Montreal, Canada – On Monday SSeptember 22, Montreal parents received the news they had been waiting to hear over two years. They have been waiting to have their children diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder or other intellectual disability.
With a donation of $5 million dollars from the Marcelle and Jean Coutu Foundation, the Miriam Foundation intends to clear the waiting lists of children awaiting a diagnosis of the disorders. The Foundation will provide this diagnosis at no charge to the families.
Early next year the Foundation will open a diagnostic center complete with health-care professionals, psychologists, speech and language therapists to assist in diagnosing over 500 children. Warren Greenstone, Miriam Foundation CEO said that this development was a breakthrough and further added:
“Our goal is to empty the wait list of all the children wherever they are in the public sector,”
This will allow newly diagnosed children to be assessed by an intermediary team which will be working from three different centers. Parents will have available information and resources to understand the diagnosis.
This information and training will be invaluable in the future lives of not only the children but all supporting family members.
The original article by Katherine Wilton on The Montreal Gazette website can be read here