NDP Leader and Hamilton Centre MPP Andrea Horwath says the McGuinty government is failing families and children with autism.

Today in Question Period, Horwath called on Children and Youth Services Minister Deb Matthews to review program funding for children like Sebastian Bunda, 6, who has severe autism, but is losing all his government-funded therapy.

Horwath is backing the Queen’s Park protest launched 55 days ago by Sebastian’s mother, Maria Bunda, a Hamilton Centre resident.

“Sebastian was diagnosed with severe autism at age two. He was on a two-year waiting list, but eventually received some ABA therapy, and he was making good progress,” Horwath told the Ontario Legislature.

“Now the government is terminating Sebastian’s therapy and is forcing him into a school setting, for which he is completely unprepared. Will the Minister commit to review this callous decision?” she asked.

Horwath, a long time critic of the government’s autism program, said parents across Ontario like Ms. Bunda are raising complaints about their children’s therapy being terminated prematurely, wait-listed or denied altogether. As the number of children with autism grows, parents report the wait period for autism therapy has doubled from two years to up to four years.

“Families are languishing and frustrated over the government’s autism crisis. The number of children with autism is growing. When therapy is denied, children like Sebastian are denied the opportunity to reach their full potential,” Horwath said.

She is calling for an independent review of Sebastian’s case to ensure his ABA therapy will continue. And she says the entire autism program needs bolstering so that children requiring therapy can obtain it when needed and as early as possible.