Ontario’s school system could face a “tsunami” of extra special education needs after provincial cuts to intensive therapy for autistic children come into effect, says a parent and advocate.
Provincial cuts to funding for therapy for autistic children are “a tsunami headed for the school system,” says Laura Kirby-McIntosh, president of the Ontario Autism Coalition.
Parents say cuts to publicly funded autism therapy will push autistic children into the school system, where special education resources are already strained to the breaking point.
“There is no replacement for one-on-one, consistent, quiet, individualized learning,” said parent Kristen Ellison in an interview with Canadian Press reporter Allison Jones.
“I don’t know of a single school board in this province that does not overspend what the ministry gives us for special education,” said Cathy Abraham, president of the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association.
To read more about the cuts and their effect on the school system, please follow this link to the Huffington Post.