Building an Ontario that Supports All Children

Ontario families rely on the Government of Ontario to

provide a system of services for children with special needs
that is accessible, coordinated, and centred on the needs of
children and their families.
As Ontarians, we want to know that our children, ALL of our
children, have the absolute best opportunity to achieve
their potential. None of us want to see our children left
behind. We need to better prepare these children for
school with early identification and intervention that is
focused on good outcomes. Our organizations represent
over 130,000 children and their families.
We know:
All Ontarios children deserve the chance to dream, to
achieve, and to develop into well-adjusted and
productive adults.
At least 1 in 5 of Ontarios children and their families -
requires extra-ordinary assistance to achieve their
potential.
Early intervention makes a difference: the first 3 years
of life are critical for optimal development.
Its neither fair nor smart to leave behind kids who
need extra help and support yet that can happen far
too often.
A strong system of services requires us to plan and
build supports that are collaborative, well resourced,
responsive and part of a continuum of service delivery
available for as long as the need exists.
In order to allow Ontarios most vulnerable children to
succeed, Ontario must:
Increase funding to early identification and
intervention services.
Achieve the best possible outcomes for children, we must identify the need for speech
intervention by 18 months (current average is 30 months), hearing loss by 2 months (current
average is 6 months) and visual impairment by 12 months (current average is 17 months).
Invest resources early to reduce the need for spending later.
Services we provide to over 130,000
children and their families each year.

Blind-Low Vision Program provides
specialized early intervention and
parent education services needed by
families of children born blind or with
low vision to help them achieve healthy
development;

Infant Hearing Program identifies
babies born deaf or hard of hearing and
provides services to these children and
their families to support language and
early literacy development;

Preschool Speech and Language
Program identifies children with a
speech and language need as early as
possible through targeted and universal
services and provides these children
with services to enable them to develop
communication and early literacy skills
to support their life-long learning;

Specialized Rehabilitation Services
for children and youth from birth to 19
with physical and/or developmental
disabilities, autism and/or
communication needs. These
specialized services include
physiotherapy, occupational therapy,
speech and language therapy and
social work.




As organizations that provide a variety of services to some of Ontarios most vulnerable children and
families, we believe that prosperity in Ontario will not be achieved unless children and families have
access to the fundamental services they require to overcome barriers and achieve full inclusion. All
of Ontarios children will benefit from a province that welcomes them, supports them and believes in
them.
Algoma Public Health
Champlain Community Access Centre
Child Development Centre Hotel Dieu
Hospital
Childrens Rehabilitation Centre Algoma
Childrens Centre Thunder Bay
Childrens Treatment Centre of Chatham-
Kent
Childrens Treatment Network
Cochrane Temiskaming Children's
Treatment Centre
Connections an Early Years Family Centre
Inc.
Eastern Ontario Health Unit
ErinoakKids Centre for Treatment and
Development
Five Counties Childrens Centre
George Jeffery Childrens Centre
Grandview Kids
Haldimand Norfolk Health Unit
Hamilton Preschool Speech & Language and
Central South Infant Hearing Program and
Blind-Low Vision Early Intervention Program
Health Sciences North Childrens
Treatment Centre
Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation
Hospital
Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance
John McGivney Childrens Centre
KidsAbility Centre for Child Development
Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox &
Addington Public Health
Lansdowne Childrens Centre
Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health
Unit
Manitoulin Sudbury Preschool Speech and
Language Program
Markham Stouffville Hospital - Child
Development Programs
McMaster Childrens Hospital
Developmental Paediatrics & Rehabilitation
Middlesex-London Health Unit
Niagara Childrens Centre
Northeastern Ontario Infant Hearing
Program and Blind-Low Vision Program
Northwestern Health Unit
Ottawa Childrens Treatment Centre
Pathways Health Centre for Children
Pinecrest- Queensway Community Health
Centre
Quinte Childrens Treatment Centre
Quinte Health Care
Thames Valley Childrens Centre
Thunder Bay District Health Unit - Children's
Centre Thunder Bay
Toronto Public Health

Provincial Associations:
Ontario Association of Childrens
Rehabilitation Services