Mother worried day-care changes will cause problems for autistic son
Cape Breton Post, Nova Scotia
28 Feb 2006 [Page: A3]

"Losing access to day-care services such as special needs programs is very much a possibility with Prime Minister Stephen Harper's pledge to tear up federal-provincial funding agreements next year, argues Sharon Hope Irwin, director of SpeciaLink, the national centre for child care inclusion."

by Nancy King
EXCERPT

When two-year-old Brandyn Brunet began attending day care he was "in his own world" - he couldn't speak and wouldn't play with other children.

Now age five, Brandyn, who has autism, is able to initiate play with other children, better cope with new environments and make the transition from one task to another, all of which his mother Nicole, 27, attributes to his experience in the special needs program at Town Day Care in Glace Bay.

"They got his speech going, he plays with other children now, at first he didn't know how to do that, he would be withdrawn," Brunet says. "I'd say his progress thanks to day care went from zero to 80 per cent. He still has a challenge but they got him mobile, they got him social with other children and other adults."

For children with autism, routine and consistency are paramount, and without that they can begin to lose any progress they've made, Brunet says.

"If I lose this, I'm going to have to start right from scratch again, he'll be withdrawn again," she says. "These are the people who are helping Brandyn become his own independent person. I don't have the training, I can only do so much as a parent."

Losing access to day-care services such as special needs programs is very much a possibility with Prime Minister Stephen Harper's pledge to tear up federal-provincial funding agreements next year, argues Sharon Hope Irwin, director of SpeciaLink, the national centre for child care inclusion....

What was important about the agreements signed between the provinces and territories and Ottawa wasn't only the money involved.. but also because it was linked to four principles, including being universally inclusive of children with special needs, Hope Irwin says. That gave parents hope that their children would soon enjoy better access to programs.

"This was the first time that our federal-provincial-territorial governments agreed to such a linkage," she says. "We don't have anything in child care that's comparable to the legislation that requires schools to include kids with special needs, it's all on the basis of decisions by admissions committees."...

By attending day care, children with special needs gain from being surrounded by typical kids and improve their language and social skills. Individual program plans are also developed to focus on the child's specific needs, she adds.

"As parents have often said, when the going gets rough, our kids with special needs are the first ones to lose their spaces, are the first ones to lose their services," she says.

Brunet says she doesn't believe Harper's plan will help her family. Her younger son Andrew, almost four, also attends Town Day Care and Brandyn will continue to rely on its after-school program even after he moves on to Grade Primary this fall.

"I feel betrayed," she says. "It's just going to worsen my situation."

Brunet, who in addition to being a single mother is also a student at the Nova Scotia Community College, says that without access to the special needs day-care program she wouldn't be able to further her education and improve life for her and her sons.

"I wouldn't have a full-time provider for them," she says. "I feel comfortable, as well, with the day care, I don't have to worry about them because I know I get a call if there's something wrong . . . When you hire people you always have that doubt in the back of your mind, but with the day-care atmosphere you don't have to worry about that."