|
The numbers of Ontario children diagnosed with autism are soaring,
says a government study.
In 1998, nearly 800 kids younger than 6 were newly diagnosed with the
neurological disorder, a 53 per cent jump over the same period two years
earlier.
The study, completed in March, 2000, by the provincial health
ministry, was released at a news conference yesterday at Queen's Park
hosted by Liberal community and social services critic Michael Gravelle.
"We don't know why we're seeing this explosion, but we do know that
it's a dramatic one and it has people worried ... if the numbers keep
escalating and we don't treat these kids, the results will be tragic,"
said Dr. Ari Zaretsky, an assistant professor of psychiatry at
Sunnybrook hospital.
"This is a shocking number, and the government is going to have to
commit more money to treatment," said Gravelle, adding that the province
has consistently refused to give him any statistics on autism. The
2-year-old report probably would never have become public without the
persistence of University of Toronto professor Marianna Ofner-Agostini,
Gravelle added.
Ofner-Agostini, the mother of a 2-year-old autistic child, began
calling the provincial health ministry in January, asking for the
report. The epidemiologist had learned through colleagues that the
ministry had done a review of autism on OHIP databases.
"After several weeks of me phoning them five times a day asking for
it, I finally got a call. I was told (by a senior ministry official)
that I couldn't have the report and I couldn't ask any questions about
it," Ofner-Agostini said.
She finally obtained a copy from a researcher at Queen's University.
"The government has refused to release this report and downplayed the
numbers of children with this disorder because they don't want to fund
the treatment," Gravelle said.
The study found that 2,863 children younger than 7 were diagnosed
with autism between 1991 and 1998. The province is spending $39 million
for intensive one-on-one therapy known as applied behavioural analysis
for 500 children. Some 900 are waiting.
But once they turn 6, these children will no longer be eligible for
the treatment, which costs $50,000 a year. At least a dozen families
have filed human rights complaints.
Health ministry spokesperson David Jensen offered no explanation
yesterday as to why anyone would have had difficulty obtaining the
report.
He referred questions on treatment to the Ministry of Community and
Social Services. Officials there weren't available, but former minister
John Baird has said Ontario's treatment program "is the best in Canada."
Zaretsky said treatment is fully covered in the U.S. because of
guarantees under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
He said researchers are seeing a similar surge in autism in other
countries, but what environmental factors may be involved is unknown.
Ofner-Agostini was told it would take two years to get her daughter,
Nadia, accepted for the ABA program.
"We have no choice but to pay for the therapy ourselves," she said.
|
