Posts Tagged ‘disabilities’
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A forensic accountant’s take on the Ontario budget
Saturday, April 13th, 2019
Ontario taxes more and spends more, per capita, than Ottawa… Before annual debt costs, both Ontario and Ottawa are just treading water… Ontario has a $4.1 billion operating surplus ($280 per person). Ottawa’s operating surplus is $9.4 billion ($252 per Canadian)… Ontario — spending cuts for many, more money for a few… Among the 19 losing ministries are: … Children and Community Services… Environment… Indigenous Affairs… Training, Colleges and Universities
Tags: budget, child care, corrections, crime prevention, disabilities, featured, Health, ideology, immigration, Indigenous, jurisdiction, youth
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
On the spectrum, Part 1: What makes the autism debate in Ontario so complicated
Wednesday, April 10th, 2019
“… now we realize it’s not a single gene. It’s maybe 200 genes.” Add to that the possibility that environmental factors may contribute to autism… and determining the possible causes of autism becomes even more complex… That leaves us, Hollander said, with only intensive, personalized therapy as a viable option for the children of today. And it’s also what brings us to the debate raging across Ontario.
Tags: disabilities, mental Health, participation
Posted in Inclusion Debates | No Comments »
Nova Scotia is showing the way on organ donation
Wednesday, April 10th, 2019
This is the first time what’s known as “presumed consent” legislation will become law anywhere in Canada or the United States. But it’s far from new elsewhere in the world… The fact is about 4,500 people are on waiting lists for organ donations in Canada in any given year and the wait for a transplant can be up to six years. Sadly, about 250 people die each year waiting for such organs as hearts and lungs.
Tags: disabilities, Health, ideology, participation, rights, standard of living
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Changing disability definition a dangerous mistake that will harm thousands
Monday, April 8th, 2019
The government is holding consultations on these changes right now. We do not know who has been invited. And we have no commitment that what they are told will be made public… it should leave anyone who cares about those who suffer from arthritis, multiple sclerosis, cancer, mental illness, addictions, and many other conditions that can disable people intermittently, or from which they may recover in a few years, extremely worried.
Tags: disabilities, economy, Health, mental Health, participation, poverty
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »
In Ontario, a battle for the soul of psychiatry
Sunday, April 7th, 2019
The ministry’s proposed new approach, modelled on U.S.-style, managed care, is designed to limit the type and amount of treatment individual patients will receive, regardless of their presenting symptoms… If it goes through, it will be the biggest change in psychiatry in the history of the discipline in Canada, and turn psychiatrists from “treaters” into “consultants” who will diagnose patients in a single session, and make recommendations for others to follow, then wave goodbye.
Tags: budget, disabilities, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, mental Health
Posted in Health Delivery System | 1 Comment »
‘White hot’ angry youth ready to protest education cuts
Friday, March 29th, 2019
Throughout Ford’s tenure as premier, he has attacked education from every available angle. First, he slashed the sexual education curriculum; then, he cancelled an updated Indigenous education plan; lately, in what almost feels like a show of gratuitous violence, he’s been taking aim at special needs funding, class sizes, phone usage, teacher jobs, and more. It’s infuriating and… for our province’s most vulnerable students, catastrophic.
Tags: budget, disabilities, ideology, participation, standard of living, youth
Posted in Education Debates | No Comments »
Canada’s national strategy on dementia must break the cycle of shame
Friday, March 29th, 2019
The recent federal budget contains a $50-million, five-year commitment for a strategy to support Canadians with cognitive decline, their caregivers and the health professionals who manage or research the disease. Details will be announced later this spring, and the Public Health Agency of Canada is to oversee the roll-out of the strategy. It had better be worth the wait.
Tags: budget, disabilities, ideology, mental Health, standard of living
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Autism layoffs ‘premature,’ says Community and Social Services Minister Lisa MacLeod
Wednesday, March 27th, 2019
Her ministry will hold consultations through the summer to determine how to move forward on more needs-based funding… Taylor accused the Ford government’s plan of putting families “in crisis, and we have a complete disaster of an autism program right now in the province because the minister failed to communicate before she put the policy in place.”
Tags: budget, disabilities, Health, ideology, participation, youth
Posted in Child & Family Delivery System | No Comments »
Changes to Ontario’s (still) flawed autism program show Ford government can be pushed back
Sunday, March 24th, 2019
… these announced “enhancements,”… don’t truly fix this flawed program. This still amounts to a $331-million plan that does not meet the needs, especially for those on the high-needs end of the spectrum and girls who are who are often diagnosed later than boys so doubly suffer under the government’s age discrimination, which provides far less funding for kids over the age of six. But the changes are a sign that the Ford government is movable and open, albeit belatedly, to listening to experts.
Tags: budget, disabilities, Health, ideology, mental Health, participation, standard of living, youth
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | No Comments »
Ontario to look into school exclusions of children with autism
Thursday, March 14th, 2019
… families with children in many parts of the country who have intellectual and developmental disabilities are increasingly being asked to pick up children early, start their school day later or keep them home for an indefinite period because of behavioural issues… the Ontario Autism Coalition, which advocates for families, have been calling on the government to hold public discussions on possible legislation and policy changes surrounding exclusions of special-needs students with behavioural issues.
Tags: disabilities, ideology, mental Health, participation, rights
Posted in Education Policy Context | 1 Comment »
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