星空传媒

A Nova Scotia mother forced to quit her job to care for her son because of his violent outbursts called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to fix Canada鈥檚 鈥渇ragmented system鈥� of supports for children with autism.

Trudeau visited a high school in the Halifax suburb of Lower Sackville on Tuesday. It was Trudeau鈥檚 first stop on a Canada-wide series of town hall meetings, touted by the prime minister as an opportunity for Canadians to challenge him on issues.

One of the first questions came from Carly Sutherland, who shared her story with Trudeau. Her 9-year-old son, Callum, is so severely impacted by autism that he often lashes out in violence. Sutherland had to quit her job to oversee his care, and friends crowdfunded money to help her and her husband keep their house.

At the moment, supports for children with autism vary drastically from province to province. For example, in Ontario, children with autism receive behavioural support until they鈥檙e 18. In Nova Scotia, that assistance ends at the age of six.

鈥淗ow does your government plan to address this crisis, and where do they stand on a national autism strategy?鈥� she asked.

Trudeau said the federal government invests 鈥渟ignificant amounts of money鈥� into the Canadian Institute for Health Research, which supports autism research, and that health care delivery comes down to the provinces.

However, Trudeau said 鈥渢here is more the federal government can and is doing on the research side, on the advocacy side, on the support side.鈥�

鈥淚 look forward to continuing to work with groups and families like yours across the country to give you the kind of support you need, and you can have, to ensure that Callum has a great future and opportunities, while giving you the proper respite as well,鈥� he said.

In an interview with CTV鈥檚 Power Play earlier Tuesday, Sutherland explained that her son鈥檚 behaviour hasn鈥檛 always been violent. The outbursts began last summer when Sutherland and her husband noticed that Callum, 9, began struggling to communicate.

Her child鈥檚 behaviour, which included kicking, punching, head-butting and biting, escalated to the point that his school called 911. Callum then spent six weeks at the IWK Children's Hospital.

鈥淚 can鈥檛 go near him without a support person present. He physically assaults me when I come near him. He punches holes in his walls. I used to say we took it day by day, but now we鈥檙e really just taking it minute by minute,鈥� Sutherland said.

Without provincial dollars for the behavioural support workers her son desperately needs, Sutherland relies on respite funding from Nova Scotia鈥檚 community services to help offset the costs. The cost of caring for Callum far exceeds those supports.

鈥淭raditionally, respite would be, here鈥檚 some money, hire somebody to take your child to the playground or the pool for a couple of hours so you can put your feet up. Callum鈥檚 behaviour is so severe that he鈥檚 not able to participate in any of those activities,鈥� she said.

The solution, according to Sutherland, would be for the federal government to step in and build a national strategy for supporting children with autism. She also wants to see the government reallocate money for autism research to aid for families, such as money for behavioural support workers.

For the moment, every province and territory is 鈥渨orking in silos,鈥� Sutherland said.

鈥淭he federal government is investing some money in research, but research is not really helping families on the ground, like mine, who desperately need help yesterday,鈥� she said.

The federal government has been confronted for its lack of support in the past. In 2007, the Senate released a report that, in its very first sentence, declared that 鈥渇amilies with autistic children in Canada are facing a crisis.鈥�

The report, titled called on the federal government to establish a national autism strategy.

Eleven years later, Sutherland says she鈥檚 waiting for action.

鈥淲e need to establish a policy, we need to establish best practices, and we need to demand that children in need receive those supports, because those children and their families should not have to live this way,鈥� she told CTV鈥檚 Power Play, adding that the problem has become 鈥渁 human rights issue鈥� in Canada.

鈥淚 believe that we are neglecting a huge segment of our population by allowing families to flounder alone.鈥�