TORONTO - Twenty-eight families with autistic kids are anxiously waiting to learn if the Supreme Court of Canada will hear their case about funding for specialized treatment in Ontario.
The court will announce Thursday whether it will hear the parents' arguments, which call on the Ontario government to stop discriminating against autistic children and pay for expensive Intensive Behavioural Therapy.
A lower court had first ruled in favour of the parents but the Ontario Court of Appeal overturned the decision in July 2006.
Lawyer Mary Eberts, who represents the families, said the province has done more for kids since the case was first launched but parents are still demanding full payment for the expensive treatment, including access to therapy in all schools.
"The public school system does not have its act together, these autistic children are denied a free public education that's available to all the other children in Ontario,'' Eberts said.
"So far, in spite of every effort by the parents, there remains a very strong policy barrier against ... adequate services to children with autism in the public school system, and the parents will not rest until that policy barrier goes down.''
Currently, parents of autistic children are often forced to choose between keeping their kids at home to receive the therapy, or taking them to school where they don't receive the special treatment.
The families fighting the case have the support of parents across the country, who don't believe essential treatment for their kids should cost as much as a year's salary and be a crippling financial burden, said Margaret Spoelstra, executive director of Autism Ontario.
"The families who are proceeding with this are continuing to push forward on matters that affect all Canadians with autism ... and it keeps the questions moving forward about who funds services and treatment for people with autism,'' she said.
"Until those services and treatments are adequately addressed, I think families are finding it terribly frustrating and continue to find it so when their children are not receiving what they need to learn.''
Even if the Supreme Court won't hear the case, Eberts said the families will take their fight elsewhere until they can secure treatment for their kids.
"They're going to continue to pursue every avenue they can to get proper support for their children,'' she said.
A Senate committee released a report last month recommending that Canada develop a national plan to deal with autism, including new measures to help families saddled with huge bills for therapy.
It called for a federal-provincial-territorial conference to decide how much money Ottawa should contribute to the campaign, and noted there are almost 50,000 children and 150,000 adults with autism in Canada.
