When I was pregnant with you, it was the happiest time of my life. You were planned and wanted. I LOVED being pregnant. I felt so healthy and I took very good care of myself for you. Not one cup of coffee, kept active, got lots of sleep and didn't give into unhealthy craving choices. I couldn't wait to meet you!
No parent plans on having a child with Autism. I didn't. I pictured our days filled with spontaneity....play dates and exploring beaches and picnic lunches. I pictured frequent visits down to your Auntie's house playing and getting to know your cousins. It never dawned on me that by 19 months you would be having interventions. I felt a sense of sadness that I still can't describe to this day when I realized our days would not be spent as I had thought. Instead of spontaneous beach adventures, you had a 20 hour/week intensive intervention schedule to maintain if you were ever going to have a chance at a future that didn't need to be funded by a government.
But sadness subsided quickly for me when I saw the developmental hurtles you jumped over in your first week!! You LOVED your workers and it was so obvious that they LOVED their job and judging by the progress I saw you make so quickly, they were obviously very well trained, which brought a desperately needed sense of security and hope to my saddened heart.
When I look at you now, and the amazing boy you have become, it's hard for me to even really remember the challenges that lay before you. This early intervention program gave you the ability to start kindergarten on time and on par with your peers. You went from a completely non-verbal, non-social child to this amazingly articulate and thoughtful little boy who loves to be a part of everything! I am so proud of you Crofton, for all the obstacles you have overcome and how freely and openly you express the love in your heart.
The EIBI program changed your life. This program gave me the chance to be your mother, not just your care-taker. I am mortified that it is being shut down. 20 hours a week is scientifically proven to be the minimum amount of intensive intervention hours required (before the age of 6) to make any substantial difference in the quality of life for a child with Autism. When the government announced the shut down of these programs on the standpoint that it isn't fair to the other children who aren't in the program, I was enraged. By privatizing these intervention services, children will be LUCKY if they get 6-7 hours a week. It's just not enough. How is that fair?You were blessed to get into the program. I was so excited when your spot at QA came up and you were taken off the wait list. When I think about all the children who will never get the chance to enter into this life-giving program, my heart aches. It aches for the child who will never experience their full potential and it breaks for the parents who's children weren't given the same chance at life as you were.
I want you to know how proud I am of you, my sweet boy.
With all the love in my heart,
Mum
4 comments:
I have two sons with Autism currently in one of the EIBI programs that is being shut down on Jan 31,2010. They are poster children for how successful this program is. My older son is not even 5 yet and he has entered a public kindergarten on par with his peers and with the skills he needs to succeed in school without the aide of a one on one worker. My younger son is 3 1/2 and just entered preschool without the aide of a worker. They were diagnosed very young. Crofton, my older son, was in the EIBI (Early Intensive Behaviour Intervention) program at the Queen Alexander Center For Children's Health (QA) by 19 months! My kids are MORE than scientific proof that this program works. They are living proof....proof that THE EARLIER (this intensive intervention happens,) THE BETTER! Today? People do not believe me that my kids have Autism when they meet them and are completely blown away.
They truly are amazing little boys.
The latest statistic states that 1 in 91 children ARE diagnosed with Autism. These numbers have increased since the prieviously and very commonly known statistic of 1 in 150.
THIS IS EVERYONE'S PROBLEM!
I am not fighting these program cuts for my children. I am fighting them BECAUSE of my children. I am fighting for the parents who found out 3 weeks after their children entered the program that it was being cut, for all the children currently on the wait list, for the children not yet diagnosed, as well as future children not even born...(y)OUR children's children.
This program works. These programs are life-giving essential services and EVERY child with Autism should be allowed the chance at the quality of life my children have.
cher sherwood
(Crofton and Everett's voice)
It is a sad time indeed when the almighty dollar becomes more important than the most vulnerable of children. When a smaller deficit can be had on the backs of those who cannot stand up for themselves. When stacks of irrefutable evidence that have been provided to those responsible for this decision that prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that canceling these programs is a huge mistake are repeatedly ignored. When the government loses sight of its moral obligation to its weakest citizens. When the priorities are so skewed that it becomes OK to throw a huge party for the rest of the world, yet not take care of your own children first or as well as. It's like being invited to a lavish party and sitting down for the feast and realizing your hosts have not been feeding their children. When government can be so shortsighted and irresponsible as to make a decision that will cost taxpayers billions of dollars in ongoing care for these children who do not get the help they need early in life. A smaller investment now will save us billions in the future, and will give these kids a fighting chance at becoming productive and happy members of society. The human cost to be extolled for the savings of a few dollars in the whole scheme of things is unspeakable. This government still has a chance to get it right and to leave a lasting positive legacy in this province. Or will their legacy be that of leaving our children out in the cold? Our kids deserve so much better. They deserve a FAIR chance at having a life as close to typical as is possible. Other provinces are getting it right. Alberta carries a larger deficit and still takes care of their children with Autism. They have fewer kids that get more funding. Are they more in touch with their morals, common decency, common sense and sense of accountability? Or is it that they are just better at simple math? Either way....they are an example to follow. British Columbia....The Best Place on Earth....as long as you're not a child with Autism.
Submitted by request:
I remember years ago working for a family that I believe did not have this program. I recall being told not to go into their boy's room, for if anything was touched, moved changed in any way he would go into an immediate fit. He was about 4 feet tall and 90 pounds. One day he came home from school and all I heard was foul language coming out of his mouth engaged in a conversation all on his own with his imaginary friend. He was calm one minute and volatile the next. One day he went towards his mom, she had to wrestle him down to the ground and hold him trying to "contact" him until he was safe to himself and to others. I would hear him in his room having an argument with this "friend" of his. He would growl. I was told he was autistic. The struggles this family went through are beyond words.
Societies problem?....Yes, defiantly. There is a day that this young man will be amongst us or simply a life wasted in an institution.
Could the program have saved society much grief emotionally and financial....Probably
Amongst my friends 3 of them have 4 autistic children between them. All these parents are healthy caring individuals. Every one of my friends children have gone through a program of some sort. They are integrated and healthy up to their capabilities and growing! They are brilliant and bright.
Which leads me to “believe” these programs are of the upmost important role to effectively give these Canadian Citizens their right to programs that will allow them to contribute to society, let alone themselves on a daily basis.
I understand we may need cutbacks.
Just not from which has proven to be essential programs.
Do not forget the first young man I mentioned is now a full grown adult! How scary and sad is that! Those programs were not available back then and that is why they were originally developed!
Pam Boyd
LANGLEY, B.C.
Now that this government has shut down this program we are going to be taking out a second mortgage on our home. The financial burden on our family and many others is incredible. I believe that there is no better investment than children's lives. I am outraged that Mary Polak and Gordon Campbell could do such a ruthless thing as to cut this program.
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