Doug Ford?s government recently announced its intentions to overhaul the Ontario Autism Program, something the province?s minister of children, community and social services has described as a ?broken?Liberal mess? that the Conservatives inherited.

My son, Sebastian, has been part of this program. For our family, it has been anything but broken.
Sebastian entered the program just before he turned five. He had waited nearly three years to enter, but it was well worth the wait.
At that point, he was completely non-verbal and unable to communicate even basic thoughts, still in diapers and willing to eat only three specific foods. He was anemic and malnourished and often frustrated, and we were at our wit?s end.
Like many families, we had been paying for a sub-optimal amount of therapy out of pocket and went deeper into debt until our number on the waiting list for the program came up. After receiving intensive therapy for three years, Sebastian now communicates a range of needs with his iPad communication system, he?s toilet-trained and he?s eating a diverse and nutritious diet of over 100 foods. He is happy and healthy.
Each month, our interdisciplinary therapy team, which has included a psychologist, occupational therapist, speech and language pathologist, music, behaviour and feeding specialists, works to identify new needs and areas of development. He?s currently focusing on expanding his communication vocabulary, and learning street safety, how to play with peers, and to...