Jerry

Thursday, 26 March 2009 00:00

Jerry was born on Sept. 11, 2000. He was diagnosed with autism at age 30 months, after being on the wait list for a diagnosis for six months. We then went on the waitlist for government-funded IBI. As parents, we put everything we had into IBI therapy at thirty hours per week. Many of our family members gave us additional money to cover the $60,000 yearly cost of therapy.

After 30 months on the government wait list and $150,000 later, Jerry finally got his funding, but only enough to cover about 60% of the cost. For the next two years, we paid out of pocket an additional $48,000.

Once Jerry was old enough to attend public school, we held him back a year to give him more IBI therapy to allow him to better fit in at school, as well as to make sure there were adequate programs in the York Region District School Board. Once at school, we actually had his therapist working at the school with the teacher and EAs. This greatly assisted Jerry in minimizing his unwanted behaviours while reinforcing his good behaviours.

But last April, the school board put to an end his therapist helping him, and gave us a choice of him attending school or getting IBI. Jerry learns tremendously with IBI as his teaching method, so we choose IBI with reduced attendance at school. The Minister of Education told us that IBI is allowed in school if it’s in a community class. To this day, we do not have any reasons why he cannot have the two methods of learning done at his school. Politics at the Ministry and the YRDSB are simply getting in the way of Jerry achieving his best!