St-Hubert autism awareness march calls on province to do more

Two hundred parents of children living with autism marched in St-Hubert Sunday afternoon to raise awareness of a disorder they say the government doesn't do enough about.

Marie-Claude Proulx,who has two children with autism,said theprovincial government'scut to serviceshave been affecting her.

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Her son, who has severe autism,wasn't approved fordisability allowance because she was told he only neededfivehours of support per week.

Proulx and other parents are also worried about what will happen to their children once they come of age.

"After 21 years old, there's not much for them. Either they stay home or one of the parents have to quit their jobs and stay with them," Proulx said."Most of themcan't stay by themselves."

Taking matters into their own hands

Andr Langevintook matters into his own hands when he begankarate classesfor children with autismspectrum disorder and their parents.

Today, his son Philippe Langevin, who was diagnosed with autism at four years of age, studies chemistryat McGill University.

"It gave me self confidence," said the now 22-year-old Langevin."You do the exercises and you work very hard and as a result you pass belts as you progress towards black belts. The sense of achievement is a really good booster for our self-esteem."

Action plan to come

PublicHealth MinisterLucieCharlebois, who was also in attendance at the Autisme Montrgie-organizedmarch,admitted the governmentfallsshort on services for people with autism spectrum disorders.

"Nobody has the same level of autism. So we've got to work with that," Charlebois said.

Charleboisadded that the province already teamed up with the Miriam Foundation todiagnose people in the Montreal region more quickly and offer services.

Charleboissaid a new action plan based on aforum about autism lastFebruary will be released in the fall.