another because the original assessment by the school board was flawed; parents who are forced to quit their jobs and homeschool their children because their children’s potential and intelligence is underestimated, etc.
-lack of follow-up and rehabilitation services for adolescents and adults with autism. Among others, lack of appropriate crisis intervention services thus worsening or creating behaviours such as anxiety, aggression and wandering.
-lack of group homes for the adult population with autism. Huge waiting lists (of 10 years or more) and staffed by low paid workers who have no autism nor intellectual disability expertise. In addition, given the high turnover rate of this staff there is no continuity of services thus creating a sense of insecurity and worsening the behaviours of autistic individuals.
At the press conference at CRARR’s offices
So on this day, the first steps were taken by parents of autistic children to hold the Québec government responsible for the lack of services and overall violation of their children’s rights by way of systemic discrimination. Incredibly grateful to Fo Niemi, CRARR’s Executive Director for giving us parents the courage and the will to take on the government of Québec’s lack of compassion for people on the autism spectrum.
News outlets from around Québec and Canada picked up on this story and hopefully our initiative inspired parents in other provinces to stand together and fight for their children’s rights before the courts. Here are some links of the interviews and news reports:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/crarr-autism-spectrum-disorder-1.4620740
In my next posts in this section, I will give you an update of where this particular legal action stands as well as feature other legal challenges that have been brought against governments for lack of or for inadequate autism services in other parts of the world.
This is really important work and you’ve picked up on so many of the failures in our system. It’s similar in the United States.
Thank you Molly ! I think it is the same everywhere unfortunately. If at least there is awareness from the general population that these problems exist maybe something can change down the line…