The MedicAlert Autism Program allows emergency responders to make better decisions to help people in times of need
The silver identification bracelet that indicates an existing condition to first responders has been a valuable tool for decades. In 1953, a teenage girl named Linda Collins cut her finger badly. At the hospital, she received a tetanus shot, had a severe allergic reaction and almost died. After that incident, her parents began attaching a…
Music interventions are evidence-based with positive results – so why don’t we use them more often?
My son is practising the piano as I write this and it’s the sweetest sound. He’s spent two years working slowly through the same level but it doesn’t matter; he’s improving and the benefits of both music therapy and music lessons have been clear and measurable. My only wish is that I had started sooner.…
Why is the Canada Revenue Agency denying the tax credit to those who need it most?
By Jennifer Zwicker and Stephanie Dunn University of Calgary “Providing benefits not burdens” is how former Health Minister Judy LaMarsh once described the vision for disability policy in Canada. Unfortunately, this vision is not a reality when it comes to one of the main benefits open to Canadians with disability: the federal disability tax credit…
More resources in the community and better training for emergency services are needed
By Yona Lunsky University of Toronto and Jonathan Weiss York University The long wait times at hospital emergency rooms across the country are not just a cause for complaint. The high costs associated with emergency services also affect the finances of our publicly funded health system. What’s often lost in these discussions are the ways…
Media stories that get it wrong can contribute to how others perceive those with autism – and perpetuate potentially dangerous stereotypes
Too often, well-meaning journalists get it wrong when they write about autism. It’s not so much the content of their stories that misses the mark as the language they use to describe autism. It can be easy to unintentionally offend – or worse, misrepresent – the autism community they are meant to describe. Why does…
We don’t want to see Canadian children reach school age before being identified as having autism
Over the years, Autism Canada has talked to thousands of parents and there has been a similar refrain. Early diagnosis didn’t happen for their children because too many well-intentioned health practitioners and educators dismissed early red flags and parental concerns in favour of a “wait and see” approach. Autism, or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), is…
The silver identification bracelet that indicates an existing condition to first responders has been a valuable tool for decades. In 1953, a teenage girl named Linda Collins cut her finger badly. At the hospital, she received a tetanus shot, had a severe allergic reaction and almost died. After that incident, her parents began attaching a…
