Poste - Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children

community to community. In some communities,
services are non-existent or waiting lists are long.
The Blind Children and Youth Parents’ Association of
British Columbia says that unlike the United States,
there is a general lack of preschool intervention to
address skill development for children with
disabilities. 56 Services are not seen as an entitlement
and can be reduced or eliminated in times of fiscal
restraint. 57
Canada has no national, public child care program and
child care services, standards and eligibility criteria
vary widely across the country. 58 Child care offers
developmental opportunities for children with or
without disabilities. According to the HAL survey,
almost 43 percent of children between 0 to 4 with
disabilities have needed child care but 12 percent have
been refused the service due to their disability. 59
Various impediments restrict the participation of
children with disabilities in child care, including:
• discretionary admission criteria established by
individual programs;
• high cost of child care;
• lack of access or transportation for children in both
rural and urban areas; and
• child care workers who lack training and experience
with disability issues. 60
Most provinces and territories provide some subsidies
for child care for children with disabilities and support
inclusion in regular child care programs to varying
degrees. Many families, however, have difficulty
accessing the service. According to Sharon Hope Irwin,
director of SpeciaLink:
...rights to early intervention and inclusive
child care for young children with
disabilities have not even begun to be
addressed. In no province is there statutory
entitlement for children with disabilities
to be included in regular child care
programs. 61
The Roeher Institute says that since “disability has not
been a major policy thrust in child care, the policies
that have emerged may permit but generally do little to
promote inclusion.” 62 Disability often serves as an
excuse to exclude children from child care.
H O W D O E S C A N A D A M E A S U R E U P ?
61
Voices
of parents
There is a desperate need for good home child
care for children with special needs. It takes
a special person to look after our kids. I would
stay home if I could afford it, but I have to
work for our family to be financially secure. 63
Our 11-year-old son, Shawn, has severe
cerebral palsy. He communicates by means of
gestures, a picture board and a computer. He
cannot move or use his hands independently.
And still he is part of his school, his church,
his hockey team, his after-school day care...
His self-esteem is high; our belief in his
capacity to contribute to his community and to
have a fulfilling life is solid. None of this
would have been possible had he not been in
inclusive community child care right from the
beginning. 64
Support Services and Respite Care
The Roeher Institute says families with members who
have disabilities have to wait until they have exhausted
their emotional and financial resources before they
receive emergency support. 65 Sharon Hope Irwin and
Donna Lero report that parents of children with
disabilities are “clearly under considerable stress. Fully
88 percent describe themselves as feeling tired and
overloaded and 90 percent describe themselves as
stressed about balancing work and family obligations.”
Seventy-one percent of parents in their study said they
found it difficult to find care for their child with special
needs. 66
Home care can offer medical care, respite care and other
needed services. Respite care, which can be provided
either in or outside the home, helps families by relieving
stress, improving family functioning, improving attitudes
towards the child and reducing social isolation. 67
Home care is Canada’s only public health program with
means testing to assess family need. 68 According to
Taylor Alexander of the Canadian Association for