Globe and Mail - Disabled children: it takes a village (and an RDSP)
(Op-ed by Antonia Maioni, Professor of political science at McGill): The adage about a village raising a child couldn't be more apt for our family. Our urban neighbours are constantly on the lookout for our autistic and non-verbal 13-year-old son. The bagel shop knows him by name and he's a familiar face at local parks, restaurants and sports venues. Because of his access to Quebec's universal child care, our son's developmental delays were noted long before they might otherwise have been. The public primary school across the street spent years integrating him into regular classes, although it didn't have to, and the province helps by supporting the special-needs school he now attends full-time.
But, at the end of the day, it's the parents of disabled children who are faced with the relentless burden of responsibility and the spectre of a never-empty nest. We have locks on all our doors and windows, but there's no wall high enough to protect such children from an uncertain future.
And while most people are worrying whether they can maintain their lifestyle in retirement, parents of the disabled are more apt to wonder whether we'll have the strength or the means to care for our adult dependents - not to mention what happens when we're no longer around. That's why the federal government's Registered Disability Savings Plan introduced by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has the potential to change so many lives, both practically and symbolically.
In practical terms, the RDSP allows parents of special needs children to save for that day when they'll no longer be able to care for their disabled offspring. We felt foolish setting up a Registered Education Savings Plan for our son while knowing he would never go to college; transforming it into a disability savings plan brought back some hope that we could put that money to good use for his future.
