TORONTO - The father of an autistic teenager who has camped out at the Ontario legislature for more than a week is vowing not to eat until the province agrees to eliminate the backlog of children waiting for a crucial but costly therapy.
Stefan Marinoiu, 49, who has been drinking nothing but water for eight days, is trying to put pressure on the province to deliver the treatment more quickly to autistic kids, including his 15-year-old son Simon.
"He can hurt all of us when he has those violent tantrums which, of course, come out of his frustrations not being able to communicate with us,'' said Marinoiu, who had to quit his job a few years ago to help care for his son.
"It's a pretty bad situation. I'm getting weaker, I'm getting older, and I cannot hold on (to) him anymore.''
Marinoiu will be joined by other parents Tuesday to put pressure on the province to eliminate by November the wait list of 1,148 eligible autistic children who are still waiting to receive intensive behavioural intervention therapy, or IBI.
The group will also be asking the government to provide IBI treatment in schools no later than September 2009, as well as obtain guidelines and financial assistance from Ottawa for autism services.
But Education Minister Kathleen Wynne said she can't make those promises, although the province is working to make schools more accessible to autistic children.
"My heart goes out to people who have these very special and severe needs,'' she said.
"We will continue to work with the family to provide the resources in the school that this student needs.''
Thousands of teachers and support workers are currently being trained to provide another kind of therapy, called applied behavioural analysis, in schools, Wynne added.
Some schools already have therapists to provide the more intensive IBI therapy, but not in regular classrooms because the one-on-one treatment works better in a separate space, she said.
The province has also boosted funding and almost tripled the number of children receiving IBI treatment to more than 1,400 as of March 31, said Children and Youth Services Minister Deb Matthews. The list of children waiting to be assessed to see if they are eligible to receive IBI has also dropped to 363 from 1,027 four years ago.
Marinoiu said he's been unable to obtain services to help care for his son, who was dropped from the wait list after he surpassed the cut-off age of six.
The Liberals eliminated that cut-off threshold in 2005, but say a dramatic increase in the number of children with autism has put additional pressure on the system, causing wait lists to grow.
The number of children waiting for IBI has jumped to 1,148 at the end of March from 89 in early 2004. Critics point to the rising numbers as proof the province isn't serious about giving autistic children the help they need.
Marinoiu's hunger strike is just one indication of the distress parents are feeling, said Conservative critic Elizabeth Witmer.
"It's another broken promise,'' she said. "The premier promised one thing. It's simply not happening.''
The long waits have forced many parents to drain their savings and go into debt to pay for the therapy, said NDP critic Andrea Horwath.
"Here we are, years down the road, and we still have the same situation,'' she said.
"Parents are still going bankrupt. Parents are still extremely frustrated with the lack of available services. Parents still are fearful of trying to transition their kids into school, knowing darn well that the services aren't available in the school either.''
Without help, Marinoiu said his family may be forced to put his son in an institution -- something he refuses to do.
"I don't have a life anymore and I've got nothing to lose,'' he said. "So I'm going to stay here until the government is going to get it.''
A number of families of autistic children are still waiting to see if they will be able sue the Ontario government and seven school boards for damages over funding for specialized treatment.
The group argues the province discriminates against autistic children because they can't always get both their therapy and education within the public school setting.
The Ontario Court of Appeal, which heard the case in February, is expected to release its decision this summer.
An estimated 50,000 children and 150,000 adults in Canada have autism.
