Ontario needs to do more to help families with violent, autistic children suffering under extreme circumstances

The family is pleading for help from the Ford government. It has more than doubled its funding for the Ontario Autism Program yet advocates say the most vulnerable are being left behind.

By Cynthia Mulligan

An Ontario family in crisis is pleading for help. They say their autistic child has exhibited violent tendencies, and they’re scared for him and for themselves.

“I don’t know how much longer…I can last to be honest,” said Stephanie Serenko. Her son Mason is he’s eight years old, and already weighs 180 pounds. “He’s just going to get bigger and stronger and it’s only going to be harder to handle.”

Mason has already broken his mother’s nose twice and sent his grandmother to hospital with a broken rib. Serenko says there is no help, and she fears one day he will unintentionally kill her.

“It’s dangerous to be with him alone, it’s hard, it’s really hard,” said Serenko.

For another Ontario family, Serenko’s worst fears have already been realized. Last year, an 18-year-old with Asperger’s, a form of autism, was charged with his mother’s death in the Ottawa area. 

In that case, mother Lisa Sharpe was reportedly afraid of her son and had been struggling to get him help. The president of the Ontario Autism Coalition said families have been suffering under these extreme circumstances for years.  

“We hear this story quite frequently in our community,” said Alina Cameron. “There’s never been a catch-all program to help families that have this level of need in Ontario.”

And yet the Ford government is spending more money on autism care than any other government in this province’s history, at $720 million this year.

There are currently an estimated 50,000 children on the waitlist for core services, enough to fill the Rogers Centre.

“They have doubled autism funding and tripled the waitlist for core services,” said Ontario NDP social services critic Monique Taylor. “If families are not getting core services at a young age, we’re seeing children like Mason now getting to age of 8 who have never had a day of service.”

Mason did not get early intervention, he was on the waitlist for services for five years and only started to receive funding in January.

Cameron said the most vulnerable children are not getting what they need.

A study by the American Centres for Disease Control last year found up to 26 per cent of autistic children have profound needs and are in danger of self-harm. That doesn’t mean all their behaviours are as extreme as Mason’s but his family is not alone.

“I hear from dozens [of families] and that’s the ones who reach out a lot are afraid, embarrassed [that] they can’t manage,” said Cameron.

“I think a crisis team would be fantastic … Right now, families in this position are resorting to desperate measures, to go emergency and sit down till someone helps them they will call police on their children.”

But Cameron is careful to give the Ford government some credit. “The extra money is fantastic, we just wish it was being used in a better way.”

She worries too much of the budget is being spent on administration, and not enough on giving children like Mason the care they need.

“I think the current minister is trying, the fact they are willing to listen is really important,” added Cameron.

CityNews asked for an interview with the Minister Children, Community and Social Services and were promised we could speak with him next week.

In a statement, the minister said there are urgent response services designed to help stabilize situations and prevent the risk of harm.

Stephanie tells CityNews she does have an urgent response worker, but they don’t come to her home, it’s just a one-hour phone call once a week.  She said they tell her they are at a loss of what to do.

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