Friday, February 06, 2004
The Canadian Press Atlantic News
(St. John's Telegram)

Nfld. court upholds decision that child has right to autism treatment

ST. JOHN'S, Nfld. (CP) - A Newfoundland Court of Appeal has upheld a decision that says a six-year-old boy had the right to effective, publicly funded treatment for autism.
In a ruling filed in the Newfoundland Supreme Court Trial Division friday, Justice Maureen Dunn confirmed the December 2002 decision of the Human Rights' board of inquiry.

Gloria Sparkes of St. John's filed the initial human rights' complaint after her grandson Brandon, who was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder in 2000, was placed on a waiting list for a year.
He was forced to wait despite evidence that applied behavioural analysis is the recommended treatment for autistic children and early intervention is critical. Brandon was born in August 1997 and is now six years old.

Adjudicator Valerie Marshall ruled in favour of Sparkes and ordered the province to provide sufficient funding to eliminate the waiting list for autistic children referred to the program. She also ordered government to pay Brandon $3,000 in damages.

In February 2003, the province announced that it would invest an additional $1.88 million over three years for autism services, bringing the total investment over three years to $7.9 million.
But at the same time, it decided to appeal the human rights' decision.

The province argued in court that the human rights' ruling could have broader implications on government policy if the practice of wait listing is deemed discriminatory. Rolf Pritchard, the province's lawyer, said there could be impacts throughout the health-care system where waiting lists exist in numerous situations.

Another area of concern he raised was available funding. Pritchard said it's common knowledge that the health-care system in Newfoundland and Labrador is strained.

Dunn said although this particular matter directly impacts on health and community services, it's no different in terms of financial implications than other successful charter challenges with respect to rights.