Northern Ont. public school holds flag raising ceremony on World Autism Awareness Day
On World Autism Awareness Day, a flag-raising ceremony with Mayor Michelle Boileau at Golden Avenue Public School in South Porcupine is meant to demonstrate to the community that it is a place to thrive.
Golden Avenue Public School hopes its annual community walk will encourage the general public to become more welcoming to anyone who is autistic. (Lydia Chubak/CTV News Northern Ontario)
“I think it's really about moving beyond awareness and approaching acceptance,” said Andrew Wray, a teacher at Golden Avenue Public School.
“So it's great to see all these people out here today and supporting our school and our students,” he said.
The Ontario Autism Coalition said approximately 1 in 50 Canadian youth are autistic and Golden Avenue Public School has six high support autism classes, supporting 40 students.
“We have an inclusive model where we have students who are in and out of the mainstream classroom, but also have support from a homeroom classroom,” said Wray.
“Our students have the opportunity to show their strengths academically, socially and then also are supported in the areas of need in their homeroom classrooms.”
One of the students told CTV News that she loves creating art among other subjects.
“My favourite activity is playing like reading a book,” said student Leah Tiffeault.
According to the Ontario Autism Coalition, there are 50,000 children in the province waiting for core services including speech and occupational therapy; and behavioural analysis.
“You know, when this government took over in 2018, the waitlist was only 23,005 and now it's 50,000 kids,” said Bruce McIntosh director and founding president of Ontario Autism Coalition.
“You know, they've more than doubled it just by being slow and underfunding it... Sooner or later, they're just going to have to recognize that they've got to do better.”
McIntosh said even with and 18 per cent increase in funding in the 2024 provincial budget, it’s not enough.
He said the Ontario Autism Coalition will be holding as many meetings as possible with politicians, including a lobbying day at Queen’s Park on April 24.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Prince William and Kate release photo of daughter Charlotte to mark ninth birthday
Prince William and his wife Kate released a picture of their daughter Charlotte to mark the princess's ninth birthday on Thursday.
This Canadian restaurant just lowered its prices. Here's how it did it
A Canadian restaurant lowered its prices this week, and though news of price tags dropping rather than climbing sounds unusual, the business strategy in this case is not, according to experts in the field.
Concerns about Plexiglas prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall Plexiglas barriers.
'Oh, there you go': Tyler Black, son of veteran broadcaster Rod Black, has memorable Major League Baseball debut
Canadian baseball player Tyler Black made a major splash in his first-ever big league game for the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night.
Facial reconstruction reveals what a 40-something Neanderthal woman may have looked like
Scientists studying a Neanderthal woman's remains have painstakingly pieced together her skull from 200 bone fragments to understand what she may have looked like.
Weight-loss drug Wegovy available in Canada starting May 6
The makers of Ozempic say their weight-loss drug Wegovy will be available to patients in Canada starting Monday.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Goring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Ontario man loses $1,500 applying for Nexus cards on social media
The trusted traveller program between Canada and the United States is extremely popular and almost two million Canadians have a Nexus card.
Companies letting customers opt out of Mother's Day ads
In an effort to balance the profitability of Mother's Day with the pain it causes some people, some brands are offering customers the choice to opt out of Mother's Day email advertising.