The need for better support for adults with autism who have an IQ above 80

Wednesday April 6, in Question Period, I asked the Minister of Families about an 18 year old boy with autism who needs support services, but has so far been unable to get it.

Individuals with Autism - Support Services Criteria

Hon. Jon Gerrard (River Heights): Madam Speaker, I have written to the Minister of Families about an 18-year-old with autism who clearly needs supports which are being denied them.

Because their IQ is above 80, they do not fit the minister's category for support, yet the 18-year-old's learning, processing, planning and functional deficits are such that they desperately need the support in order to have the best chance of success.

I ask the minister whether she will do what Newfoundland and Labrador are doing, which is to eliminate the IQ criteria for support for autism, and instead base the support on functional needs.

Hon. Rochelle Squires (Minister of Families): I thank the member for the question, and I'm always happy to talk about casework–preferably outside of the Chamber. But since he's raised it in the House, I'm certainly happy to respond to him about our government's approach to helping all Manitobans with disabilities and lifting all Manitobans who are afflicted with disabilities up and making sure that they get their diagnostics and that they get their proper treatments.

We've made some investments in building more diagnostics and assessments tools and treatments for people afflicted with autism and certainly invested more in children with disabilities. And there'll be more to come on April the 12th when our Finance Minister tables the budget, which will be good news for people with disabilities in the province of Manitoba.

Comments

Comparison between Manitoba and South Dakota shows dramatic impact of Physical Distancing

Manitoba implemented physical distancing measures in mid-March. South Dakota has still not made physical distancing mandatory. The result is a dramatic difference in the incidence of covid-19 viral infections between the two jurisdictions. This graph shows the number of people with Covid-19 infections from March 27 to April 14. Manitoba ( red line ) started leveling off about April 4 and has seen only a small increase in Covid-19 infections since then. South Dakota ( blue line ) has seen a dramatic increase in Covid-19 infections since April 4. Those who are skeptical of the impact of physical distancing in Manitoba should look at this graph! Data are from the Johns Hopkins daily tabulations

Pushing for safe consumption sites and safe supply to reduce overdose deaths

On Monday June 20th, Thomas Linner of the Manitoba Health Coalition, Arlene Last-Kolb Regional Director of Moms Stop the Harm and Winnipeg City Councillor Sherri Rollins were at the Manitoba Legislature to advocate for better measures to reduce deaths from drug overdoses, most particularly for safe consumption sites and for a safe supply, measures which can reduce overdose deaths.

Dougald Lamont speaks out strongly against the "reprehensible", "legally and morally indefensible" Bill 2

Early in the morning, just after 3 am, on November 6th, Dougald Lamont spoke at third reading of Bill 2, the Budget Implementation and Statutes Amendment Act. He spoke strongly against the bill because it attempts to legitimize a historic injustice against children in the care of child and family services. As Dougald says this bill is " the betrayal of children, First Nations and the people of this province. " Mr. Dougald Lamont (St. Boniface): These are historic times. This is an historic budget, for all the wrong reasons. I was thinking of the Premier's (Mr. Pallister) comments about D-Day today and my relatives who served in combat in the First and Second World War. I had a relative who played for the Blue Bombers and served at D-Day with the Winnipeg Rifles because he was an excellent athlete, he made it quite a long way up the beach. And had he lived until last year, he might have been one of the veterans the Premier insulted by not showing up at a

The Gerrard Report

Search This Blog