Ontario to Provide Funding for Autism Training

By: Laura Steiner

Ontario will provide $7.5 million to help educators support students with autism spectrum disorder.  The funding will be used to deliver online courses and training opportunities to teachers, and educational assistances province-wide.

“We recognize the difficulty this pandemic has imposed on parents.  That is why we are enhancing this investment to further train our education staff to better support students on the autism spectrum and to foster a culture of respect, inclusion and opportunity in our schools,” Education Minister Stephen Lecce said.  The training will be offered through the Geneva Centre for Autism.

Courses should improve educators’ understanding of the Autism Spectrum Disorder and Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA) methods and approaches among educators.  “The Sonderly autism training program, allows educators to apply evidence based techniques to classroom settings, helping students with autism to succeed in their academic year,” said Andrew Davis, Director- Sodnerly, Geneva Centre for Autism.

“Our government is building a brand new Ontario Autism Program that offers a range of services aligned an coordinated with our education and health systems, Minister of Children, Community and Social Services Todd Smith said. The province also plans to invest in subsidies for educators to take the ASD-specific qualifications in order to build expertise within the education system.