Language support

The Ontario Autism Program, administered by the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services, offers support to families of children and youth on the autism spectrum.

A Francophone parent of a child with autism complained to us that the program communicated with them in English, both orally and in writing, even though the parent identified French as their preferred language.

Result: As a result of our intervention, the Francophone parent’s language preference was correctly recorded in their file with the Ontario Autism Program. In addition, a bilingual care co-ordinator was assigned to the family, and all letters sent to the Francophone parent are now either in French or bilingual.