Ontario, Canada -- made a controversial decision that caused an uproar from families affected by the autism spectrum. The government has announced that Intensive Behavioral Therapy (IBI) will have an age cap of until 5 years of age only for those individuals living with autism.
The Star has reported that the government's argument, reasoned that therapy is effective when children are young. They are targeting those who are aged 2-4 years old while the rest will be on waiting list. This kind of arrangement will remove a number of 3,500 older kids that are waitlisted for the therapy.
To the McIntosh family, this is a big concern. Their two children are both living with the autism spectrum and IBI has changed their life. The therapist comes to them and perform therapy sessions since one of their kids was 3.
Now, it's as if they wouldn't know where to turn since the government will soon implement this policy. The couple believes that all children affected with autism should be able to get the right for the IBI program so they decided to join in the protest against this movement.
IBI is the only therapy treatment for autism that the government allows to shoulder, but the thing about this is that it could also be difficult to get. There are qualification requirements, and being diagnosed with autism is one. The difficulty lies in getting the results for it takes months to get the results for the diagnosis.
Not all children can be eligible either, especially when their case for autism spectrum is only mild. Some parents don't even want it for their children.
As for one mommy blogger Corina Becker who wrote in her blog post No Stereotypes Here, two months ago said, "I think there is a huge disservice by not including the voices of autistic people in government decisions."
True enough, yet once the government has decided, it's time for parents to take on an option. You can also check out the pivotal response therapy and see if it suits your kid's needs.
