Autism treatment delays concern family

Another B.C. family has come forward with complaints about delays in obtaining provincial funding for critical early treatment for autistic children.

Andrea Kennedy says her family used their own money to get her two young autistic children assessed rather than face the delays in the provincial system.

"It would have been probably a year and a half for either one of them to get diagnosis through the system currently in B.C. and I know that the system has come a long way, but a year is a long time to wait, they're not toddlers anymore," she said.

The Ministry of Children provides up to $22,000 per year for eligible children under six, but because of the delays Kennedy says she has she has already spend countless hours arranging treatment at her own expense.

Her one-year-old daughter Holly has already responded well to the treatments, she says.

"She's just in the last two weeks started to make eye contact, which is an amazing connection with your own child if they've never really looked at you before," she said.

Studies show early treatment can result in better outcomes for autistic children, says Kennedy.

"In the last two years they've done a lot of toddler-infant studies around autism and it's shown with an early, intensive -- at least 20 hours a week of therapy -- that you can have great gains in communication and social skills," she said.

Kennedy says she had to draw on her experience as an engineer dealing with multi-million dollar projects to organize the testing and treatment.

"I was able to navigate the system, but I don't think without the skills I have through my work that I would have been able to do it," she said.

Last week CBC News reported the family of Levi Kaech paid $3,000 to diagnose his autism  at 11 months of age. His family is now waiting for the province to agree with their private assessment before it will pay for treatment.