Province backtracks, offers autism strategy for all ages

WINNIPEG — The Manitoba government has announced a U-turn that will ensure its autism strategy covers children and adults alike in response to community backlash.

Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine announced Friday that recent amendments to Bill 232 — which would have bolstered disability-related support only for anyone aged 17 and under — will be reversed.

“I want families to know that we listened to every word that they said,” she said at a news conference inside her third-floor office at the Manitoba legislature.

The Autism Strategy Act will require the government to create a policy to improve the screening and diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder and support research.

Lone Liberal MLA Cindy Lamoureux introduced the legislation in March. It has since become a rare example of a private member’s bill garnering all-party support.

Eighty-two people registered to weigh in on its contents Oct. 16 at a legislative committee hearing. Parents provided emotional testimony over about 13 hours as they outlined how status-quo gaps have impacted their kids as they’ve grown up in Manitoba.

Fontaine said approximately 70 people later contacted her office with concerns about the committee’s proposed amendments.

There are three perspectives — residents who feel early childhood diagnosis and education-specific concerns are key priorities requiring a child-specific plan, people in support of an all-ages strategy, and members of the disability community who do not support the initiative in any shape or form, she said.

“We were trying to find a balance … Now, Manitoba will have an all-encompassing autism strategy,” the minister added.

Winnipeg mom Kidist Kibret welcomed the changes that she said will spare her eight-year-old of many of the challenges she experienced as a child.

“She’s also a high achiever in school. When you look at her, she is coping, but I can notice she’s ‘masking,’” she said, adding that hiding struggles with autism can have serious health consequences.

Kibret said she could have used far more support to learn how to communicate and navigate social situations before and after she turned 18.

For many people who have autism, their “social deficit” doesn’t disappear just because you have a milestone birthday, the 45-year-old said.

St. Amant president Ben Adaman also endorsed the decision to rescind amendments so a first-of-its-kind strategy can inform “a more complete understanding of how to support people at every stage of life.”

Lamoureux said she felt relief, pride and was “exceptionally excited,” to learn the original bill is slated to pass before the session ends Oct. 29.

“It really shows just how powerful a healthy democracy can be because the public and in this case, the autism community, they rallied so hard,” she said.

Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Kyra Wilson said this week that pivoting away from lifelong support could worsen longstanding inequities for First Nations families.

The assembly has highlighted geography, limited services in rural and remote communities, lengthy waitlists, inadequate funding and jurisdictional barriers as longtime issues.

Lamoureux said she has always believed it important to include adults in the strategy — contrary to Fontaine’s remarks the Tyndall Park MLA had privately expressed support for the NDP’s amendments.

The bill was inspired by a mom in Lamoureux’s constituency who disclosed specific struggles her family had faced in the child care and education sectors.

“Far too often, children are being pulled out of school because the resources are not there to have them there throughout the day and receive the same education other students are receiving.”

Progressive Conservative families critic Jodie Byram issued a statement calling on Fontaine to apologize to everyone who shared their “traumatic experiences” at the committee meeting.

Byram accused the NDP of pretending to listen and causing further harm to families they’re supposed to protect. The official Opposition has been ready to support the bill since March, she said.

Bill 232 is expected to receive third reading Tuesday.

» Winnipeg Free Press