The parents of a seven-year-old boy with autism who was fatally struck by a city bus in Hamilton last month say their son should have been at school the day of the accident, but was sent home because of a lack of special needs resources.
Chris and Emily Simao say their son Max, who had autism and was non-verbal, was put on a modified schedule at school in October after they were told there was no longer an educational assistant available to work with him.
Max was on the way home with his mom when he was struck by a Hamilton Street Railway bus the afternoon of Dec. 11 and later died from his injuries in hospital.
Hamilton police have said that based on witness statements and video gathered at the scene, investigators do not believe that the actions of the bus driver or the child’s caregiver contributed to the “devastating” incident.
The Simao family says Max loved going to school but was denied the right to an education when he was put on the modified schedule, which they called “a direct result of chronic underfunding.”
“We feel robbed and cheated out of a future with Max. We are so heartbroken and mad. He should still be here with us,” said Chris Simao.
Kate Dudley-Logue, vice-president of the Ontario Autism Coalition, says 25 per cent of students with special education needs are not attending school for full days, with the primary reason being that the school lacks the resources to support them. Roughly 115,000 students with disabilities have faced an exclusion from school of some sort in the last year alone.
Dudley-Logue is calling on the Ford government to provide more funding for schools, including special education workers.
“This crisis didn’t start with this government, but this government chose to make it worse. This government has been in power since before Max was born,” said Ontario NDP Autism Program Critic Alexa Gilmour.
“Look at the size of this government’s budget. And they can’t make sure every child can go to school?” added Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles.
Premier Doug Ford said at an unrelated press conference Wednesday that the Ontario government is providing “an unprecedented amount” of funding to hire educators.
“We’re funding more than any government in the history of our province and we’re going to continue to fund it,” said Ford. “We’re actually going to be hiring 6,000 educators on both sides – actual educators and EAs.”
Ford added that his government is also exploring options to shorten teachers’ college from its current two-year format to just one year in order to address the severe shortages and recruit more educators.
“All you ever hear is talk. Look where talk got us,” said Simao.