BREAKING Police arrest 3 in killing of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar
Three people have been arrested and charged in the killing of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
As parents continue to navigate the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is growing frustration with the federal government for not living up to a promise made years ago on a national autism strategy.
The situation has now reached a point where some families are seeking solutions south of the border.
For one Saskatchewan family, the struggle to access support has taken years.
Sheri Radoux is the mother of three teenagers, two of which have autism. She says that her family used to live in the U.S. where they had better access to therapies and have decided to move back after what she described as a shameful and frustrating experience in Canada that’s left her family feeling hopeless.
"It’s so much more robust and structured," Radoux said of autism support in the U.S. "There’s checks and balances and accountability – all of that lacks in Canada."
Radoux said Massachusetts offers a wide range of autism therapies in school and added that some states have mandated health coverage that includes autism treatment.
While there are support programs and services in Canada, advocated believe the big difference is that the U.S. has federal oversight, which Canada still lacks.
The federal government committed in 2019 to developing a national autism strategy, but consultations have only just started.
Experts say it’s common for families to move and seek better health services when they feel like they aren’t getting the care they need.
"It is a really common story, and that’s a result of fragmented and inequitable service delivery," Deepa Singal, director of Scientific and Data Initiatives at the Canadian Autism Spectrum Disorder Alliance (CASDA), told CTV National News. "Moving to a province with better support could mean the difference of a nonverbal child saying, ‘mommy’ or ‘daddy’ one day."
CTV National News spoke with a Canadian family living in Buffalo, N.Y. Sarah Ruth said their 10-year-old son has been receiving nearly 30 hours a week of different therapies since he was two.
"Without those therapists coming into my house and showing me how to help him, he probably wouldn’t be potty trained," Ruth said, adding that she’ll never return to the country she once called home.
"My son is not welcome in Canada, they’ve made that painfully clear,” she said. “To come back would be a disservice to him because he would lose everything."
Ruth estimates that her son receives US$100,000 a year in support through the state of New York’s education system. In comparison, a child in a similar position would receive only $5,000 from the Ontario government.
Ruth said she hasn’t "paid a dime" for any of her son’s autism services.
Advocates believe there are supportive services in Canada -- they’re just scattered across the country and need more federal oversight.
“We are really failing to properly support autistic Canadians,” said Jill Farber, the executive director of Autism Speaks Canada. “Access to affordable programming needs to be equitable across Canada, no matter where you live, no matter what stage of life you’re at and no matter what language you speak.”
Advocates say that while services vary depending on the province, having a National Autism Strategy that works with the healthcare system would help align services across the country.
Three people have been arrested and charged in the killing of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Foreign interference by China did not affect the overall results of the 2019 and 2021 general elections won by Justin Trudeau's Liberals, a federal commission of inquiry has found.
Skyrocketing airfare prices are linked to heightened competition and rising food and fuel, according to the CAA.
A funeral is being held today for hockey broadcasting legend Bob Cole in his hometown of St. John's, N.L.
York Regional Police say they are continuing to search for a suspect in an auto theft investigation who was captured on video running over a police officer in Toronto last month.
Hope Hicks, once a longtime trusted aide in Donald Trump’s inner circle, is testifying Friday in the New York hush money trial after being subpoenaed.
TD Bank Group could be hit with more severe penalties than previously expected, says a banking analyst after a report that the investigation it faces in the U.S. is tied to laundering illicit fentanyl profits.
Drew Carey took over as host of 'The Price Is Right' and hopes he’s there for life. 'I'm not going anywhere,' he told 'Entertainment Tonight' of the job he took over from longtime host Bob Barker in 2007.
A 4.8-magnitude earthquake was reported west of Vancouver Island Thursday evening.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.
The lawyer for a residential school survivor leading a proposed class-action defamation lawsuit against the Catholic Church over residential schools says the court action is a last resort.