Parents want better support for autistic children in schools

Updated: Tue Mar. 16 2010 18:16:35
ctvwinnipeg.ca

Some parents in Manitoba say standardized training is needed in schools to ensure staff members are able to help children with autism.

Tanis Benson's 16-year-old son Alec Baldwin was diagnosed with autism when he was two.

He used to attend school in Gimli, with the help of a full-time aide or education assistant.

But Benson says the person assigned to her son did not have enough training.

"I feel they were allowing him to do things he already knew and they weren't teaching him new things…so that's called babysitting," says Benson.

She says she tried to help, attending class with her son and providing input into his curriculum, but says her suggestions weren't listened to.

About a year and a half ago, she pulled Alec out of school and has been teaching him at home since then.

The school division in Gimli wouldn't speak on camera with CTV News but says it has 67 educational assistants within the division who are all trained to work with special needs students, including those with autism.

Another Manitoba parent, Heather Guttman, says not all school divisions in the province have staff specially trained to deal with autism.

Guttman's nine-year-old daughter Maggie is autistic. She says Maggie's school provided an educational assistant but didn't give the assistant any special training.

"She actually paid out of pocket to go to autism classes and to learn what Maggie needs and what works for her, what doesn't," says Guttman.

The province says there are 1,300 students with autism spectrum disorder in the school system. The province provides about $185 million in special needs grants to school divisions, which includes funds to hire educational assistants. But the province says it's up to the school divisions to train them.

Guttman says that poses a problem.

"I'd like to see some sort of standardization…where all (educational assistants) require the same sort of education, the same sort of training. I'd like to see the school board offer more of that training," says Guttman.

The Manitoba School Board says autism spectrum disorder is too broad a condition for there to be any standardized training for educational assistants.

The board says educational assistants have the right to request specialized training but whether it will be paid for is at the discretion of the school division.

- with a report from CTV's Karen Rocznik