TORONTO - Ontario will be expanding services for children with autism-spectrum disorders starting next spring, Children and Youth Services Minister Laurel Broten said Tuesday.
The province will spend $25 million a year to provide Applied Behaviour Analysis services and supports in community agencies and centres, schools and homes.
That will help about 8,000 children and youth communicate and cope better in school, Broten said.
"More kids are getting the right supports at the right time," she said in a release.
The government will also establish a committee of experts next fall to provide advice on emerging research to help children with autism, she added.
The government already funds a more intensive form of ABA -- called IBI therapy -- for 1,446 children and youth, which is more beneficial for kids at the more severe end of the autism spectrum.
But some parents have complained that they're facing long waits for the expensive therapy or have seen their kids arbitrarily cut off from IBI treatment, and are going broke trying to pay for it themselves.
If families aren't satisfied with a decision regarding their child's eligibility for IBI therapy, they will be able to request an independent review starting next fall, the government said.
Autism spectrum disorders affect about one in 150 children in Ontario. It also affects four times more boys than girls.
It usually appears within the first three years of a child's life. Kids with such disorders can have difficulty relating to others, have problems with speech and language, and limited and repetitive interests and behaviours.
