It’s important to remember that while this blog’s primary topic of discussion is and always will be wine, from time to time there are other important matters happening in Quebec which are most definitely worth looking into, writing about and thinking about. One of these subjects that is very near and dear to my heart is autism, as my best friend (whom I’ve known since we were six) has Asperger’s Syndrome (a form of autism), and as a result I’ve been placed in a position where I was allowed to learn a lot about this condition both from first-hand experience and by speaking to people within the autism community, which is rather prominent in Quebec. How prominent, you ask? Well, over 11,000 children have been diagnosed with autism, and at this rate within five years that number is going to double. Sadly, autism is a condition that can not be cured (and even if it could, many autistic people, my friend included, would reject the cure), so it has to be accommodated. And Quebec is finally willing to step up its game.

As the Montreal Gazette reports, over 68% of families with autistic children experience financial problems due to the numerous therapies and trainings that the children require in order to be able to look after themselves. Many (though not most) autistic children have difficulty with basic skills such as feeding and getting dressed. They require very specific training by professionals, and that training is very expensive, often leading to a financially unstable home, which in turn leads to a high divorce percentage among parents of autistic children. There are numerous ways in which such families can be aided, which is why on Friday a forum of over 100 participants took place where it could be decided precisely what could be done to aid families of autistic children.

Sadly, the results of that forum were not precisely the ones that they were expecting – while the families were hoping for confirmation that more money was on the way, the only information they got was that the government was working on an action plan to determine what could realistically be done. While that’s better than nothing, parents were disappointed, explaining that a plan which may take months to form and go way into 2017 or 2018 to implement is just not cutting it. They need the money as soon as possible, because until the government increases the funding families have to rely on their own limited income (many parents are unable to work in order to care for their children) and on various charities. The government can truly make a change here. Let’s hoping that this change will happen sooner rather than later.