Hamilton man says the Ontario government has failed autistic son

Ryan Davies from Hamilton says like many families who have a child living with autism, support from the provincial government is essential. He says after his funding expired last week, communication with the government about the next steps has been almost non-existent.

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Davies says at this point, he feels like the government has failed his son Vincent because he no longer has government funding to pay for services that are key to his support and development.

6-year-old Vincent was diagnosed with autism in 2019. He is level two on the spectrum and has some trouble communicating. Without government support, Davies and his wife Tanya say they have been on their own, “we became therapist, we became doctor, we became triage… we became essentially his whole medical system for autism.”

Davies says the one-time autism funding that was available to families over the last two years because of the pandemic expired last week and Vincent was put on a waitlist.

READ MORE: Ontario fails to meet goal of funding 8,000 kids for autism therapy

Since then Davies says he has been reaching out to the government for answers and hasn’t gotten any. Without funding, the Davies’ say they’ll have to spend thousands of dollars a year out of pocket for core services for their son while they wait.

The Davies family are just one of the thousands of other families still trapped in limbo. Monique Taylor MPP for Hamilton mountain and social service critic says the waitlist for children to receive funding for core services in the province is over 60,000.

Taylor says, “it’s terrible that the government is not finding this a priority, and leaving so many kids languishing on waitlists.”

READ MORE: Autism coalition says Minister not providing reliable info to families

CHCH News asked the Minister of Children, Community, and Social Services Merrilee Fullerton several of the Davies family’s questions but she had no answers for them. Instead, in a statement, the ministry offered no immediate help but noted there are other supports available.

The Ontario government will deliver its 2023 budget next week and MPP Taylor says she hopes it will include money to provide help to the thousands of families including the Davies.