February 2024, my daughter is 15 months old, I receive the long-awaited call from all parents: “We have a place to offer your daughter. » It’s a private, unsubsidized daycare, but at least it’s close to our house.
“Have you looked at my daughter’s file? Do you know she has special needs? »
“Oh? Let me look at this. »
And the same speech inevitably follows: “Sorry, we don’t have the resources to offer her the place, after all”, or any other polite wording so as not to say that my daughter would be perceived as a burden in their daily life, without even laying eyes on her.
My meager hope falls, again.
If the daycare in question had been a subsidized environment, such as an early childhood center (CPE), we could have applied for the allowance for integration into childcare services (AISG) and my daughter could have taken this place which was due to him by his rank on the waiting list. This allowance, combined with the exceptional support measure (MES), allows subsidized childcare services to adapt their environment to the child’s needs, or even to pay a resource to support them.
It’s not for lack of trying to find him a subsidized place. I contacted all the CPEs in my region, my provincial deputy and the Ministry of Family. To all these missives, I remained without a response.
As parents, we already have to weather the storm of bringing a child into the world with more or less significant limitations. I let you imagine the emotion that overcomes you when you are told that the future you had imagined for your child will not be what you hoped for. Parents of children with a neurodevelopmental disorder are more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety.
Difficult to digest
To realize, completely helpless, that my daughter is refused because’she has special needs and is extremely difficult to digest. It’s as if we were being told: “As childcare places are limited, we prefer to invest our efforts in children who are developing according to society’s standards. » Ouch!
No child should be disqualified from receiving a place in day care because they are out of the ordinary.
I am aware that the shortage of daycare spaces affects everyone. But families like mine are not lucky enough to be able to turn to private daycares, because the government excludes them from the ISGF, or even family daycares, which are, in some cases, less suitable for welcome our children.
I am of the opinion that all childcare services should be able to receive the AISG and the MES, so that every child who needs it can apply for it within the environment chosen by their family, whether it is subsidized or not. . By doing this, families of children with special needs would have more options for child care settings and could ensure that the allocated amounts are used adequately.
Opening the doors to unsubsidized daycare would promote more inclusive access to the childcare network for our extraordinary children.
What do you think ? Participate in the dialogue
reference: www.lapresse.ca