Autism

Lisa Danyluk is always hoping that week to week they will have the money they need in order to keep diagnosing and treating autistic children. Danyluk – Chairwoman of the Regina Region Early Childhood Intervention Program – went on to say that, “We’re economically very healthy as a province right now and I’m hoping that will translate into a sharing of the wealth with the families and the kids that need it the most.”

Danyluk was pleased on Thursday to hear that the Regina program will receive $50,000 from the provincial government to provide intensive, home-based support to children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their families. The government news release states that the funding will allow the Regina Region ECIP’s early childhood consultant to work with five to seven children from birth to age five who are diagnosed with ASD, or who are awaiting diagnosis.

“Right now, the $50,000 lets us serve five more children,” Danyluk said. “(The announcement targets) a range of five to seven children but based on the intensive service model that we’re using, five is the most that we can accommodate for that funding. We already have another four to five children with autism on our waiting list so that’s pretty much another autism caseload right there.” Danyluk said that children with autism and their families require intense services and support.

“We know that for every child on our waiting list, there are more who haven’t been identified to us,” she said. “Their parents may not have heard about us or the medical professionals haven’t referred them on.” Regina’s Autism Resource Centre has 177 children between the ages of two to 21 on its waiting list, said Theresa Savaria, the centre’s executive director. “Thirty-one of those are between the ages of two and six,” she said. In total, the government is providing $322,300 to ECIPs in North Battleford, Regina and Saskatoon. That money is expected to benefit up to 21 children with ASD.

A consultant in each region will help the children increase communication and cognitive skills as well as improve fine and gross motor skills. The government investment includes $150,000 in ongoing funding to ECIPs. A one-time grant of $172,300 will be provided to the Saskatoon Region ECIP to develop, co-ordinate and deliver two professional learning conferences on ASD for the Pre-Kindergarten to Grade 12 and Early Learning and Child Care sectors.