'Mommy will help me': Navigating the web of supports for kids with autism in Ontario

He did not speak much aside from one sentence, the last words he would say before plunging into a deep — and so far irreversible — regression:"Mommy will help me."

Families of those children are vocal about their concerns with the program. They say it is slow — Emmett has been on the wait-list for more than 2 1/2 years — that it is not truly needs based, that a lack of service providers means that even with money in hand some families can't find help, and that there is almost no transparency.

The Ontario Autism Program also offers workshops for parents, an entry to school program, early years programs and urgent response services, the government notes. He currently attends a private school for children with disabilities. It's a wonderful place, Wilson says, with music therapy, a sensory gym, an accessible pool and a dark room with fibre optic lights and calming water sounds.

Emmett had been more or less following a typical developmental path up until shortly before that one night. He had a few speech challenges and some sensory needs in his younger years, but an assessment at age 3 1/2 concluded he did not have autism. "If you want to run around and if you need to have sensory breaks and movement breaks, if you want to communicate through an AAC or through talking, that's up to you. I just want you to be happy and safe."

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