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Global News
Hough is the parent coordinator of the Kelowna Down Syndrome Community group. She says many parents of children with Down syndrome are nervous about the new model.
When Amie Hough found out about Kelowna, B.C., becoming one of the four communities chosen for a pilot family connections centre, she said she was blindsided.
“My first reaction was shock and surprise,” said the concerned mom of a teen with Down syndrome.
“Because of the lack of communication, the lack of local consultation, lack of transparency, this feels a bit political and it feels like our kids in our community are a pawn in a bigger political game.”
Her 13-year-old son Oliver has been receiving speech and occupational therapies since he was born.
The province is trying a new way of delivering those services to children like Oliver and that has Hough, who is also the parent coordinator of the Kelowna Down Syndrome Community group, very concerned.
“I think we’re kind of experimenting with our most vulnerable population, and that’s children with disabilities and it just doesn’t feel right to me,” Hough told Global News.
The government is centralizing support services by creating ‘pilot family connections centres’, where children up to the age of 18 can access services regardless of whether they have a formal diagnosis or not.
“I think the hub model may benefit some families who have never had access to funding because they don’t have a formal diagnosis…that is however going to really open the doors to serve a lot of people. So how, how is this little bit of funding going to be spread across this huge population?” Hough said.