Monday, June 18, 2007

Canada's Shame - Autism Needs Funding




Another excellent letter in the Montreal Gazette.

Autism needs funding

Letter
Published: Monday, June 18, 2007

Your editorial, "Autism sufferers also need help," (June 15) could not have been more timely and is much appreciated. As you note, the Supreme Court has put the ball in Parliament's court concerning funding.

It is worth noting that recently, in South Carolina, the state House and Senate overrode the governor's veto against requiring insurers to provide coverage for autism therapy to affected children up to age 16.

While we Canadians rightly congratulate ourselves on our humane medicare system, the autism issue puts us to shame.

The personal devastation of caring for an autistic child should not be compounded by financial ruin. We rarely question the enormous sums spent to prolong the life of a dying person by months, sometimes years. Surely, autism should benefit from similar concern.

Shelley Corrin

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