Sooke family affected by autism funding cut
Sooke News Mirror
By Jim Sinclair
September 29, 2009

Family in crisis

Life for the Forget family of Sooke was not easy prior to the provincial government announcement that funding for autism treatment was to be cut. Since the mid-September announcement, life looks downright daunting.

Going anywhere with their two autistic children is pretty much out of the question.

“We don’t go out, we stay in our house and we hide,” said Trevor Forget. “Every time we go out it’s an absolute hassle. The kids have meltdowns in the middle of the supermarket. You get parents looking at you like you should have the kids on a leash. We take them to the pool occasionally. We get weird looks and the other kids make fun of them. It’s not a nice thing... it really isn’t. But we deal with it 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”

The family of four includes two autistic children. Both children have been receiving therapy from the Queen Alexandra (QA) Foundation for Children in Saanich.

Just over a week ago the Ministry of Children and Family Development announced cuts to the $5-million Early Intensive Behavioural Intervention program that helps 70 children across the province, 22 of those in Victoria. It will end in January in order to increase “equity” for all B.C. families with autistic children, said Children and Family Development Minister Mary Polak.

The program costs the government $70,000 per child annually. Other autistic children receive $20,000 for therapy. That will be boosted by $2,000 in April equalizing funding across the board.

Options for the Forget children, Nathan, 5 and Allison, 3, are limited because of their need for extensive therapy. Nathan, for example, has been diagnosed as severely autistic.

“There’s a bunch of people trying to advocate to have the decision overturned,” said Trevor Forget last week. “But there’s no word as of yet.”

Forget is a math student at UVIC and he has also been working part time as a chef at a local restaurant. All of the money he earns goes toward the bio-feedback therapy with a psychologist once a week. The fee is $150/hour for each child. They’ve been having these appointments in addition to the 40 hours a week they’ve been spending at the QA centre….

Private treatment is a less than appealing option.

“We’ve been through it before and it just doesn’t work,” he said with a shrug.

Kathleen Forget said, “If there’s a parent at home with an autistic child they can do therapy with that child. But when you have two autistic children you can’t do one-on-one behaviour therapy...’cause they’re trying to kill each other all day. When they start they’re so aggressive. They’re constantly beating each other up and beating me and Trevor up.”

This is a serious problem and one that’s easier to understand by meeting the family. Allison, though just three years old, weighs in at a solid 60 pounds and is more than a handful to deal with when wound up.

“She’s got a low centre of gravity,” explained Trevor, “and she knows how to use her leverage.”….