Levi Maatta - 6 years old
Dear Sir or Madam,
I am writing you about the changes in the Ontario autism program and how it will devastate our family and have a profound impact on my little boy’s development and potential for being independent as an adult.
My husband and I (after fostering children for a few years) adopted Levi five years ago from CAS. We were told of Levi’s biological family history in that his biological father had the diagnosis of autism and his biological mother ADHD.
I am 54 yrs old this year and my husband is 18 years my senior and will turn 72 this ...
My name is Kristen, and I'm a single mom of one son. Carter is currently 8 years old and is living with Autism. He is on the severe end of the autism spectrum and faces many challenges. He is mostly nonverbal, is still diapered, has no concept of danger and is prone to dangerous behaviours (climbing, bolting). While, he has these challenges he is so much more than his diagnosis. He is bright, intelligent, and incredibly funny. He loves letters, numbers, bubbles, jumping on the trampoline, building block and lego creations and foreign languages. His spirit brings everyone around him ... .JPG)
Ava and her older sister Emma both have autism and are non-verbal.
Ava has been luckier than her older sister and has been able to attend an IBI centre for 2 years (gradually working up to 35 hours a week).
She has made amazing gains.
Before she started IBI, she was dependent on us for every aspect of life, from feeding, to dressing, to toileting, to even social interaction with peers and adults she did not know.
Ava was also very emotional and struggled with self-regulation.
She would get frustrated very easily and at times would bang her head against surfaces.
Here are some of ... 
Emma was part of the cohort of children who were dropped in 2015 from the Central East Autism Program Waitlist (that she had been on since 2012), because she was 6 years old and considered to OLD to be helped.
Finally, in November 2017, we got a call that she was being picked up for service, however, Emma did not start her round of ABA until March of 2018. It took that long for the Regional Service Provider to get things in place. We were very patient.
We chose to go the Direct Service (DSO) route, as our family support worker told ... 
